Right after Jesus announces that he will be a suffering Messiah, the scene shifts to this mountaintop experience. We use the word, Transfiguration=metamorphosis. Jesus shines like an angel, or better the gleaming presence of God. We sing, Shine Jesus shine.or, this little light of mine.

 

At the dawn of creation, God said let there be light. Some rabbis see that as a sharing of the divine light with all of creation. The Psalms proclaim God as the light of our salvation and Jesus is called the Light of the World. Radiance as sign of God's presence. Adam Thomas (CC 2/9.p.18) says that Moses shines because God sees him. By the time of Jesus both Moses and Elijah were thought to be assumed into heaven. They were also apocalyptic figures and heroes of the Bible. I would assume that they entered into the radiance of heaven and that radiance was reflected in their appearance.

 

Paul warps the story of Moses and the veil by making it a story of the people being shielded from the divine radiance out of awe into one of a darkened understanding of revelation. The meaning lurks in the old phrase, a veiled hint. The  veil and the attitude of Middle East toward women (mixture of religion and culture) adds to our disquiet with the image. When something is veiled it is kept under wraps

An old song speaks of being blinded by the light. Part of our defensiveness is being afraid of the light, in ourselves and others. So we replace it with different glitter of cars. We veil the light by not acting out of awareness of the presence of God. Maybe blinders is another word picture, where we don't notice the pageant around us. The Serendipity Bible uses the image of cobwebs that need to be cleared out of our thoughts. The transfiguration is of course a preview of the resurrection. it is also a preview of the baptismal life. Baptismal life ended in persecution and martyrdom for many. At the same time, baptism and its promised forgiveness polish us.

 

Aging can be transfiguration . You look at an infant picture and barely can recognize that it is you. When you get older sometimes, you are shocked at the face staring at you in the mirror.Still, it's the same you and wonder why a nineteen year old face is not staring back from the mirror or where did that bulk come from when you are in a three way mirror

Inner transformations occur in us all of the time without any visible change in us. I think of the great movie Tender Mercies, where the little boy looks at himself in the rear view mirror to look for the change promised him when he would be baptized.  As Paul says in the Corinthian letters, the truth is that we have, indeed, we are, treasures in earthen vessels but the radiance is there, waiting to break through We talk about a diamond in the rough.

 

Sacramental transfiguration takes the ordinary and it open the extraordinary.The simple physical element becomes a gateway to the spiritual level.Next week, we will receive Communion. A table becomes a Communion table, a resting place for the divine. Bread and cup are touched by the Spirit to transport us into the heavenly realms, even though we may appear the same. How can we receive Communion and not be part of a transfiguration? How can we receive Communion and not be aware of a transfigured reality? In that sacrament we are reminded not to hide our light under a basket. We are led to see the light that is inside each one of us, trying to burst forth.

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