The transfiguration
by Deacon Des Connors
Dear Friends,
The Gospel reading for today recounts the Transfiguration of Jesus. The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to allow him to consult his Heavenly Father and ascertain His plan for His Son’s suffering, death, and Resurrection. This was the precursor for Jesus to make his way to Jerusalem to meet his destiny, the cross, and his vindication.
God’s secondary aim was to make Jesus’ chosen disciples aware of Jesus’ Divine glory so that they might discard their worldly ambitions and dreams of a conquering political Messiah and might be strengthened in their time of trial. The Transfiguration also established Jesus’ glorious identity as the beloved Son of God and placed his Divine Sonship in the context of Jewish expectations about the kingdom and the resurrection of the dead. The event took place in late summer, just prior to the Feast of the Tabernacles. Hence, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Transfiguration at about the time of the year when it actually occurred, in order to connect it with the Old Testament Feast of the Tabernacles. The Western tradition recalls the Transfiguration at the beginning of Lent, then celebrates the formal feast on 6 th August.
The book of Exodus describes how God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai from the cloud. The Jews generally believed that the phenomenon of the cloud would be repeated when the Messiah arrived. God the Father, Moses and Elijah approved the plan regarding Jesus’ suffering, death, and Resurrection. God’s words from the cloud, “This is My Beloved Son; listen to him,” are similar to the words used by God at Jesus’ baptism: “You are My beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11). At the moment of Jesus’ death, a Roman centurion would declare, “Truly, this man was the Son of God” (Mk15:39). These words summarise the meaning of the Transfiguration, that on this mountain, God revealed Jesus as His Son — His beloved — the One in whom He is always well pleased and the One to whom we must listen.
We need transformation in our Christian lives so that we may seek reconciliation instead of revenge, love our enemies, pray for those who hate us, give to the needy without expecting a reward, refuse to judge others and make friends with those we do not naturally like. This transformation will also enable us to hold back on harsh words and let love rule so that we may seek reconciliation rather than revenge, pray for those who give us a hard time, avoid bad-mouthing those we do not agree with, forgive those who hurt us, and love those who hate us.
Deacon Des