Sharing in Jesus’ Transfiguration
Already bruised by the skirmishes of life, we grown-ups let kids take refuge in a world of dreams, make-believes and incredible feats made easy by super-heroes. We do not want them to be scarred and traumatized by an early brush with the real world in which we must live. Alas, the world of grown-ups reserves many unpleasant surprises. At times, unceremoniously, we can be thrusted into surreal situations in which we would feel numb, disoriented, enveloped in darkness, trudging hesitantly through thick clouds.
This is what happened to Abram (Genesis 15:5-18). Having advanced in years and being still heirless, his world was relentlessly filling up with dishonor and hopelessness. Furthermore, his wife Sarah was way past her childbearing age. Thus, when God intervened with the incredible promise of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky above, Abram felt overwhelmed; his very breath of life was almost snuffed out of him. He fell into a trance and was shrouded by terrifying darkness because this new, previously unknown God was exacting from him the intolerable demand of trusting him to deliver something totally impossible even for mighty gods. Thus, the real reason why Abram fell into this scary trance was that he realized that if he had allowed his heart to doubt God’s incredible promise, he had agreed that he would be split in half just as he had split in half the heifer, the ram, the turtledove and the pigeon between which the divine flaming torch had passed.
Similarly, Peter, John and James found themselves overwhelmed, frightened, thrusted into the surreal world of the transfigured Christ, enveloped by a thick cloud which forced intense fright back into their hearts. (Luke 9: 28-36) Their whole lives must have flashed before their startled eyes. Just over a couple of years earlier, they had taken the biggest risk of their life. They had left family, friends and all their possessions behind, and joined Jesus, the rabbi from Nazareth, who had lit in them the prospect of a much better future. Yet now, on mount Tabor, he was talking to Moses and Elijah about his painful, bloody exodus, marked by shame, torture and the cruelest type of death.
What should they make of what they were witnessing: on the one side Jesus was transfigured, glorious, triumphant. But, on the other, that strange conversation about his exodus rang ominous and scary. Had they made a terrible mistake?
From time to time, a cloud of thick darkness envelopes people of all walks of life, of all financial brackets, of all faiths. Perhaps a similar cloud has already enveloped us as well. I think that the readings for the Second Sunday of Lent are designed to set us on solid ground, and to prepare us to handle the clouds and the thick darkness that life has in store for our future.
The first reassuring element is found in the fact that our darkness will never be as thick as the one that enveloped Abram. Deep down, we already know that. We know that, in our life, the way of the cross is less lonely, less hard, less frightening because Jesus walks ahead of us. Jesus has taken the place of that heifer, ram, turtledove and pigeon split in half and consumed by the fire from above.
Our exodus, united to his exodus, will have the most glorious ending. The cross of our Savior will dispel the thickest darkness during the Easter Vigil, and beyond.
Jesus’ transfiguration prepared Peter, John and James for the scandal of his disfiguration on the cross, during the darkest moment of his life. Similarly, God’s word assures us, today, that our inevitable disfiguration, caused by something as frightening as senseless cruelty or dehumanizing greed, or something as common as human miseries, pettiness, fears and indifference, will be followed by our transfiguration in union with the risen Lord.
Whenever we sense approaching darkness or are entering into a frightening cloud of uncertainties, we must have etched in the back of our mind that Jesus our Lord is risen; and he is victorious over all evils. We count on his infinite power to keep us from becoming the victims of senseless cruelty, dehumanizing greed or unspeakable tragedies. But even in these extreme cases we know that nothing will keep us from sharing in his transfiguration:
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
For passing clouds caused by life’s serious challenges, we can find reassurance and share in Jesus’ transfiguration in the sacrament of Reconciliation, in Holy Communion or by repeating to ourselves words of life which have already helped countless believers across the centuries. Here are the most common: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. (Psalm 23:1) Into your hands I commend my spirit. (Luke 23:46) If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. (Philippians 4:13) “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” (Mark 10:27) “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
