The only instance in the Gospel where Jesus gives
His apostles a glimpse of His “other side”, that is, His divinity, is the feast
we celebrate today – His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. He was transfigured
before the very eyes of His three apostles Peter, James and John. Going back a
little before this glorious event, we could find the profession of Peter in
Caesarea Philippi: You are Christ, the Son of the Living God! After Peter’s
profession, Jesus replied with Peter’s designation as the Petrus, the Rock, upon whom the Church of Christ will be built.
However, along with this great task entrusted to Peter was Jesus’ revelation of
the horrible truth of the true meaning of becoming the Christ: He must go to
Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the
scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Why
did Christ transfigure prior to His passion and death? What is the significant
connection of Christ’s transfiguration with what will happen to Him in
Jerusalem?
Jesus’ Transfiguration prepares His
fulfilling of the Old Testament PREFIGURATION. Jesus is the Son of God, the
Eternal Logos, who was with God and
is God (John 1). After the fall of the first man, God has already promised a
Savior to deliver all of humanity from sin and death. The Savior-Messiah was
prefigured by God, who will strike the serpent’s head (see Genesis 3:15). He
was further anticipated through the brazen saraph serpent which was raised high
on the desert, so that all who were bitten by the poisonous serpents might be
healed. He was foreshadowed by the Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for the
salvation of all the firstborn of the Israelites. He was anticipated by Moses
in the desert and on Mount Sinai. He was expected and heralded by the prophet
Elijah. And here He was, standing before His apostles and revealing Himself as
the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophesies and prefiguration. But the real
fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies is realized on the cross. On the
cross, Jesus is the Brazen Saraph who healed us from the poison of the Ancient
Serpent. On the cross, Jesus became the Passover Lamb who took away the sins of
the world and restored us to our original relationship as children of the
Father.
Jesus’ Transfiguration was His epilogue for
His nearing DISFIGURATION. In fulfilling His salvific mission, God has let
Himself share in the disfigured humanity. He stripped Himself with His divine
majesty and took up our mortal figure. He allowed Himself to participate in our
brokenness, with the exception of sin. Jesus is the Suffering Servant who “had
no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us to him” (Isaiah
53:2). He, who is the only Perfect Figure of divinity, permitted Himself to be
disfigured so that we who are disfigured might be transfigured into a new
creation: redeemed, graced and destined for eternal life! In His offering of
Himself to be disfigured on the cross, He has reconciled everything and made
all things new. On the cross, the Disfigured One has restored our disfigured
humanity. On the cross, the Disfigured Son of God has reinstated our defaced relationship
as sons and daughters of the Father.
Jesus’ Transfiguration continues today
through His perpetuated TRANSFIGURATION in us through the Eucharist. The
apostles might have been in terrible awe to see their Rabbi transfigure before them. For some time now, they have seen
Him as He is: a carpenter-turned-Rabbi.
Yes, they may have seen miracles and signs from Him. But never did they see Him
as they saw Him on Mount Tabor. However, the greatest transfiguration of our
Lord was not actually that one that happened on the mountain. It was actually
His transfiguration on the Upper Room, where He gave His Body and Blood in the
Eucharist. Jesus is not with us physically, but He willed to remain with us
through the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, we are also invited to have our
own little daily transfigurations in life. We are challenged to translate our
attendance to the celebration of the Mass into authentic love to God and our
neighbors. We become whom we receive says
the song. And so, the Eucharist turns us into God’s living witness of His love.
What,
then, is the significant connection of Christ’s transfiguration with salvation?
The Transfiguration event is the
foretaste of Christ’s glory, which reaches its climax on Jesus’ sacrifice on the
cross and perpetuated in the Eucharist!
