Jesus Unveiled - Lectionary Reflection for Transfiguration Sunday (Year C) - Luke 9

 

Luke 9:28-36 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

²⁸ Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰ Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. ³¹ They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. ³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” ³⁶ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

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                If  Epiphany is a season in which we look for manifestations of God's presence in the world, beginning with a visit from the Magi followed by a baptism, the journey culminates on a mountain top. There we witness, through the eyes of three disciples, the unveiling of the glory of God present in Jesus. The connecting tissue that links Jesus' baptism with the story of Jesus' visit to the Mount of Transfiguration is the witness God makes to Jesus' identity. In each case God declares Jesus to be God’s son. In Luke 3, in the moments after his baptism, as he is in prayer, God speaks to Jesus. In Luke's version of Jesus' baptism story, only Jesus hears this voice from heaven. It is a very personal, even private encounter. As the story proceeds through the season, we learn more about Jesus and his calling. We have a story from John 2 about a miracle—a sign—that reveals something of who Jesus is. In the two prior weeks, we have focused on Jesus’ visit to Nazareth, where he claims the mantle of the Spirit-empowered messiah. He comes to Nazareth and declares that he is the one who will ring in the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:14-30). What the stories from the Gospels reveal during Epiphany is that there is something unique and powerful about Jesus. 

When Jesus ascended to the top of Mount Tabor he took with him Peter, James, and John. These three appear to be Jesus' inner circle. They are invited to join Jesus for a mountain top experience. We are invited to go with them, so we too can see and hear what they see and hear. We get to witness the glory of God present Jesus as the veil is lifted. This mountain top encounter is paired in the Revised Common lectionary with a reading from Exodus 34, in which Moses encounters God on the mountain. When he returns from the mountain, Moses is said to radiate the glory of God to such an extent that he puts on a veil to cover the glory radiating from his face. With Moses, the glory of God is reflected off his being, but with Jesus, the glory radiates from within.  

The story begins with Jesus deciding to go up the mountain to pray. takes the three disciples to the mountain top to pray. It is good to remember that in the ancient world to go to the mountain was understood to place one closer to the divine. The mountain top was a thin place, where the borders between heaven and earth were nearly transparent. When Jesus gets to the mountain top and begins to pray, “the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” He glowed with the glory of God. The question here is whether this happened to Jesus or the disciples. Could it be that the eyes of the disciples were opened so they could see the fullness of Jesus' identity? Could this be a mystical experience on their part that enabled them to see the glory that was the presence of God within Jesus? Vladimir Lossky writes that "to see the divine light with bodily sight, as the disciples saw it on Mount Tabor, we must participate in and be transformed by it, according to our capacity. Mystical experience implies this change in our nature, its transformation by grace" [Mystical Theology of Eastern Christianity, p. 224].

As they witnessed the unveiling of the glory that transformed Jesus' appearance, the disciples witness the visit of two figures from the past: Moses and Elijah. These two figures confer with Jesus. According to Luke, they speak of Jesus' departure, which will happen in Jerusalem. This departure is his exodus. Ron Allen and Clark Williamson point out how the use of the word exodos (the Greek here) connects the Exodus of Israel with Jesus’ own time of departure, which he had already revealed to the disciples a few days earlier. They write:

Similarly, Luke uses the Exodus to interpret Jesus’ death and resurrection as an event whereby the God of Israel liberates the present world by moving history toward the final manifestation of the Reign of God. [Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, p. 192].

Connecting Jesus’ ministry with that of Moses and Elijah isn’t an act of supersession, wherein Jesus replaces them in God’s work. Their presence in this moment of unveiling is a sign of continuity. This is an eschatological moment, where we get to see, if only for a moment, the ongoing work of God that leads to the revelation of God’s reign. Jesus isn’t a substitute for an earlier plan. His ministry continues the work that connects Genesis to Revelation.  And as already revealed, his exodus will include his death, but also his resurrection.

