In the Transfiguration, the Apostles were both stunned and strengthened (complete text)

Second Sunday of Lent. Mar. 20, 2011
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Gospel: Matt. 17:1-9 The Transfiguration: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased
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Complete text: It is interesting that the Gospel today is about the Transfiguration—particularly since we will read this gospel a second time later in the year on the actual feast of the Transfiguration. But it actually makes all the sense in the world—because the Transfiguration of Jesus took place precisely so that we—the Apostles first and then we—would know who He is— be strengthened by that and then be encouraged and convinced to respond appropriately.

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So what was The Transfiguration? It was the moment when Jesus took three of the Apostles to a mountain and at some point while they are on this mountain Jesus moves apart from them and begins to glow. There is no other way to describe it. And the glow became so bright that it was like looking at the sun.

In the midst of all this there appears Moses and Elijah—two of the greatest of the Old Testament figures talking to him. Talking to him! The Apostles had never seen anything like this before in their lives. They had never even heard anything like this—this not something that ever happened to anyone. They were taken completely by surprise. And in that moment—for the first time—they finally understood—that this Jesus with whom they had been hanging for three years—was way more than they could possibly have thought.

They might not have concluded that this was the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity—but they surely knew that whatever they had thought of this Jesus—all bets were now off. This was something as close to the next world as they had ever come. No wonder they wanted to stay—and stay forever.

It was for them like a near-death experience where someone’s soul has momentarily left their body and it is all so unspeakably beautiful and good and holy, that they really do not want to come back. And Jesus was thus transfigured before their very eyes. The figure (the appearance of His humanity) is changed into the figure of his Divinity.

Now Jesus did not do this for His own sake—but for the sake of His people. Jesus intended to show His Apostles who He really was—to reveal to them that He was not just some magnetic and charismatic character—not just some itinerant preacher—not just some mysterious person who had somehow caught everyone up in His Mystery. In this glowing—in this dazzling light bright as the sun—Jesus intended to show them that He was somehow intimately connected to God— to the Divine. That He was indeed the Promised of Ages, the God of Moses, the God of Elijah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That He was God Himself.

We know that whatever Jesus had taught the Apostles for the previous few years—they only understood partially. They were never actually able to put it all together until after the Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost. But the Transfiguration was the way that Our Blessed Lord would set the Apostles conclusively on the way to eventual understanding.

As well, the Apostles were stunned. But they were also strengthened. The Transfiguration would keep them on board once they saw the horror and degradation and shame of the cross.

Imagine—their hero for the last three years—the one in whom they had placed their hopes for the Redemption of Israel—the One whom they dreamt was the messiah—the One who was going to save them and Israel and usher in a New World a new kingdom—is shortly about to be arrested, abused, tortured, mocked, degraded, bloodied, shamed spit upon by pagans and then pierced in His hands and feet and swung up on a cross.

(You want to know how horrible it all would be for them? Just imagine that instead of Jesus on that cross on that wall you saw a man strapped to an electric chair. That is how awful this was. Why do you think they all ran away after His arrest? They were horrified and would have been totally disillusioned had not Jesus shown them this Transfiguration as to who He really was.) But they stayed. Now they knew—because of the Transfiguration—there was something going on here that they needed to understand more deeply.

And they were rewarded for their patience because the Sunday after His execution—Glory be to God— He rose from the dead. Then forty days later—ascended into heaven and sent them into the world to tell everyone. The glory of the Transfiguration sets the stage for the rest of the Story.

The Transfiguration is our preparation too. For we need to know who this Jesus really is. And once we know that, then we must respond accordingly—by the way we live our lives, by the way we believe, by the way we practice our belief.

If Jesus is really God, and there really is a heaven to which we aspire, and there really is a hell which we must avoid— if to commit sin is put us in real danger of this hell and put heaven and eternal life in jeopardy for us then what is our response going to be? In other words if all this is really true, then there is no way that we should or could ignore it—or pretend that it has nothing to do with our lives.

I think of the time that Jesus said to Martha and Mary that He was the Resurrection and the Life, and that whoever believed in Him would live forever, and then He looks at them and says as point-blank as possible, “Do you believe this? Do you believe all this stuff?” Because if we do believe, then maybe there is some changing in our lives that needs to be done.

And Lent is the time to do that! Maybe there are habits of sin that need to be rooted out of our lives—and radically and completely. If we believe that Jesus is God and that He will bring us Eternal life—do we exemplify our belief by the things we do and the things we say? Or are there elements in our lives that we allow to put that salvation in danger? Is there some evil out there that we let in—just for a minute—and we will get back to holiness later?

Maybe it is the television or the Internet—so full of temptations and evil. Maybe that is what threatens to bring us down—not every day—but a couple days a week. “Oh sure, I believe in Jesus—but not so much that I cant look at this evil for a moment.” We need to remember the Transfiguration! Maybe it is the way we give in to our sharp tongues and we say things to people all the time that we wish we could take back—but it is always too late. If we really believed Jesus was God—if we really understood the implications of the Transfiguration, then maybe we would be making much more of an effort to be kind and sweet and generous— particularly when it is most difficult—especially with the difficult people in our lives.

If we really knew who this Jesus was and what He promised and if we really believed it: would we ever miss Mass? Would we ever forget to pray? Would we ever take that fateful drink or fatal dose? Not if we really believed. Not if we had seen His Transfiguration and concluded something about the way we must live our lives.

That is why the sacrament of confession is so important for our Lent—for our lives—Because if we believe that Jesus was Transfigured and we know therefore that He is God—the we conclude from this that we must respond appropriately and change our lives. And confession is the sacrament of change—the sacrament of transfiguration. The Transfiguration of Jesus transfigures not just Jesus but all of us. We all must be similarly transfigured.

So the first step to that is simple—get to confession—stop living in sin—stop accepting the dross and garbage and evil within our souls and homes—get it out—get it forgiven and get with God. We have all said it, and it is nonetheless wrong, “ I should get to confession one of these days”.

Well one of those days is today—right now or this week—or even Saturday. Certainly this Lent! Don’t waste another minute. With the arrival of Fr. Elvio we now have three priests—and the opportunities for confession, forgiveness, new beginnings—our Transfigurations are multiplied by three.

That is how the Transfiguration is important to us. Once we see Jesus in all His glory, then we will know how that glory can be ours as well. We will know how to respond in our lives. We need to choose for God.