Today's Reflections
The Transfiguration of Jesus
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Mk 9:2-10
2Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. 4Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. 5Then
Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let
us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. 7Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” 8Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.
9As
they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate
what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from
the dead. 10So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Reflection:
This is my beloved Son. Listen to him. For
the Jews, two witnesses are enough to have valid testimony. Moses and
Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, bear witness to Jesus as
he is transfigured.
In
the past, God revealed himself to his chosen people through the
mediation of Moses to whom he gave the Law at Sinai. Moses bore witness
to someone like him whom God will send to the people (Dt 18:15). On the
other hand, the prophet Elijah was expected to appear to prepare for the
day of the Lord (Mal 3:23).
Jesus
then has the most authoritative witnesses in Moses and Elijah. But the
definitive voice is one coming from the cloud which proclaims, “This is
my beloved Son. Listen to him.” This is the voice of the Father
affirming Jesus especially in his coming passion, death, and
resurrection.
“He revealed his glory to the disciples
to strengthen them for the scandal of the cross.
His glory shone from a body like our own, to show that the Church,
which is the body of Christ, would one day share his glory”
(Preface of the Transfiguration).
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