            While the passage looks back to Jesus' baptism, when God makes a claim in Jesus, pronouncing him to be Son of God and the one with whom God is well pleased, it also looks forward to the resurrection. Earlier in chapter 9, after Jesus had fed the 5000, he went off with the disciples to pray. He asked them who the crowds said he was (they reported that the people thought he was Elijah or one of the prophets returned from the dead). Then he asked them who they thought he was, and Peter confessed Jesus to be the Messiah. After this confession is made Jesus tells them to not tell anyone yet because he had to suffer and die and then experience resurrection on the third day.   Not only that, but if they want to be his disciples they will have to take up the cross and deny themselves (Luke 9:18-27). As we pick up the lectionary reading in verse 28, it is now “eight days” after these events took place. Once again, Jesus goes off to pray, taking with him Peter, John, and James. 

         So, what is the significance of the eight days? Of course, it could be simply a time set, but it may be much more. Consider that the eighth day is the day following the Sabbath, and according to Luke Jesus was raised on the first day of the week – the eighth day!

            This is a moment of amazement. Peter, James, and John watch all of this unfold. They see the radiance of Jesus’ countenance. They watch as Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest figures in Jewish history, appear and converse with Jesus. They’re not sure what they’re seeing, but they know it's something momentous. Finally, they can't sit still any longer. So Peter, who tends to be impulsive, interrupts the conversation. He offers to put up tents (or booths) for Jesus and the two figures from history. In making this suggestion, Luke connects us again to the Exodus. The Feast of Booths (Sukkoth) is an annual festival that celebrates the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Sukkoth allowed the Jews to enact and remember, much as we do at the Table, this founding event in their story.

             Karl Barth suggests that Peter intervened because he didn’t want the vision to end. By building the tents he hoped to extend this glorious moment. “But the vision did not stay, as Peter hoped it would. It vanished as quickly as it had come” [Preaching through the Christian Year, p. 139]. The two figures vanish as God speaks from the cloud, declaring once again that Jesus is the Son of God and the chosen one. God says to the threesome, and to us, “listen to him.” At that moment they are all alone. The vision has ended, but Jesus has been revealed to them as the Chosen One. They have a unique viewpoint. They alone have seen and heard this witness. They have experienced something wonderful, something transformative, but it's still not the right time to share the news. So, they kept the news to themselves.

               The question is, why did the disciples have to remain silent? Perhaps it's because they didn't completely understand the true meaning of Jesus' mission. They could confess him to be the messiah and not completely understand what that meant, at least when it came to Jesus. Again, turning to Barth, who suggests that the Transfiguration “is the supreme prefigurement of the resurrection and that its real meaning will not be perceived until the resurrection has taken place” [Preaching through the Christian Year, p. 139]. Indeed, each of the miracles serves to point to a fuller revelation, that can only be understood at the resurrection. Then the message can be fully declared. For now, we’ll keep it close to the vest!

            As we ponder the event of Jesus transfiguration from this side of the resurrection, perhaps this word from St. Gregory Palamas is a fitting conclusion:

The light of the Lord’s transfiguration does not come into being or cease to be, nor is it circumscribed or perceptible to the senses, even though for a short time on the narrow mountain top it was seen by human eyes. Rather, at that moment the initiated disciples of the Lord “passed”, as we have been taught, “from flesh to spirit” by the transformation of their senses, which the Spirit wrought in them, and so they saw that ineffable light, when and as much as the Holy Spirit’s power granted them to do so. [The Saving Work of Christ: Sermons by Saint Gregory Palamas (p. 43).  Kindle Edition]. 

Image Attribution: Anonymous. Transfiguration, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58833 [retrieved February 19, 2022]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthonylibrarian/2665222854/in/photolist-54vXUb-Gast7i-pibA31-nMPLFp-DiYbvY-7GRRnF-9F94G-7WzSMB-3Hbtvf-Gvcg2B-b5E7Ep-eMMjqD-7ytjdu-5X6jJ5-e826Cp-2dQDQh4-2aq5JCn-7Ujm4n-2b87HTG-yTMDCi-9MbhF4-c1DP6q-21pybAu-pz6yLj-84jv2e-26vvkjL-q6Ln1-21rFuTa-56DMRo-Nq7YYE-DGKvLC-ZEcpHw-E263Bm-EU52A7-ZkJBWf-96X1i3-cZHVJm-dLkAPY-8mgMdp-ZEcoWS-AwdWn3-eAWtec-fxmadC-6RGkTR-8n7MFZ-dzpGg-e76zfu-uR52G-5fHgNe-ZkJBMC.