Basking in sunshine

‘… it is good for us to be here’  (Mark 9:5)

Mark 9:2-10 (Year B: Lent 2)

                                          pic: The Franciscan Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor

The transfiguration is a story of how Jesus, accompanied by three of his disciples, were ‘transfigured’ on the top of a mountain. It was very definitely a ‘high’ moment. There, on the mountain top, the disciples along with Jesus were lifted up in light and covered in a divine presence of the Cloud.  Yet, the story continues with a descent into warning, fear and an expectation of something very ominous.  The  Cross is getting near. Fear is not absent from the story. Why, according to some liturgical cycles, is this passage used in Lent even towards the beginning of the Lenten journey some 11 days into the 46 day period that Lent constitutes (from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday)? 

Jesus ascended the mountain ‘six days’ after the proclamation of the Messiah in Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27). This echoes the six days found in Exodus 24:15-16 when:

For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.

The presence of God and the transformation over Moses to be found in Exodus 33:7-23 has a strong resemblance with the Transfiguration (or metamorphosis in Greek). Further on, in Exodus 34:30, we are told that Moses’ face shone in the presence of God.

The episode of the Transfiguration comes in the middle of an intense period of healing, preaching and contestation. Jesus had warned his disciples, six days before the Transfiguration, that ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’ The stakes were high and expectations were bounding forward. The disciples needed a reality check. But, they also needed an uplift during a period of intense stress and uncertainty. They did not know what was next. They had a sense that all was not well and that they were in great danger.

There on the top of the mountain they came face to face (in so far as anyone can in this world) with the Almighty. It was moment of great fear and great wonder and joy – all in one. Note that Jesus chose not to go to the top of the mountain on his own. He brought others with him. Each person, on this mountain, experienced something wonderful and extraordinary. Yet, it was not an experience of single individuals on their own. It was a shared experience. The high was experienced with Jesus in the midst of the chosen disciples. More than that the story tells us that Elijah and Moses were in their midst. That was an impressive company of persons. Their topic of conversation (according to Luke 9:30) was about his departure (exodos in the Greek).

Although the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) tell us that the disciple John was present at the transfiguration there is no direct and explicit reference to this event in the Gospel associated with John. However, it could be said with accuracy that the entire Gospel of John is a meditation on the inner meaning of the Transfiguration.  And the essence of this event is captured in John 1:14:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The huge significance of Moses and Elijah would not be missed on the Jewish listeners to the evangelist’s story. Moses was the dispenser of the law and leader of God’s people. Through his hands came the ten commandments, the Law and the promises. Elijah was the great prophet who foretold God’s salvation. Yet, in their midst stood another Prophet in whom God was well pleased and ready to acknowledge as his only Son. After this ‘when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.’ (v. 36).  And this is the point. The stage has been vacated, so to speak, by Moses and Elijah while Jesus is the messiah, prophet and leader now. His time has come and so has ours. Elijah had come already (Mark 9:13) according to Jesus (in the person of John the Baptist).

So, Jesus was and is different.

And this was one of those moments like the baptism in the Jordan and later on the cross when Jesus’ sonship is proclaimed to those ready to listen. Listening is what we are invited to do in the story of the transfiguration. The one consistent message from the Father to us is ‘Listen to him’. Listen to him in ourselves, in others and in the events and environment of our lives. The famous German philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) once wrote:

Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within.

We must listen to the voice of reason and of emotion within us as to discern that ‘moral law’ deep within. As the prophet Jeremiah wrote:

I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts (Jer 31:33)

It is good for us to be here on this mountain. But we cannot stay there for too long. We must make the descent back and face what we had to face before we started the climb. However, our hearts have been refreshed and, perhaps, some baggage was lost or thrown off on the way (in environmentally friendly disposal bins on the mountain!

We need The Vision Thing on our journey.

Isaiah (12:2)wrote:

‘Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation’

There is something greater than any one of us in our midst.  This is the flame, the cloud, the bright light that takes us forward and shows us true freedom and joy.

We have 10,000 reasons to be thankful and cheerful no matter what is going in our lives and those around us. Every now and again there is a moment that breaks out – not too often perhaps – when we can say ‘I have met the Lord in the midst of the assembly and I was glad. It is good to be here. It is good to be alive’.  Then, the lyrics and music of Matt Redman’s “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)”. might fit the occasion:

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

With Jesus, Peter, James and John we can sing out from within current situation. In this moment of transfiguration we can declare in all honesty what Habakkuk wrote (3:19)

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.

The psalmist declares (17:34):

My feet you make swift as the deer's; you have made me stand firm on the heights.

A popular ‘twitterer’ – @frpaddybyrne had the following to say, recently:

 ‘Just spent time visiting a terminally ill lady. “Life’s too short…. Don’t waste time’ (21 Feb 2015)

Indeed life is short and the time remaining to us reduces every day we wake up. Let’s not waste our time but, rather, seek the company of fellow pilgrims on this Lenten Journey to freedom.