This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.

Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

- Mark 9:2-13

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  The expression "after six days" indicates there were six days in between the events of the previous reading (which included Peter's confession and Christ's message to the disciples that He will suffer), and the events of the Transfiguration.  This gives us a sense of fullness, of something beyond the usual seven-day reckoning of a week.  Luke tells us it was "about eight days" after Peter's confession.  In either case, we have the fullness of the "eighth day" -- that is, the day of Resurrection, which is presaged here.  What is revealed is the truth of eternity, in contrast to His temporal suffering which Jesus has already predicted to them.  Origen comments that in six days the world was created, but Christ is transcendent of this, and in Him is not only that which is seen in time but also that which is unseen and eternal.  In the revelation given as Jesus is transfigured before them, these three disciples, Christ's "inner circle" or those of strongest faith among the disciples, are given the truth of the person of Christ, the Son of God.  The light that they perceive as His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, as the text tells us, is of an ineffable quality, something beyond normal sunlight.  In many icons, it is therefore depicted with a touch of blue, indicating its spiritual origin.

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  My study bible tells us that Moses represents the law and all those who have died.  Elijah represents the prophets and -- since he did not experience death (2 Kings 2:11) -- all those who are alive in Christ.  My study bible states that the presence of Moses and Elijah indicates that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament.  Moreover, their presence manifests and reveals the communion of saints (Hebrews 12:1), present to us in Christ.  Moses and Elijah are immediately recognizable to the disciples, and they speak with Christ.  After this experience of eternity present in Christ, the disciples are prepared to understand Jesus' words that "Elijah has come already" (see verses 11-13, at the end of today's reading), meaning John the Baptist.  My study bible says that their eyes have been opened to the fact that the prophecy of Malachi regarding the return of Elijah before the Messiah refers to one who comes "in the spirit and power of Elijah," rather than to Elijah himself (see Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 17:10-13).

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  Peter's response seems utterly nonsensical and out of place.  But truly, it shows he is grasping toward the truth of what is being revealed here.  The Feast of Tabernacles (or Tents) was the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, commemorating the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness toward the promised land.  Peter has understood the presence and manifestation of the Kingdom, the true fulfillment of the "promised land," although we're told that he speaks of building tabernacles because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.

And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.   Here in this revelation of what is eternally present, is a manifestation of the Trinity.   While Jesus is transfigured with a transcendent light (1 John 1:5). a cloud overshadows all of them,  as the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness -- as my study bible puts it, the visible sign of God being extraordinarily present.  The Holy Spirit is present in the dazzling light that surrounds Christ's person  and overshadows the whole mountain.  The Father's voice declares that Christ is His beloved Son, the "is" indicating an eternal present, and gives an unconditional command  to "Hear Him!"   That suddenly, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves, gives us a sense in which we are witness to this revelation of eternity, outside of time and so always present with us -- particularly where Christ is present (Matthew 18:20) -- but unseen.

Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."  Once more, Jesus reminds the disciples of His suffering that is to come.  We can only imagine the great contrast to what has just been revealed to them!  But they know He is the Messiah, and that it is John the Baptist who was Elijah returned in spirit, and who also suffered (see this reading).

The Transfiguration puts us at once into the realm of the eternal present.  That is, the realities revealed here are always with us, have always been, and will always be.  They are outside of time and not subject to it; this is the place from which what we know as created, and within time, has come.  It is transcendent of the Creation.  Little do we realize it, but when we are in the presence of worship, as Christ has said, this reality is also present with us.  Jesus taught, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).  He also taught, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21).  The Greek word translated as "within" takes on the additional meaning of "among" -- and, as is frequent in Scripture, both apply.   In the ancient liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, still celebrated and serving as the classical framework for Christian worship, we sing the seraphic hymn witnessed by Isaiah:  "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:1-3).  Isaiah saw this presence in the temple, and this reality is present to us also in our liturgies.  The eternal is with us, and so therefore is the communion of saints -- where all may pray for all, seen and unseen -- and the realities revealed in the Transfiguration.  It is perhaps for this reason that we find, in church, a kind of comfort that exists nowhere else, and is beyond explanation or our normal understanding or perception.  Perhaps, also, this is why the act of forgiveness may be possible during a worship service:  we stand in the presence of the eternal, in which all temporal things are reconciled in a timeless framework whose limits and dimensions we cannot conceive and which is beyond our knowing.   In this understanding, forgiveness or "giving up" may take place, without the exclusion of God's justice and mercy.  What hurts and harms us today may find itself reconciled in that eternity, for all things are reconciled in Christ who is revealed in today's reading.  Even if we cannot be close to someone who has harmed us today, in the eternity of the presence of Christ there may yet be reconciliation, and so forgiveness at least is possible now.  The gift we are given in the Transfiguration is incalculable, for it shows us that we are presented with that eternity which contains all things, as St. Paul tells us:  "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:19-20).  For when we are overwhelmed with grief or sorrow, we may come to this transcendent place and find relief in what takes us away from only our temporal experience, and gives us as well the presence of the fullness of eternity in the here and the now.   And that includes the love of God, God's truth and beauty and goodness.  Let us consider the infinite gift that we are given!  The Feast of the Transfiguration is traditional celebrated on August 6th; let us bear it with us and within us.  In the Greek, the word for transfiguration is "metamorphosis."  Let us bear in mind that we are invited in to this place of eternal presence so that we, too, may make the changes we need to make.