Revelation and Change Through Encounter (Lk 9:28b-36)

Second Sunday of Lent, Year C (2016)           

            Many of us have been changed in a profound way by an encounter with someone or by some event.  For Peter, James and John, the transfiguration of Jesus was that kind of experience.  These disciples were profoundly changed by their encounter with Jesus during his transfiguration on the mountain top.  But, there are really two transfiguration stories in Scripture.  One is about the mountain top experience of Jesus, and the other is about the mountain top experience of Moses.  Both stories are about revelation and change through encounter, and both have spiritual meaning for our own lives today. 

            The transfiguration of Moses takes place on Mt. Sinai where the Lord speaks to Moses and forms a covenant with the Israelites.  During this encounter, the power of God shines on Moses and he is transfigured.  His face becomes radiant because God has empowered Moses to speak on his behalf.  Moses is to proclaim the covenant in terms of God’s patience and mercy due to his fidelity and boundless love for his people.  For Moses, this is revelation and change through encounter!   

            When Moses comes down from the mountain with the stone tablets, Aaron and the leaders of Israel see the shining face of Moses, but they do not recognize him.  They are afraid and run away.  They come back only after Moses calls out to them, because they hear and recognize his voice.  They listen to Moses, and as they listen, they come to understand that God gave Moses authority to speak on his behalf.  The Israelites then agree to do all that God commands through Moses (Ex 34). For the Israelites, this is revelation and change through encounter!

            Like the followers of Moses, Peter, James and John also react with fear when they see Jesus transfigured, but they do not run away.  Rather, they remain steadfast and courageous in faith.  Such courage motivates Peter’s proposal to build three tents.  The model for Peter’s proposal is the tent, or tabernacle, used during the Exodus as a sanctuary to house the Ark of the Covenant.  In this context, the word “tabernacle” means the indwelling presence of God.  Therefore, Peter’s proposal shows that he and the other disciples know they are in the presence of God.  As witnesses to the transfiguration, they come to understand that Jesus is God made present.  This is revelation and change through encounter! 

            The voice from the cloud during the transfiguration of Jesus is an echo of the voice heard at his baptism.  The voice speaks of Jesus’ identity, and also of his relationship with the Father.  As a result, when God says, “This is my beloved Son,” he connects the two experiences of baptism and transfiguration in the person of Jesus and thereby reveals the divinity of Jesus. 

            This same connection also occurs at our own baptism.  In baptism, we are identified as the beloved of God and formally welcomed into his family.  We are transformed into a true child of God in our faith community. Our baptismal experience is an encounter that shows we are loved by God and we are formally called to love.  From that point on, we are profoundly changed.  For each of us then, baptism is revelation and change through encounter! 

            Like the Israelites of long ago who had good reason for listening to Moses and the revelation from the “old mountain”, we too have good reason for listening to Jesus and the revelation from the “new mountain”.  Moses spoke on the authority of God, while Jesus speaks on his own authority.  Jesus is the Word of God that must be heard and taken seriously.  When we listen to the Word of God like Peter, James, and John in their encounter with Jesus, we can expect change no less dramatic.  When we listen to the Word of God and allow that Word to transform our hearts and our way of living, this is nothing less than revelation and change through encounter.

            There is a significant difference, however, between the mountain top experience of Moses as compared to the mountain top experience of Jesus.  Moses went up the mountain alone, while Jesus took three of his closest friends with him.  These three had already come to believe in Jesus, and by calling them to go with him, Jesus showed that he believed in them as well. The disciples therefore go up the mountain with Jesus as a faith community.  In and through this community, the disciples have the courage and ability to experience the transfiguration of Jesus as the presence of God.    

            Likewise, our own faith journey to the mountain top, so to speak, is one that we also do not take alone.  It is one that we take with others—indeed, must take with others—in a faith community.  In this community, the faith of others strengthens our own faith, and in turn, our faith strengthens theirs.  Together, we encounter the transfigured Jesus through Word and sacrament, especially in the Eucharist, where we become one with Jesus and one with each other. Together in our community, we come to know the love of God, and we are changed for the better.  Through this encounter of love in faith, we come to believe in Jesus because Jesus believes in us.  This is revelation and change through encounter!