Lk 928-36 (2 lent
C)
Context. - Jesus has just revealed himself in the preceding passage as the suffering messiah, a Messiah who will have to die on the cross before entering into the glory of his kingdom. In this episode, it is precisely the glory, which the Transfiguration will show to the disciples so as to clarify the meaning of the impending drama.
“This
episode now comes along in the Lucan Gospel not so much as a confirmation of
the passion but as a confirmation of the last part of the announcement, viz.
that it will not end solely with suffering, repudiation, and death. Luke has
sharpened what was in Mark by the introduction of Jesus’ glory” (J. Fitzmyer, Luke
794).
In another key, this episode represents the final answer to Herod’s question concerning the identity of Jesus (Lk 9,9): Jesus is not only the Messiah, he is the Son, the Chosen one.
v.28: Peter and John and James: Jesus reserves this revelation to the three disciples who have come nearest to his inner mystery, the three whom he has made witnesses to the raising up of Jairus’ daughter just shortly before this section (8,51-56).
- went up the mountain to pray. And as he was praying…All this is peculiar to Luke. He seems to suggest that the Transfiguration was the fruit of Jesus’ prayer. As elsewhere in Lk, Jesus’ prayer precedes an event of importance.
“The tradition that associates the transfiguration with mount Tabor can only be traced back as far as Origen (Exegetica in Psalmos, Ps 88,13; PG 12, 1548; possibly Pseudo-Origen)” (J. Fitzmyer, Luke 798).
v.29: the appearance of his countenance was altered: The word “was transfigured” (metarphothe) of Mk 9,2 = Mt 17,2 seems to have been deliberately avoided and replaced by a long periphrase. Perhaps Luke felt that he had to prevent his Gentile-Christian readers from seeing any kind of analogy between this event and stories of metamorphoses in pagan mythology.
vv.30-31: two men…Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory: This notion seems to announce either “the two men in dazzling apparel” of the Resurrection narrative (42,4), or again “the two men in white robes: (Act 1,10) who explain the ascension to the apostles. This seems quite in line with Luke’s views. Elijah was taken up to heaven (2 k 2,11; 1M 2,58; Si 48,9); on the other hand, in the OT (Dt 34,5) the death of Moses is surrounded by mystery, a fact, which has no doubt prompted the well known apocrypha The Assumption of Moses; finally, the conclusion of Christ’s sojourn on earth is called by Luke an “assumption” (analempsis), the same word as in the case of Elijah (see 9,51; cf. Ac 1,2.11.22; Mk 16,19). All these data taken together can lead one to think that in Lk also, this scene is above all a prefiguration of the Ascension. The cloud, so much emphasized by Luke, is to be likened to that of the Ascension (Act 1,9), which one day will permanently conceal Jesus from the eyes of men.
- spoke of his departure (exodos), which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem: Here the connection Passion-glory (Luke is the only evangelist to use the term doxa, glory, in this occasion) reminds the one of Jn 12,27-28. On the other hand, exegetes do not agree on the exact meaning of the term exodos. Many translate it by “end” or “death” (a rare usage, but found in Josephus, Ant., 4,8,2). In itself, it means “departure” or “exit.” Not without reason some translate it literally by “exodus” and think that Luke would have seen as a New Exodus the whole sequence of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension. But this latter interpretation remains rather problematic.
vv.32-33: heavy with sleep…let us make three booths: another possible allusion to Gethsemane where the disciples are overcome by sleep (22,44-46) while something decisive is happening to Jesus. Similarly, Peter’s suggestion to prolong the privilege time of the Transfiguration recalls the Emmaus pilgrim’s request that Jesus prolong among them his consoling presence.
v.34: a cloud came and overshadowed them: The pronouns are ambiguous. Most critics believe that Luke means that the disciples, with the three other actors of the scene, are overshadowed by the cloud. This interpretation would account for the “fear” of the disciples, who recognize the OT symbol of the “cloud” as accompanying a theophany (cf. Ex 16,10; 19,9.16; 24,15-16; Lv 16,2; Nb 11,25; etc.) and as the “dwelling” (Shekinah) of God whose face/glory no one can see without dying. Seeing that they are covered by the Shekinah itself, the disciples would have been afraid of dying.
v.35: This is my Son, my Chosen: Similar words are heard at the baptism of Jesus: “You are my beloved Son” (3,22). Here the voice of God is addressed to the disciples. It reveals to them the mystery of Jesus: he is the Son, the Chosen One. This last title, which will reappear at the cross (23,35: “let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One”), evokes the Servant of Yahweh of Is 42,1 – the prophet who brings light to the nations and who will redeem by his death the sins of crowds.
The world of ideas is divided into two main types of men: those who are incapable of conceiving any kind of power outside the closed universe in which they conduct their research; and those who are spontaneously open to what is beyond mere appearances and who, through their spiritual intuition, poetic or mystical, reach out to the transcendent values. No doubt these two types do not exist in an unmixed state, and each one of us belongs to both of them in varying proportions. Are more spiritual than materialistic? Are we shocked to see the invisible presence of God suddenly becoming visible in the transfigured body of Jesus?
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It is a constant law of faith that the glory of the Lord is granted to us, during moments of deep spiritual consolation, only in fleeting brightness: with enough radiance to guarantee its reality, but to brief for freedom to be constrained. During the entire period of our earthly testing, God remains for the believer the hidden God (but not the absent God!) This, precisely because he is the Father and he wants to be loved by free hearts.
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The Transfiguration of Jesus is the response of the Father to the loving acceptance Jesus made of the passion. For indeed, just a few days before, Jesus announced to his apostles his impending passion. He is perfectly aware that he is marching towards death. He accepts this death, which the Father has wanted for the salvation of the world. And, in answer to this loving obedience of his son, the father transfigures Jesus with light and glory the same will happen shortly in Jerusalem. Jesus will there drink the cup of agony and death in loving obedience to the father’s will. And the latter, in answer to this love, will raise his Son from the dead and establish him in light and glory. The same holds true in Christian life for each one of us. If obedience to the father’s will can sometimes seem as painful as death, let us be assured that such an obedience will one day be for us a source of indescribable joy. And even during this life we will experience the peace of Jesus. With him we will be able to say: “He who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him” (Jn 8,29).
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It is during his prayer that Jesus is transfigured. Likewise saints have often appeared transfigured in their prayer and adoration. This is not surprising. Prayer is an encounter with the Father, it configures us to him, at least spiritually if not physically, as in the case of Jesus and the saints. If we remain faithful to prayer, it is certain that God will communicate to us already in this life something of his peace, of his luminous joy, of his happiness.
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After the transfiguration, the disciples once again found Jesus in his ordinary appearance, and normal life resumed its course. And only after the resurrection did they again see Jesus in his glory. For us too, after great consolation, after beautiful liturgical celebrations, which fill us with fervor, we find once again the dryness of ordinary life. If we persevere in his company despite the crosses we may encounter on the way, then we will assuredly find him once again some day, and this in an intimacy far more fulfilling than the one we sometimes experience on earth. For then we will see him without any veil, as he is. Then we too undergo a transfiguration, which will last all through eternity.