The Second Sunday of Lent, March 5, 2023

Matthew 17, 1–9

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.  As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

“Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.”  

Mount Tabor, onto which the Lord led Peter, James, and John, is a Mount shaped hill less than two thousand feet high.  It is covered with trees and foliage, although clearings appear on it here and there.  It lies a dozen miles to the west of the Sea of Galilee.  Although not an enormous mountain in comparison with others, it dominates the country in which it is set and provides a wide, majestic view of the land.  It takes about an hour and a half to climb, from its base to its top.  

Since the Lord often prayed on hills and mountains, in order to have solitude, it would not have surprised the Apostles for him to have decided to go up this particular mountain.  Taking Peter, James, and John with him, he would have given the other Apostles some work to do until he returned.  It might have been to teach the people who had been following along.  The three Apostles he chose to go with him had distinguished themselves from the rest by their zeal and energy.  In any group of volunteers there are those who are committed to the cause but prefer to listen and think through, and there are those who grasp or seem to grasp things more quickly and are more active.  Peter, James, and John would be of this type.  We have hints at the zeal of James and John through the nickname Jesus gives them, according to St. Mark, who had it from St. Peter: the Boanerges, “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3, 17).  We see several examples of Peter’s zeal or impulsiveness throughout the Gospels: his attempting to walk on the water; his speaking before the other Apostles in naming Jesus the Son of God; his rebuking of Jesus when the Lord spoke of his coming Passion and Death; his eagerness at the Last Supper to know who the traitor was; his attacking the high priest’s slave with his sword; his leaping up and running to the tomb when Mary Magdalene announced the Resurrection; his leaping into the sea when John told him that the unknown man on the shore was Jesus; and many others.  It is also Peter who preaches to the Jews on Pentecost.

“And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.”  St. Matthew’s description of the transfigured Lord is not nearly as dramatic as St. Mark’s, but Mark received his information from Peter, who had been present.  His face “shone like the sun”.  We are not told if the Apostles were unable to look directly at his face as a result, or if they could, as this was not a physical brightness but his glorification by the Father, and so a spiritual brightness.  The transfiguration seems to have occurred instantly so that one moment Jesus and the Apostles are standing together, possibly catching their breaths after the climb, and the next it is all changed.  Or, perhaps the Lord had begun to pray a little distance away and the Apostles were looking on.

“Behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice.”  From the time of the Fathers, this cloud has been understood as the Holy Spirit, who conceals even as he reveals.  That is, he signifies that which we are not able to see in this present life.  With the audible words of the Father, we are presented with a display of the Most Holy Trinity.

“And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.”  It would seem that the conversation lasted some time.  The Apostles recognized Moses and Elijah in some way, perhaps through intuition or perhaps through the Lord’s telling them as they returned down the mountain.  And while St. Matthew reports that they heard these three conversing together, he does not quote them.  Indeed, he does not tell us even what they discussed, though Mark does in his Gospel: the Lord’s coming Passion and Death.

“When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid.”  The Greek text gives a stronger picture: “They fell upon their faces and were exceedingly terrified.”  The Apostles had experienced Almighty God to the very limits of their capacity to do so.  The experience might have destroyed the Apostles down below who were less ready for it.  In heaven we shall see God face to face and know the full torment of his love for us, but at that time we shall be completely purified from sin and will have attained sanctity through the good works which grace enables us to perform.  Here and now, very few of us are ready, and we should be glad that God gives us time to repent, do penance, and progress in holiness.

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”  In the Hebrew, the verb “to listen” can also mean “to obey”, and this is what the Apostles heard the Father say.  This is what we need to understand him to say directly to us this moment.  

“Rise, and do not be afraid.”  We do not know how long the vision lasted.  It may have continued for an hour or more.  While the Apostles were certainly intended to witness it, it was not necessarily primarily for them.  The Lord Jesus, in his glory, spoke with Moses and Elijah, evidently informing them of what was to be.  He had summoned them from the limbo where they had waited for their Savior.  Adam and Eve were there.  So too were Cain, Abel, and Seth.  Abraham, Sarah, Lot, his wife, and the souls of those who died in Sodom and Gomorrah.  After his Death, the Savior would preach to them and those who delighted in his words would follow him to heaven and those who rejoiced only in their vile sins would fall into eternal hell.  Possibly the Lord Jesus is instructing Moses and Elijah to return to limbo and prepare the people for his preaching, so that when he came, they would understand who he was.

When the Apostles finally picked themselves up from the ground, they saw Jesus as they had always known him, but from that moment when they looked at him they knew that divinity hid within his mortal frame, out of sight so that he could be present to us on earth, yet clear in his miracles and his preaching to anyone with faith.  Let us be more and more aware of how near divinity is to us, whether under the thin surface of a host, in the words of the Gospels, and in our hearts through grace.