Transfiguration — Revealing the True Self
2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-10
February 11, 2024; Transfiguration Sunday
Rev. Dr. Ritva H. Williams
Epiphany begins with magi from eastern lands following a brilliant star to the place of Jesus’ birth and culminates today with the “transfiguration of our Lord” — the revelation of Christ’s true self.
We hear again the story of that strange day when Peter, James and John accompany Jesus up a high mountain to pray in solitude. Throughout the human history, mountains have been regarded as sacred places, the abode of the gods (e.g. Mount Olympus in Greek mythology). For ancient Israelites mountain tops were places where heaven and earth meet, and one of the places God interacts with humans. God gave Moses the commandments on an mountain top wreathed in cloud, smoke and flame. God shows God’s self to Elijah by passing by as the prophet hides in a mountain cave. Jesus often goes up into the mountains to pray. On this occasion the disciples accompany him and find themselves in a “thin place” where physical and spiritual, visible and invisible, present and past are fused together in two distinct moments.
First, they see Jesus transfigured, his clothes dazzling white, in conversation with Moses and Elijah. To be transfigured is to be changed in outward form or appearance in a way that reveals who and what a person really and truly is. Think of the metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly. Here the disciples see for the first time who Jesus really is, but typically don’t get it. They are so scared — so terrified — that Peter starts babbling about making three buildings.
Equally important is the second moment when a cloud overshadows the mountain and a voice from the cloud proclaims, “This is my Son, the Beloved.” These are the same words, God spoke to Jesus at his baptism in the River Jordan. Then they were to Jesus alone. Here on the mountain top Jesus’ identity as God’s Beloved Child is proclaimed for the benefit of the disciples, and followed by the command, “listen to him!”
The disciples blink and find they are entirely alone with Jesus who leads them back down the mountain. As they go he tells the disciples not to tell anyone what they saw on the mountain until after the Son of Man was raised from the dead. The disciples follow Jesus wondering what being raised from the dead could possibly mean. Again they miss the main point of the transfiguration.
Fortunately, other Christ followers did and do ponder the meaning of the transfiguration of Jesus and came to the conclusion that this event reveals not just the true identity of human Jesus, but also the essential truth about every human person. The apostle Paul states this most clearly in 2 Corinthians 3:18.
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed (literally, metamorphosed, transfigured) into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit’s work is to transfigure and transform us — to change us — into human beings who over time become think, speak and act like Christ. Here’s how Father Richard Rohr states this truth:
‘You (and every other created thin) begins with a divine DNA, an inner destiny as it were, an absolute core that knows the truth about you, a blueprint tucked away in the cellar of your being, an imago Dei (image of God) that begs to be allowed, to be fulfilled, to show itself … [This divine DNA is] your True Self [and] makes you, you … You do not create your True Self, or earn it, or work up to it by any moral or ritual behavior … You do not climb up to your True Self. You fall into it. (Immortal Diamond, pp. 16, 25).
The image of God within each of us just is. It cannot be increased or decreased, but it can be revealed as we mature and are transfigured by degrees into the likeness of God.
In our reading from 2 Corinthians, Paul says that there are people who have been blinded by the god of this world and as a result cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God (v.3). Our translation calls such people “unbelievers” but the actual Greek word is “apistoi” an adjective that describes persons who are mistrusting, skeptical, suspicious, uncertain, uneasy, apprehensive, anxiety-ridden. Apistoi is a condition that afflicts all people regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. All of us are apistoi occasionally or frequently or even most of the time. Paul blames the “god of this world” for causing this condition by deluding us into thinking God is manifest only in power, control, and success as measured by fame and fortune. All those voices telling us we’re not good enough, not worthy of love and belonging are echoes of the god of this world.
Paul’s point seems to be that when we look into the face of another we reflect what we see. When someone smiles a warm welcome don’t we almost always return that smiling welcome? We can choose to focus our gaze on Christ or on the god/s of this world. Whichever one we choose to look at we will reflect what we behold, shine forth what we see, manifest what we gaze upon.
This painting by Jaison Cianelli, called The Transfiguration shows how the light from above is not only reflected, but absorbed and spread over and within the dark earth below. The choice is ours to make. Do we fix our gaze on the transfigured Christ or on the gods of the world? If you choose the latter, please take this advice from Master Yoda, “When you look at the dark side, careful you must be. For the dark side looks back.”
We celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord on that mountain peak with choruses of alleluias, giving thanks for the good news that Christ shows the image of God at the core of every human being. Christ invites us to know and be known by God, to live and share the secret treasure to which the gods of this world are blinding you. What is that secret treasure? Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes (unfoldinglight.org) expresses it beautifully in this blessing poem:
Here's the great Treasure you seek
that the old Guide pointed out on the ancient maps,
that only the most intrepid explorers find,
who search unceasingly despite pelting rains
and the scorn of neighbors and strangers alike,
who read the stars and hear the songs others do not hear,
who follow the unexpected path of the Guide who seems to wander but knows the way,
who forgo all comforts and endure great suffering and kneel in the grotto hidden in plain sight
to lay their hands upon the gleaming treasure, and bear it home tucked into their shirts,
the discovery that shines in the dark, the Great Treasure the Guide has told us about,
that lies waiting for each of us,
the pearl of great price, the wisdom that saves the world,
stunning in its simplicity and power.
The cynical miss it, the greedy overlook it,
the hopeless throw it away. But here it is.
It is this:
You are God's Beloved.
Everyone is.
Behold.
Amen.
