Transfiguration Sunday | Year B | Mark 9:2-9 | Michael Watts
Sometimes in life, it is easy to misread a situation and misconstrue its intended point. Sometimes, a story can have multiple points or meanings, and it is up to the interpreter to decide how they are supposed to read it. Situations in life can be good, bad, or indifferent; it is all in how you look at it.
When I was in high school, I played football. My varsity coach spent a majority of his time trying to teach us how to be men, how to take pride in what we do, and how to be good humans. One time at the end of summer during my junior year, one of my teammates was supposed to pick me up for practice because he had a car and I didn’t. I thought I lived far enough away that any other mode of transportation was out of the question for me. That teammate forgot to pick me up that day, and I didn’t go to practice. When I arrived at practice the following day, the first thing the coach said to me was, “Why didn’t you come to practice yesterday?” I explained the situation to him. He responded with a simple, “Okay,” and we went on with practice as normal. However, after practice, he informed me that I needed to hang back and run because I missed practice yesterday. So I ran. I ran until I couldn’t remember what I had for lunch.
As a teenager, when I looked at this situation, I thought, “What a jerk! It wasn’t my fault! I don’t deserve this!”
What I realize now as an adult is that he was right. It was my responsibility to get myself to practice. It doesn’t matter if I was a 16-year-old high school student; he was preparing me for life after school as an adult. He was teaching me personal responsibility, to be a man of my word, and to follow through with what I say I am going to do. He was doing this because he loved me, he cared for me. What I didn’t realize when I was 16 is that love comes in many different forms and is shown in many ways.
I’m sure we have all misread certain situations or actions of others. It is all in perspective. Your perspective might be, and probably is, different from mine. This week’s Gospel reading is Mark 9:2-9, the story of the Transfiguration.
When first reading this story, maybe you probably had the same initial thought that I did. It’s a cool story; Jesus becomes all shiny, is hanging out with Moses and Elijah, just being all awesome up on top of a mountain. Shiny Jesus, letting his disciples see his glory.
However, when I stop to consider the passage more closely, it is more than a cool story about a shiny Jesus. It is a story that is loaded with love. God reveals himself to us in many different ways. And whenever God reveals himself to us, it is an expression of his holiness and love. God is Holy Love.
Pause for a moment and imagine Peter, James, and John and all they have experienced up to this point. Jesus has been revealing himself to the masses. He has performed miracles, preached like no one of the time has ever preached, and accumulated a following. He has gained unwanted attention from the authorities. They had been on quite the ride. They were beginning to understand that he was the Messiah. In fact, right before this, Peter confidently asserts that Jesus is the Messiah (Mark 8:29). Peter was convinced, so much so that when Jesus then told Peter that he would be killed, Peter had the audacity to rebuke Jesus. For Peter, the idea of the Messiah being killed was unacceptable. But Jesus wanted them to be prepared so again after the Transfiguration, Jesus predicts his death again (Mark 9:30-36).
So put yourself in their shoes for a moment. They are following the Messiah. The savior. They are giving all they have to his mission, and now they are faced with the idea that Jesus would die. That the Messiah will not win. Maybe they are beginning to wonder what that would mean for them. Maybe Peter and the others began to doubt that Jesus was truly the Messiah?
So Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on the mountain where they could be alone and reveals to them his divinity. Showing them his full glory is a piece of the puzzle they will need in the days to come. He shows them that the suffering that he will encounter is part of God’s plan because he loves them and he loves humanity, and this is the only way to save humanity from sin. The Transfiguration shows the depths of God’s holiness, and soon the crucifixion will show the depths of his love.
The disciples in this passage are going to encounter hard times after the crucifixion. They are going to be persecuted for their beliefs; they are going to have doubts and periods of “What do I do now that Jesus is gone?” Because Jesus loved them and brought them to see the Transfiguration, they can use this memory as a reminder of not only God’s plan but God’s love for them and for mankind. Where the crucifixion brought confusion, the Transfiguration would bring clarity. Jesus didn’t lose. His life wasn’t taken from him. His life was freely given, and it all happened because of God’s love for all of us.
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