Second Sunday of Lent -A
The Second Sunday of Lent offers a familiar story of Jesus ascending Mount Tabor with Peter, James, and John. Suddenly, Jesus was transformed before them, and Moses and Elijah, prophets of the past, appeared. The story is chosen every second Sunday of Lent, and countless commentaries have been written about the event, basically with the same themes. They have all helped add levels of understanding as to what God wishes to reveal to us.
Some writers have pointed to the inclusion of Moses and Elijah symbolizing the continuity between the past and the present expression of God and the last revelation through the person of Jesus Christ. Others have rightly noted that the event was to prepare the Apostles present to accept the necessity of Jesus’ suffering and death and His rising on the third day. It was meant to address the scandal of the cross. In worldly terms, suffering and death are transformed into a divine method of reconciliation, blossoming ultimately into eternal life. By this very fact, the Apostles present would have their faith bolstered and pass it on to their brothers in faith who might struggle with the contradiction of the cross.
All these explanations of the Transfiguration presuppose Jesus’ dual natures (human and divine in one person) by focusing on his divinity and His closeness to his Father. We remember that before Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, he was baptized in the Jordan River. A dove descended upon Him, and the voice of the Father was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” No doubt about the connection between the human and divine during his baptism.
Similarly, on top of Mount Tabor, the same message came from the heavens. Instead of a dove descending, a cloud engulfed those present, affirming that Jesus is the Son of God. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” The vision of Jesus in dazzling white clothes was not a dream but a glimpse of what divinity looks like. Without the gift of the Transfiguration’s vision, the Apostles lacked the faith to see Jesus’ divinity while they were with him.
The gift came with a warning to keep it to themselves until the Son of Man had been raised from the dead. Jesus stressed there can be no confusion. Although, on the surface, divinity and life in God are glorious and fantastic, to enjoy them to the fullest, a person must journey by embracing, in their own life, the suffering and death of Jesus.
For Christians, the story of the Transfiguration should not be far from the mind. The Transfiguration can explain the whole rationale for life and, for that matter, the season of Lent. Starting from the conclusion, where the end of every Christian’s life is to live eternally, symbolized so very well by Jesus’ dazzling white appearance. What the Apostles saw was perfection. We, too, are called to see perfection and become perfect through grace.
The brilliance of a body free from corruption and death retains the semblance of the earthly body. Still, it is transformed into something greater, immune to eternal death, and shining as the brightest of luminous lights. Lent reminds us that the goal of living with God forever is a far different concern than that which we engage in daily. It takes spiritual insight and faith to practice a pure form of delayed gratification of earthly pleasures and to believe that God will transform us, in part here, and totally changed in heaven.
Sacrifice is also a vital part of the plan of salvation. When Jesus willingly accepted his suffering and death, he charted out a path for his followers to walk. The cross integral in Jesus’ earthly life is vital to us as well. He reminds us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”
The Second Sunday of Lent urges us to forgo the issues of the world for a time, giving us time to ground ourselves in the vision of our future glory through Christ our Lord. Amen.