‘And he was transfigured before them’: dwelling in the Light
Mark 9:2-9
“And he was transfigured before them.”
It is at the centre-point in Mark’s Gospel. The accounts of miracles and parables - revealing the Kingdom of God - have been the focus of Mark’s Gospel up to this point. Saint Peter, on behalf of the Twelve, has just confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Mark is about to turn towards Jerusalem and the week of the Cross and the Resurrection.
And it is at this pivotal point in his Gospel, that Mark brings us, following Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, up the mountain, to behold this mysterious event: “And he was transfigured before them”.
The word Mark uses - now translated ‘transfigured’ - means transformed, mystically changed. The clothes of Jesus, we are told, “became dazzling white”, a description which speaks of a brilliant, light-filled glory. He adds, “such as no one on earth could bleach them”. He is reaching for words and phrases which will communicate in some way the splendour and glory seen by Peter, James, and John on the mountain as they looked at Jesus [1].
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke use some of the same phrases, and some different phrases, to try to communicate what was witnessed on that mountain, to convey to us the glory and majesty of what was seen.
For all three of these Gospel writers, the Transfiguration occurs at the same pivotal point in their Gospels - pointing to its significance for understanding each of these gospels. Here, in other words, is a defining moment for these three gospels.
As for the Fourth Gospel, John’s Gospel, it is the case that there is no mention of this event. Instead, however, John’s Gospel might be regarded as an extended meditation on the Transfiguration and its meaning, from John’s opening words “we have seen his glory”: it is as if John’s Gospel views the whole life and purpose of Jesus in light of the Transfiguration.
“And he was transfigured before them.”
The Transfiguration is a pivotal moment for it draws us into the heart of God’s purposes in Jesus Christ: if we want to understand God’s purposes in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we look at the transfigured Christ.
Why did God the Son become flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Why was He born, why did He dwell amongst us? Why did He teach, heal, and restore? Why did He call disciples?
Looking back on these earlier episodes in the Gospels, the Transfiguration reveals their purpose, why they occurred. As we behold Jesus - who shares our humanity - transfigured in glory, we see that in Him, we - each of us in our broken, confused, faithless humanity - are brought to share in the very life and light of the eternal God.
And the Transfiguration also looks forward to what is about to be proclaimed in the Gospels, the week of the Cross and Resurrection: a week of betrayal, fear, cowardice, failure, jealousies, cruelty, darkness, death.
For even these parts of our lives - the parts that seem so far from the light and glory of God - even these parts of human existence are, in Jesus Christ, transfigured: touched by and brought to share in the life and light of God, the darkness transformed by the life-giving light of God in Christ.
When, in Holy Week, we see Jesus betrayed, denied, handed over to death, crucified, buried, the Transfiguration proclaims that this is not meaningless tragedy - this is the life and light of God in Christ reaching into the deepest darkness of human existence, transfiguring and transforming.
It is the light of divine love descending into the darkest, deepest pit, proclaiming that even there God’s grace and mercy reaches, drawing us even in those times, in those places, in those experiences into the very life and light of God.
We can see, then, why Mark - with Matthew and Luke - places the Transfiguration at the heart of his gospel. We can see why John’s Gospel is shot through with the light of the Transfiguration: “we have seen his glory”. To look at the Transfigured Christ, to behold the light of glory shining forth from Him, is to see God’s saving, redeeming purposes in Jesus Christ: humanity brought into that light, sharing in the very life of God.
Michael Ramsey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury and one of the most significant modern theologians in our Anglican tradition, had a deep devotion to the Transfiguration, evident in his writings and his spirituality. When Durham Cathedral sought to commemorate Ramsey’s ministry, it did so in a stunning stained glass window which captured his vision, beautifully portraying the transfiguring light of God in Christ.
Michael Ramsey said of the Transfiguration, it “is a mirror in which the Christian mystery is seen in its unity” [2].
In the Transfiguration we behold the bright revelation of God in Christ, bringing us to dwell in that light, sharing in the divine nature.
“And he was transfigured before them.”
It is on this Sunday before Lent that we hear the account of the Transfiguration in Mark’s Gospel.
On Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, we will enter into the days of Lent: a time, as the liturgy of Ash Wednesday says, to be marked “by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy word” [3].
That might seem quite the contrast with the joyous light of this Transfiguration Sunday [4]. But there is a deep relationship between Lent and the Transfiguration: Lent is a call for us to turn more truly, more deeply, more authentically towards the light of the transfigured Christ.
To recognise those parts of our lives shadowed by the darkness of greed, selfishness, malice, anger, pride; to recognise those times when we approach prayer, scripture, and sacraments without faith - those parts of our lives, those times in our lives not dwelling in the light of the Transfiguration.
May our observance of Lent, and our preparation for encountering afresh the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection in Holy Week, be illumined by the living-giving light of the Transfigured Christ, that we - in faith, hope, and love - may dwell in this light through the days of Lent and all our days.
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