Transfiguration

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

- Luke 9:28-36

There are many things written about this moment, the Transfiguration, and many things that we can find written into this text of a highly symbolic nature. Moses and Elijah, respectively, reflect the Law and the Prophets. The cloud that covers the disciples is reminiscent of the cloud on Mt. Sinai, and leading Moses and the Israelites to a new land - a symbol of God's presence. The voice coming from the cloud also a reflection of the story of Moses and the leading of the Israelites through the wilderness, and God's extraordinary presence to them. Peter's asking to build three "dwellings" is a recollection of the Festival of Tabernacles (or Booths) which is a festival celebrating the coming of a new Kingdom, which would make sense given Peter's religious background and understanding of this moment. Finally, again paralleling the journey of Moses and the Israelites, the word "departure" in Greek is exodos - Jesus' "departure" from Jerusalem (his crucifixion and resurrection) is the exodus into that new kingdom.

For the Orthodox church (I am currently visiting Athens, Greece), this is a very special event because it is considered a theophany, a revelation of the Divine, and especially of Jesus' divinity. But it's also important in the sense that Jesus' transfiguration in this divine light is a reflection of our own transformation to which we aspire, and also a foreshadowing of all those who will dwell in the kingdom. This glorification is seen as a reflection of life in that kingdom - and Moses and Elijah as the presence of the communion of saints in that kingdom, where God is the "God of the living and not the dead." We are all unified in that light and that cloud, all hearers of the word from that voice, and all witnesses to this revelation of the divine nature of Christ.

The icons of the Transfiguration portray this light as something different from what we normally experience as light in the world - it's given a blue tinge to symbolize its divine, ineffable origin. (See icon above, by Theophanes the Greek, late 14th cent.)

But I think the most important part of this story for us all, today, regardless of our religious backgrounds, is that this light is meant for us all. This light, with its divine origin, is something into which we can all enter, and at moments of transfiguration in our own lives, we seek its divine energy, resources and rejuvenation for ourselves. At times when we are alone and pray, we too ask for such transfigurative and revelatory experiences. We ask for illumination in the form of wisdom, or a better way to live our lives, or the way forward through our own wrestlings with difficult choices. We seek the strength and resourcefulness to put new plans from "outside the box" into action, or help in exchanging our own behaviors or old ways of thinking for something better. If we seek that which the Divine wishes for us to do in order to bear this light in the world, we also seek such experience, however subtle or less than earth-shattering, except perhaps to ourselves as a saving grace. Our day to day experience of life as part of this kingdom must also include our own transfiguration through time, through our lives, one moment at a time. We too, may enter into participation in this kingdom through this divine light, at whatever level or corner of our lives - no matter how mundane - in which we need that light to shine for us.