Jesus is God Incarnate, who came among us as one of us. He lived like one of us and died like one of us to offer his sacrifice for our salvation. At the same time, a part of the reason for the incarnation was for God to reveal himself more fully to humanity. Jesus revealed himself through his teachings and through events we call theophanies, which are direct manifestation's of God's divinity.
We see such a moment in the Gospel passage for today, which describes the event knows as the Transfiguration. During the life and ministry of Jesus, theophanies happened at transitional moments or phases: At his conception; at his birth; at the Temple at the age of twelve, which was the time of coming of age in his culture; at his baptism, which was the start if his ministry; his miracles during the course of his ministry; the Transfiguration, marking the start of his journey to Jerusalem to be crucified; the Resurrection; his appearances after the Resurrection; his Ascension into Heaven; and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
A key aspect of the theophany in the Transfiguration narrative is that it takes place on a mountain. Historically, mountains have been seen as places where we can have special encounters with the Divine, both in the biblical tradition and in other religions as well. Today too, we can have powerful spiritual experiences in mountain settings. Some examples of mountains in the Old Testament narrative include: The Garden of Eden, which is considered to have been in an elevated location; Mount Moriah, where Abraham was tested with regard to the sacrifice of Isaac and where later the Jewish Temple stood; Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb), where Moses encountered God in the burning bush, received the Law from God, and witnessed a manifestation of God's glory, and where the prophet Elijah too experienced God's presence in a special way; and Mount Carmel, where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal. (We should note, however, that when we speak of mountains in the Bible, the elevated places will not seem very tall in comparison to the grand mountains of the Pacific Coast, but more like small foothills. But in any case, these places are elevated over the surrounding landscape.)
Mountains also played an important part in the ministry of Jesus. He delivered the Sermon on the Mount on the Mount of Beatitudes at the beginning of his ministry. During his ministry, he would go to a mountain to pray, probably to Mount Arbel. He was transfigured on Mount Tabor. He started his entry into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, from where he also later ascended back into Heaven. He cleansed the Temple, which stood on Mount Moriah, known as the Temple Mount today. Several key moments also happened in the Upper Room on Mount Zion: The Last Supper, Jesus appearing to the disciples behind locked doors more than once, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus was also crucified on a hill, known as Golgotha, or the Place of the Skull. By contrast the tempter sought to get Jesus to worship him on a mountain, traditionally identified as Mount Quarantania, near Jericho.
Having looked at some of the significant moments in the Bible that take place on mountains, we should also note that in the Gospel of John Jesus tells us that the time will come when mountains will no longer be important for encountering God. After the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, God's grace is available to us freely through the sacraments and prayer life of the Church. Certain places or buildings can enhance our encounter with God, but the outpouring of God's grace is not tied to them. We can experience God wherever we are.
Returning to the narrative of the Transfiguration in the Gospel passage for this Sunday, we see that when Jesus reveals his glory, Elijah and Moses appear and start conversing with him. Moses symbolizes the Law, since it is through Moses that God had revealed to the Israelites the Old Testament law code on Mount Sinai. Elijah represents the prophets, since he was revered as the greatest figure of the Israelite prophetic tradition, and, as mentioned before, Elijah received a special manifestation of God's divinity on the same mountain as Moses.
The glory of Christ is greater than Moses or Elijah, showing that Christ is greater than both the Mosaic Law or the prophetic tradition. He is the one to whom both the Law and the prophets have been pointing. He is the fulfillment of the Law and the new lawgiver. He is the fulfillment of the prophecies, which have been anticipating the coming of the Messiah.
As Peter, one of the three Apostles who accompanied Jesus to the mountain, beholds the Transfiguration, he experiences an intimation of the heavenly glory that awaits all those who accept Christ's saving love. Understandably, he wants to stay in the moment. We can assume that he wants to stay forever imbued by the God's eternal, infinite glory, which is boundless love.
But they cannot yet stay in the experience. It is not yet time for the glory. First, they have to go to Jerusalem, where Jesus will be crucified. Later, all of the Apostles will be executed for Christ, except for John, who will die a prisoner in a stone quarry.
Our own stories as disciples of Christ are similar. We cannot reach heavenly glory without first experiencing the Cross. We too will be crucified in one way or another in the course of our earthly lives. Our specific experiences will be different, but all of our lives will be visited by some great suffering which we cannot escape. When that happens, we have a choice. We can let that suffering destroy us and make us bitter and hateful. Or we can use that suffering to grow and become unselfish, to become Christlike, with the help of Christ's grace. If we make the second choice, laying our lives down for each other as Jesus had done, the suffering will not be the end of the story. The end, the final consummation, will be the eternal, unending glory of complete joy foreshadowed by the Transfiguration.
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The readings for the Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle A, are:
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22.
2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Matthew 17:1-9
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: The Church of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor by Zoltan Abraham (c) 2016.