March 13, 2022
My dear family of God,
The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels. (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). Luke’s account is however unique because there are certain elements about this story that are found only in the Gospel of Luke. Whereas all three Gospels tell us that the Transfiguration took place on a mountain, it is only Luke who tells us what Jesus was doing on the mountain. Jesus took with Him Peter, John and James and went up to the mountain to pray.
Jesus praying on the mountain is an important detail because it gives us a window into Jesus’ prayer life. In an earlier account (Luke 6:12), Luke tells us that Jesus went up to the mountains to pray and He spent all night praying to God. Luke wants his audience to appreciate the fact that Jesus was a man of prayer. He had a prayer life. Jesus loved to pray in the mountains. In the scriptures the mountains are regarded as sacred places where God enters into Covenants with His people. The mountain is a place of encounter where humans encounter the divine. Do we have a prayer life? When do we pray? And where do we pray? These are questions we need to reflect on this Second Sunday of Lent.
Luke also tells us that as Jesus was praying, the appearance of His countenance was altered, and His raiment became dazzling white. Jesus’ face being illuminated with light and His clothes transforming into dazzling white tells us not only of His divine presence but also a foretaste of the Resurrection. We read in the Scriptures that in the resurrection, the righteous will shine like the sun, and they will be like stars in heaven. (Daniel 12:3, Matthew 13:43). So, Jesus’ Transfiguration is both an unveiling of His divinity and an anticipation of the glory of the Resurrection.
The Transfiguration of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, just like the Baptism of Jesus, is also a Trinitarian mystery. It is a revelation of the triune God. First, God the Father speaks from heaven and identifies Jesus as His Son. We have the Father and the Son revealed to us. Where then is the Holy Spirit? In the Transfiguration, the revelation of the Holy Spirit is not as explicit as in the Baptism of Jesus where the Spirit descended like a dove.
The Spirit is present in the cloud that overshadowed Jesus and the three Apostles. The language of a cloud “overshadowing” is seen in the story of the Annunciation. When the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, he says these words: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” (Luke 1:35). The Greek word used in this context for “overshadow” is the same word used for the cloud that overshadows Jesus and the Apostles on the mountain of Transfiguration. So, the glory cloud is a visible manifestation of the third person of the Trinity, who is the Holy Spirit.
Finally, why Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration and not any other Old Testament prophet or figure? Well, in the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah encountered God on mount Sinai but couldn’t see His face because no one sees the face of God and lives. When Moses said to God “show me Your face,” God’s reply was “you can’t see My face.” When Elijah encountered God, he had to wrap his cloak around his face. Well, the desire of their hearts to see the face of God is met on the mountain of Transfiguration, because now, in the Incarnation, God has a human face. We can now see the face of God in Jesus and live.
Do have a grace-filled Lenten season. Shalom!
Fr. James Ahenkora
