“And he was transfigured before them.”
The dictionary tells us that to be transfigured means “to give a new and typically exalted or spiritual appearance to: transform outwardly and usually for the better.” Mark’s Gospel recounts the transfiguration of Jesus, his new, exalted spiritual appearance, in terms of his garments: “his garments became gleaming.” The garments reflect the glory of the one who wears them, in other words, what is happening is that the glory of Jesus, the God-man, has been hidden from view right up unto this moment and now begins to come out, to be uncovered and in a spectacular way. The Greek word Mark uses here means to gleam, to glitter, to glisten, and it’s the only time it’s used in the New Testament. The light, the glory that has been unseen – save in the glimpses of his teaching and actions – comes out in full force and it overawes Peter, James and John.
Some scholars look at this passage and see Mark taking a post-Resurrection experience and moving it back in the narrative. One can’t argue that the transfigured Jesus comes off a great deal like the Resurrected Lord in this passage. However, I, surprise, surprise, hold on to the traditional view that this is a moment of foreshadowing, a moment in which the Lord is fully-revealed to his disciples to prepare them for the horrors of the Lord’s passion and death. This moment, on the mountain, is a foretaste of the glory so that they can endure and hold-on through the events that lie ahead of them. Why do I think that, well let’s look at the text.
Jesus is joined by two important figures Elijah and Moses. Both of these great prophets suffered because of their faithfulness to God, both of them endured great hardship so that the people of God might be kept in the right path in their journey toward God. It makes perfect sense that these two figures – traditionally thought to represent the Prophets and the Law – come to consult with Jesus as he is preparing to go to Jerusalem and to the cross. What is meant for us to understand here is that in Jesus we encounter the fulfillment of God to the people of Israel, the Law and the Prophets find their realization in the person and the work of Jesus.
While they’re speaking Jesus is overshadowed by a cloud. The Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, are loaded with references to clouds, which symbolize God’s glory and power. It also doesn’t hurt for us to remember that, in addition, the cloud symbolizes both hope and life. Why? Because in Palestine it rains only from October to April, the cloud is the sign of the rains that will insure the continuation of life itself. So the cloud reminds us that God is the author of life and the ground of our hope. This God speaks and says that those who would know life and hope must learn to do something – listen. God says “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” Don’t argue, don’t theorize, don’t balk, don’t anything – listen. Perhaps that is one of the points that we need to take away from this recounting of transfiguration: that we’re to become a listening – and thus an obedient people. Because the root of the word obedience means to “to listen” and when we listen deeply we respond appropriately.
I guess if we’re going to describe this event, we’re looking at a Christophany. We’re looking at the manifestation, the self-revelation of who Jesus really is and in that moment there’s a connection. That’s what Paul is saying in his writing to the church at Corinth, “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” God, in Christ, is giving us a glimpse of the inward light to which all of us are called and in which all of us share. This is the reality of the image and likeness of God in which we were created. The difficulty is, however, that we have lost the likeness while we retained the image, and that is why it’s difficult for us to see God at work in us or in the world around us. It’s the reason why God became one of us, in Jesus the Christ, so that we might be restored to the wholeness God intended for us to have.
John Shea does a great job in summarizing how the late twentieth century Swiss theologian Paul Tillich described the human situation. Shea writes: “Paul Tillich described sin as a state of estrangement comprised of three interlocking factors: In unbelief people turned away from their grounding in God. This left them isolated and turned in on themselves in hubris. This hubris [exaggerated pride or self-confidence] unfolded into a panicky concupiscence [to desire strongly], in which people tried to pull the world into themselves to fill the hole that was created when they turned away from God. Unbelief, hubris, and concupiscence were the deep dynamics of the countless individual sin people commit.”
Now, think for a moment about life in the world around us. Think about the situation we find ourselves in politically. Do you think that, just maybe, what we’re seeing is the result of the behaviors we saw in Shea’s summary of Tillich? Could it be that our society has so trivialized the concept of sin – turning it into all of the little misdemeanors people have been whacked with for years – that we’ve forgotten that the real sin is the covering of the Divine spark within us through selfishness and self-centeredness?
When Jesus was transfigured, when the glory in him made his garments glitter, it wasn’t for him – it was for us. To use John’s language, the Light shone in the darkness so that we could see, so that we could come to a new understanding of ourselves in relationship to God and in relationship to each other. The whole point of Jesus work among us is so that we can understand that the light in us isn’t supposed to stay hidden under a bushel, but is to be put out on a lampstand so that others can benefit from the light. The light is inward, but it radiates OUTWARD.
I came across a wonderful book on the spirituality of Meister Eckhart by Cyprian Smith. It’s called The Way of Paradox: Spiritual Life As Taught by Meister Eckhart. Eckhart’s point, Smith says, is that we come to God so that we can then understand the world around us. The light of God is supposed to be in us so that we can then see and live as God would have us live, in tune with God and with all of creation. Smith writes: “It is possible for human beings, living, thinking, and acting in God, to think, see, and do, as God does. Instead of standing within the created world, looking in it for signs of a God who is outside it, we stand within God, and it is the world which now appears outside. When we stand within the world, God appears as totally transcendent and ‘other.’ When we stand within God, however, it is the world which appears as ‘other,’ but not by any means transcendent; on the contrary, we are greater than it. It appears as a pale and imperfect reflection of the dazzling and brilliant Truth in which we are living and making our home.” That truth – dazzling and brilliant – is our life caught up in and transfigured by the life of Christ, living in us.
Jesus was transfigured before them, and by extension, us, so that we might benefit and learn that we’re to benefit others. God has restored to us, in Christ, the fullness of our humanity. God has brought the Divine spark in us to the level of flame. The point of the inward light is that it is to radiate outward, it is to light the world and the way to the common good, which brings us into God.
Each day we – you and I – are to bring the mountain-top down to the everyday. The glitter and gleam of the moment of transfiguration is to come into a world that is alienated, broken and hurting and living in darkness. You and I, Christians, ordinary human beings touched by the presence of God through the Holy Spirit, we are the means by which that inward light radiates outward. We work and grow in the spiritual life not so that we can achieve enlightenment or come to a higher state, or know come to some superior spiritual position. For Christians to be self-centered spiritually is to miss the point, rather we seek, we grow, we work to have in us the mind of Christ, to be in God so that we can embrace, heal, renew and transform this world in which we live.
Bottom line, what that requires is that we move away from self-focus and move to focus on God in Christ and then outward from there. We do this by practicing the spiritual disciplines – and you can learn more about those all during the Sundays of Lent as I teach a class on Being God’s People -- but suffice it to say, it begins with taking the time to pray, to get into God’s Word, and then to practice our faith through living in an unselfish manner. Jesus was transfigured before them and the inward light radiated outward…..the inward light, in you and in me, needs to shine – so let it.