by Mark Escobar

Created on: March 09, 2010   Last Updated: March 13, 2010

Lk 9:28b-36

Jesus’ transfiguration[1] 

“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, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.”

In our ministry like in teaching, there is always a challenge of connecting faith experiences from the bits and bytes of information that we impart with the present situation.  As we try to figure out how to demonstrate or transmit a certain issue that would bring new insights and facilitate a change in behavior, one recurring message  from scripture that is pretty much enduring and primarily God’s main concern with us is the nature of our relationships.  With apologies to St. Ireneaus of Lyons who once wrote, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”  Perhaps in this context we can argue that we are most ‘fully alive’ when we are in right relationship with ourselves, with our companions in the community, and with God himself. 

The Transfiguration of Jesus [2] is described as the foretaste of the glorious epiphany of the Son; the culminating point of his life that prefigures his suffering, death, and resurrection.  And this belongs to the most profound dimension of his significance and his ever-increasing glory.  Just as his Baptism initiates the opening disclosure of his public ministry and his Ascension as his concluding part, his Transfiguration, however, has these dramatic features which are visually spectacular as an historical event in terms of God’s revelation in Jesus with his glory and holy divinity.  That vision conveys the actuality of his Messianic Sonship [3], his Divinity; and the embodiment of Law and Prophecy in his life and ministry. 

Divinity; and the embodiment of Law and Prophecy in his life and ministry. 

Over the years our understanding of the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith has been articulated in the context of theology and its ongoing conversation with significant issues of human experience.  Perhaps in our commitment to the heart of Jesus’ purpose to enter our lives, it is worth reflecting a little further on the theology of glory as this is the gospel all about with its biblical traditions and images of grandeur, grace and gratitude.  Though most of our theological reflections on being human with an implicit

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