Have you known anyone who was transfigured? In fiction we can think of the character of Jean Valjean from the book and play Les Miserables. He is a paroled prisoner, embittered and angry at the society that would condemn a man for the crime of trying to help his starving family. The local bishop provides him a meal and a bed and Valjean steals the bishop’s silver as he sneaks out during the night. He is caught but when the police return him to the bishop’s house to confront the crime, the bishop insists that he gave Valjean the silver and presses him to accept as well the silver candlesticks that he left behind so that he can begin a new life. This act of kindness transfigures him out of his bitterness into a life of generosity and compassion. Transfiguration. There was a young boy who attended vacation Bible school in Valley Green that I saw transfigured. We called him Tiger because of his outsized personality. But Tiger was hard to control, disruptive in class, aggressive toward others. That went on until Sister Regina started calling him by his given name, Dwayne. Her treating him with respect and dignity as an individual transfigured him from Tiger into Dwayne and he became a model to the other students. Transfiguration. My niece Kaitlyn has been transfigured. She has Down’s Syndrome and growing up was shy and retiring. A few years ago she became a member of a local cheer club. (I had no idea that there even was such a thing as a cheer club until then.) Now she is full of confidence and self-esteem. Being a valued member of the US Special Abilities National Cheer Team has transfigured Kaitlyn. The fictional and the real transfigurations are all about becoming more alive, more fully human. You have probably witnessed such transfigurations in your own life.
The story of the transfiguration of Jesus on “a high mountain” serves as a model to help us understand how such transfigurations happens. Transfiguration is not about changing from one thing into another. Rather, it is recognizing who one truly is. On that holy mountain Jesus was recognized as the beloved Son of God, for so he was. It took the Old Testament witness of Moses and Elijah; it took the bright cloud of the awareness of God’s presence; it took the heavenly voice proclaiming “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” but eventually Peter, James and John got it. They got it that Jesus was not just a good story teller and someone to turn to if you need your loaves and fishes multiplied. Jesus was Son of God, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life. He was those things before climbing the mountain but it was on the mountain that they recognized him. Any transfiguration is ultimately like that: an uncovering of what was already there but not seen. Each one of us is made in God’s image and likeness. Each of us is precious in God’s sight. Each of us is a child of God. Sometimes things in our lives can obscure or blur our true identity. At our baptism God made a claim on us saying you are my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased. The moment of transfiguration happens when this, our true identity, is revealed.
Why is transfiguration so hard? The story of Jesus on the holy mountain suggests that the reason is fear. The gospel relates that Peter, James and John, at the moment of transfiguration, “fell prostrate and were very much afraid.” What is so frightful about seeing the true identity of Jesus? Which has as its corollary – what is frightening about ourselves recognizing our true identity as children of God? To understand that fear let’s think about the current scary monster on the horizon – the Covid 19 corona virus. People are frightened at this strange new disease. As of yesterday, it had infected 400 people in the US and there have been 19 deaths. Very scary. But what strikes me as odd is that according to the Center for Disease Control so far 280,000 people have been hospitalized due to the flu this season and 16,000 have died including 103 children. Why is that not as scary? It is because we know flu, we are familiar with it, we deal with the flu every year. The scary thing is the unknown, the unfamiliar. Peter, James and John knew Jesus as someone who walked the dusty roads of Galilee. To meet him as the transfigured Son of God was frightening. The reality is that we know ourselves, our family member, our friends and neighbors as ordinary blokes, just schlepping our way through life. The fear comes once we realize that as children of God we are blessed beyond belief Our deepest fear is not that we are ordinary. Our deepest fear is that as the transfigured children of God we are called to more – more love, more generosity, more compassion, more forgiveness.
One more thing: what are we to make of Jesus telling the apostles “Do not tell the vision to anyone.” Why not? When you visit the Grand Canyon you want to tell people about it. When you see a new born baby you want to talk about it. If you bumped into Beyonce in the grocery story you’d send the selfie with her around to everyone. So why does Jesus not want Peter, James and John not to tell the story of what happened on the holy mountain? The answer is a question of timing. My little brother, about age 5, said to my Father once, “Where do babies come from?” Without even looking up from his newspaper my Dad said, “Cincinnati, Ohio.” That answer seemed to satisfy my brother so he went away content. Timing – at some future date a better answer would be required but for a 5 year old that was enough. Timing – don’t tell the vision until the cross. Don’t tell the vision until the triumph over sin and death at Easter. Don’t tell the vision until people understand that what is transfigured includes not just the glory but also the grief involved in being human, not just the crown but also the cross. Transfiguration embraces all that we are as human beings.
