The three words “After six days” also send us back to the Book
of Exodus and the story of Moses wrapped in the cloud of God's glory for six
days, before God called to Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud
and the consuming fire of his glory. Here Matthew continues his portrait of
Jesus as a new and transcendent Moses who has come with a new Torah, a new
teaching summed up in the truth of Jesus himself, the truth that is God's love.
In the various accounts of the Transfiguration of Jesus, Matthew alone among
the evangelists describes the face of Jesus as shining in a way reminiscent of
the face of Moses whenever he was in intimate converse with God. Peter, true to form, grasps at this glory
radiating from the face and clothes of Jesus and from Moses and Elijah who
appear conversing with Jesus. Peter says, for all intents and purposes, “Wow,
this is great! Let's camp out here indefinitely! I'll set up some tents.” Peter
has found a place so congenial to his ideas of what is good for Jesus and the
followers of Jesus - namely, a place of unimaginable glory, a place without
fear, without suffering. Again, the
Father speaks to Peter and to all of us, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I
am well pleased; listen to Him.” This
phrase is also part of the portrait of Jesus as the new Moses; it alludes to the
prediction in Deuteronomy 18 that God would raise up a prophet-like-Moses, and
“Him shall you hear!”
Peter, James and John and all of us must indeed hear and
listen to him, as John Meier says, “not only when he confirms the joyful
revelation of the glorious Messiah and Son of God, but also when he adds the
disturbing revelation of the suffering Son of Man.” The disciples fell
prostrate in fear when they heard the voice of the Father. Jesus touches them and tells them, “Do not be
afraid.” Certainly, he is not telling them to have no reverential fear of God.
Rather, he is telling them not to be crippled by fear from hearing of the cross
that Jesus himself and, by implication, all his followers must somehow
bear. As St. Paul says in the Second
Letter to Timothy we heard proclaimed today, “Beloved: Bear your share of
hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” We are enabled
to share the hardship for the gospel, the daily cross, because the Holy Spirit
of the Lord shares with us the glorious resurrected life of the Lord
Jesus. Jesus touches them and tells them,“Arise, do not be afraid!”
The Transfiguration, (in the original Greek metamorphosis) which follows the prediction of the Passion is a revelation of the truth that glory for Jesus and for all of us follows upon or is even simultaneous with the embrace of the suffering. The further discovery is that the cross itself is a glorious cross. St. Paul says in Second Corinthians, “all of us, gazing on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (transfigured) into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Peter learned eventually not to grasp at glory, nor even to grasp at safety. He learned to receive hold of the cross, the will of God for him, and found at last the true glory that is eternal.
The Transfiguration, (in the original Greek metamorphosis) which follows the prediction of the Passion is a revelation of the truth that glory for Jesus and for all of us follows upon or is even simultaneous with the embrace of the suffering. The further discovery is that the cross itself is a glorious cross. St. Paul says in Second Corinthians, “all of us, gazing on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (transfigured) into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Peter learned eventually not to grasp at glory, nor even to grasp at safety. He learned to receive hold of the cross, the will of God for him, and found at last the true glory that is eternal.
The Eucharist is our food, for this spiritual journey from
cross to glory and from glory to cross. It is the source and summit of the
Christian life. To it we come on this
Mount Tabor in Spencer, not just to gaze on the Lord's glory, but to receive
the glorified body and blood, the Risen Lord whole and entire within our very
selves, to be transfigured into the very image of God, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Then we too must go down the
mountain figuratively, actually to glorify the Lord by our lives.
Icon written by Brother Terence. Excerpts from today’s homily by Father Luke.