Fr Lino Moreira OSB
Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves (Mt 17:1). What mountain was this? The evangelist deliberately makes no mention of any specific location – be it Mount Tabor, Mount Carmel or the Hermon – in order to emphasise that Jesus and his disciples climbed to the top of a new Sinai or a new Horeb. And on this holy mountain, Jesus was transfigured before his three chosen witnesses: his face shone like the sun and his garments became as white as light (Mt 17:2).
Six days earlier, at Caesarea Philippi, Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God (cf. Mt 16:16); now he and the two sons of Zebedee were able to see what had remained invisible until then, namely, that Jesus being one with his heavenly Father, was himself God from God, and Light from Light (cf. Nicene Creed). We can detect a reference to this experience in the Prologue to Saint John’s gospel, where we read: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). And also in the Second Letter of Peter we find a statement very much in the same vein: we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (2 P 1:16).
So the three witnesses of the Transfiguration saw Jesus’ divinity shining out of his humanity. They saw beforehand the glory of the risen Lord, and experienced an anticipation of Jesus’ second coming at the end of time. In fact this may well have been the fulfilment of Jesus’ prophecy, when he declared rather mysteriously: “Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Mt 16:28).
What the disciples saw on the holy mountain was confirmed by the voice of God speaking from the cloud that overshadowed them: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 17:5). Here God the Father reaffirms what he had already said to his Anointed in Psalm two, namely: “You are my son, today I have begotten you” (Psalm 2:7). But the second part of God’s declaration is taken from the prophet Isaiah, who opened the first Canticle of the Suffering Servant with the
words: “Behold, my Servant, whom I uphold; my chosen one in whom my soul delights” (Is 42:1). In this way it was revealed on the mountain of the Transfiguration that Jesus was both the Son of God and the Son of Man, and that, as the Son of Man, he had to follow the path marked out for the Suffering Servant, and give his life as a sin offering (cf. Is 53:10). Jesus fulfilled this mission when he laid down his life upon the Cross as a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the whole world. And
after he had accomplished in Jerusalem all that was required of him as God’s faithful Servant, he entered for ever into his glory (cf. Lc 24:26), opening the way of salvation to all who believe in him.
We can say, then, that Jesus’ garments of light at the Transfiguration also point to the future glory of those who firmly confess that he is the Son of God, and are baptised in his name. Indeed, in a vision of the end times, the author of the Book of Revelation saw the great multitude of the elect from every nation, race, tribe and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (cf. Rev 7:9). And he heard one of the elders say: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14).
That means that, through baptism, the believers are united with Jesus’
Passion, which washes away every stain of sin – and being thus restored to their original innocence, they are clothed with Jesus in light. So we ourselves have become light, when we were baptised in the name of Jesus. And since this mystery of our union with the risen Lord, the Light of the World (cf. Jn 8:12), was made manifest on the mountain of the Transfiguration, we needn’t be afraid to glory in the Cross of Christ (cf. Ga 6:14), and to suffer for the gospel, whenever necessary, relying on the power of God (cf. 2 Tm 1:8) who can make us win the palm of victory.