The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
Although the traditional Feast of the Transfiguration is in August, it has become customary to observe it on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. One reason is that after the Transfiguration on the mountain, the Gospels tell us that Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem, knowing that he would be arrested and killed there, so it is a fitting prelude to Lent. Another reason is that some of the Gospels tell us that Moses and Elijah were sent to him on the mountain for the purpose of helping Jesus to prepare for his death in Jerusalem. And, of course, a third reason is that the disciples, especially those three, Peter, James and John, who were closest to Jesus, needed to be prepared for Jesus' coming death. Every time Jesus had tried to warn the disciples about that event that was fast approaching, they did not understand. But it was essential that now, as Jesus began the journey to Jerusalem, at least the three leaders of the disciples needed a clear understanding about what was going to happen in Jerusalem.
The first reading tells us about how Moses was called by God to come up on the mountain, to receive the tablets of the Law, the Ten Commandments, together with other instructions from God. Moses took with him the leaders of the people, just as Jesus did at the time of the Transfiguration. However, the leaders of the tribes did not go all the way up the mountain with Moses; they stopped halfway up and Moses went on alone. God gave Moses a time of waiting to prepare for this special event, and then the glory of the Lord covered the top of the mountain, and God met with Moses in that cloud of glory. Several of the early church fathers tell us that the cloud of the glory of the Lord that covered both Mt. Sinai and the mountain of the Transfiguration is God himself, in the shape of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that led the Jewish people out of slavery and into the Promised Land. Exodus tells us, although not in today's reading, that the top of Mount Sinai seemed to be covered with fire, when the people below looked up. At least one modern
traveler who climbed Mt. Sinai says that he saw burned, black rock near the peak, which he thinks confirms the reading from Exodus. And when Moses came down from the mountain, his face glowed with a bright, holy light, so bright that he had to wear a veil over his face to protect the eyes of the people who looked at him. The Giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai is called the Feast of Tabernacles in the Jewish religion, remembering how the Jewish people had to live in little shacks or huts during their long journey from Egypt to Israel.
Now, let's look at the Transfiguration story from Matthew. Jesus takes his three closest disciples, Peter, James and John, up the mountain with him. He needs a time of retreat to prepare for what will happen in Jerusalem; and he feels they need to see this, too, to help them make sense of the things that will happen during Holy Week. They come to the top of the mountain, and throw themselves down on the ground to rest; it's a steep mountain. When they look up, for the first time, they see Jesus as he really is: God the Son, the Messiah, shining in the glory of his God-hood, with his robes glowing in a white so bright it hurt their eyes. With him are two figures, people every Jew would recognize, although they had not lived on earth for hundreds of years: Isaiah and Elijah. Both Isaiah and Elijah had spent much time talking with God on mountain tops during their earthly lives. Both had suffered much at the hands of people who would not listen to the messages they brought from God. Elijah had been taken by God directly to heaven, without having to die first. The two old prophets were talking seriously with Jesus, and the three disciples were almost paralyzed with shock and amazement.
Now any good Jew would see these things and be reminded immediately of the Giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Probably that is why Peter called out, asking if they should build three tabernacles, one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah; his mind would have jumped from the Giving of the Law to the name of the celebration, the Feast of Tabernacles. Our minds do play tricks like that on us, even today. And suddenly a thick cloud covered the top of the mountain, and the voice of God was heard, declaring that Jesus is his beloved Son, and instructing the disciples to listen to him. The three disciples fell to the ground in fear, and when Jesus came over and touched them on the shoulder, to calm their fears, they found themselves alone with him, the cloud of God's glory gone, along with Moses and Elijah.
On the trip back down the mountain, Jesus tells them again (remember, God had said to listen to him !) that they were going to Jerusalem and that there he would die a shameful death. And now they began to understand. Jesus also gave them a special order, the only time in the Gospels that he is said to have given an order with a time limit on it: Don't tell anyone about what you have seen today, until I have risen from the dead.
The early church fathers tell us that this Transfiguration, witnessed by the three disciples, fulfills Jesus' prophecy: Some of you who hear me now will not die before you see the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven.
That is the story of the Transfiguration, as Matthew tells it. That word, transfiguration, means change, comes from a Greek word which means to be changed from the inside to the outside. Jesus' inner life as God the Son became visible to the disciples, for a short time, on the mountain. Later, when he rose from the dead on that first Easter day, it would become visible and clear to everyone who saw him. This does give us a reminder: if we believe in Jesus as God the Son, Messiah and Lord, and try to obey his teachings and live according to his ways, we will be changed on the inside. Our sins are, of course, forgiven when we believe in Jesus as God. And gradually, as we live according to Jesus' teachings and ways, we will become once again the image of God, as God made all people to be. For all of us, sin spoils and dirties and corrodes that image of God that we all carry in us. But our faithful living in Christ will gradually restore that image of God, and allow it gradually to transfigure us...not with clouds of glory on a mountain, but by shining through our words and deeds, and bringing others closer to God, too.
Let us pray that we can use this coming Lent as a time of transfiguration for ourselves, so that we can help guide others to become a part of God's Kingdom and show forth his glory, too. Amen.
