The Transfiguration, Titian c.1563, The Church of San Salvador, Venice, Italy.
“While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah….” Luke 9:29-30.
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The Transfiguration is recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and today’s gospel from Luke. There is no clear mention of it in John, though John chapter 1 verse 14 does say. “We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son”. But it is clearly a key event which established Jesus’ authority and closeness to God, an event which gave the Lord an undoubted authority acceptable to his disciples. He was worthy of belief. He appeared with two towering figures from Scripture, Moses, who had received the 10 Commandments from God, and Elijah who, most famously, was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire:
Elijah Taken Up Into Heaven by Pieter Symonsz. Potter, private collection.
You may recall the reflection on the call of Peter by Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, 9th February 2025, the fifth Sunday in ordinary time. I mentioned that Peter must have seen in Jesus the “real thing”. That impression was the reason he had agreed to go out fishing once more, although an entire night’s labor had produced nothing. But he discovered that Jesus was, in fact, the real thing, confirmed by a huge catch of fish, and then left everything to follow him; clearly he thought Jesus was worth more than a record catch! Today’s extraordinary episode, therefore, can be seen as the confirmation of that moment. Here now was the Lord standing between two of the mightiest figures in Scripture. Not only that, but a voice from heaven, clearly that of God, identified Jesus as Son of God, and the three witnesses were ordered “Follow Him”!
So the Transfiguration of the Lord can be seen as a kind of bonding between Jesus and his three closest followers. Having experienced this unique event, they were pretty certain that this man was, indeed, the long-promised Messiah. Today’s first reading is also a bonding moment, this time between God and Abram (soon to be renamed Abraham by God). Abram was an old man, over 75, and God approached him and laid out a promise. He had already told him that he was to be made into a great nation (Genesis 12:2) but this time God was more specific. “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so shall your descendants be.” Now most of us tend to live in cities, and if we look up, we can see the moon and perhaps a few more stars and that’s it, today called “light pollution”. But if we go to a remote part of the state, staying in a cabin or similar, and look up at night, the sight is unbelievable. Indeed unforgettable. That is why God said to Abram “count the stars, if you can”. Because you can’t. And professional astronomers tell us there are probably 30 and 70 billion trillion stars up there! Well, God knew that, but Abram would be simply overawed at the promise. He didn’t even have a single child at that time! And his wife was in her 60s! So it might be reasonable to think that he took God’s promise with a pinch of salt. Then the extraordinary event in today’s first reading took place. It was an ancient bonding covenant which looks terrible to us, with divided animal bodies and dead birds and blood all over the place. But such agreements, treaties or whatever were not uncommon then, and even survive in various forms today. The presence of blood in the more ancient forms symbolizes life rather than death, even between two individuals. And if you are a fan of Wagner, there is even a blood brotherhood scene in Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods). Note also that blood was sprinkled over the Ark of the Covenant on the one day the high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple. It combined the life of the two parties in the treaty In the case of today’s first reading, it was the life of God and Abram. But note that in that case it was one-sided. Abram did not pass through the blood offerings, only God in the form of fire and light. And the ultimate image of blood, of course, was at the Last Supper, with the Lord proclaiming the wine to be is most precious blood, the last and most sacred of all blood offerings.
The final note is from today’s second reading. There is a solemn linking there as well: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body”. So Peter, James and John became confirmed completely as disciples of Jesus at the Transfiguration, God linked Abram, human life, to the divine at the covenant ceremony and Paul linked us to heavenly citizenship, the ultimate hope we all share. The only thing left is for each of us to live the life that honors such a Godly invitation and so become worthy of the invitation to become citizens of heaven.
The Covenant, Grafted-In Theological Musings.
IF THIS REFLECTION SPOKE TO YOU, PLEASE PASS IT ON TO ANOTHER WHO WOULD APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU.
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