About eight days after this conversation he took Peter,
John, and James with him and went up into the hills to pray. And while he was
praying the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became dazzling
white. Suddenly there were two men talking with him; these were Moses and
Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, the destiny he was to
fulfil in Jerusalem.
(Luke 9:28-31,
New English Bible)
We seek to live into the fullness of life, becoming
transformed into the image of God.
In this way, we live the life of Christ, for he is the
living image of the invisible God.
In the Old Testament reading for the feast of the
Transfiguration (Exodus
34:29-35) Moses is on the mountain. The glory of the Lord on the mountain
was shining on Moses’ face, but the end was veiled, the goal obscured, the
destiny incomplete: the purpose was not yet fulfilled.
In the Gospel (Luke
9:28-36) we encounter Jesus shining, and the veil removed: the telos (end, goal, destiny) is
manifest in his transfiguration – and ours.
God’s purpose is revealed: in Christ the reconciliation of
all things to himself (Col 1:20).
Jesus discloses that he must go down the mountain to his exodos (departure, death) from
Jerusalem. His glorification is complete when he is crucified, died, raised,
and ascends.
Crucifixion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension: these mark the
mystery of Christ we live.
We the disciples are left to carry on his ministry as agents
of the reconciliation God accomplishes through Christ.
May we be transfigured so that we may reflect his glory.
JRL+
“the goal
of all religious practice, transformation into the image of God” (Pheme
Perkins, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1, Louisville: Westminster John Knox
Press, 2009, 451.)
