TRANSFIGURATION THOUGHTS

      The gospel reading for the 2nd Sunday of Lent is from Luke 9:28-36.

    Jesus had called his disciples ... he taught with great wisdom and with a message that moved hearts ... he touched the lives of those on the peripheries, those hurting in body and soul ... he healed the sick ... he raised the dead to life.   He sparked among his people a hope that their long exile, their time of waiting for the Lord's coming, was at an end.   Things were hopeful ... things were getting better ... they could see prophecies being fulfilled.

    But Jesus knew what was coming - for him and for them.   And he sought to prepare them.

    Jesus took Peter, John and James, his closest friends and companions, to the mountaintop.   They followed him with an expectation that they would spend time in prayer before God.   Another intimate moment.

    But Jesus knew the tremendous challenge awaiting them with his rejection, arrest and crucifixion.   This would be a time of terrible darkness for them, unless they had something unexpected and marvelous to hold on to.

    So on that mountaintop, a place where God is often found, they found God in the most unlikely place - in their friend and teacher, Jesus.

    "His face changed in appearance and his clothes became dazzling white."  He was revealed by a voice from heaven: "This is my chosen Son, listen to him."   With this glimpse of Jesus in his glory, they were overwhelmed.

    Peter, John and James were never the same ... those they told, those that heard their witness were strengthened for the dark days ahead.   Those who had doubts found courage to believe.   And even though the scriptures say that they remained silent and told no one what they saw, this did not last long.   You cannot keep the Word of God under wraps.

    But something else happened.   In that encounter, with the transfigured Jesus seen with Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the prophets), all creation was brought to perfection.

    The knowledge that God in all his glory as seen in Jesus on that mountaintop is the God that draws us to himself and desires to share himself intimately with us.   We share his glory, as he shares our humanity.   This does not make us gods ... but it allows us to be God-like.

    Our lives lived in love in the pattern of our Lord is the gift that we affirm today on this Sunday of Lent and pledge to live well.