The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ - 6th August 2025
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. [Luke 9:28-29]
‘Now about eight days after these sayings’ – that is how the gospel at the Eucharist will start, although I always remember it as the more succinct ‘Six days later’ of Matthew & Mark’s version. As a reader here one is asked to omit preliminary comments that refer back to things that are not in the reading but somehow the ‘six days later’ seem to be intrinsically part of this reading.
So what happened six or eight days before? In all three synoptic gospels the account of the Transfiguration is preceded by Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah on the way to Caesarea Philippi and then Jesus’ prediction of his suffering and death, which Peter cannot accept. Jesus then goes on to teach how those who wish to follow him must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. Finally he says ‘But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’
The event on the mountain top about a week later is taken to be the fulfilment of these words of Jesus. Jesus was seen in glory but there weren’t the angelic hosts coming to deliver the Jewish people from their earthly oppressors that the disciples might have expected. There was just Jesus shining with unearthly light as he spoke with Moses & Elijah of a new Exodus, the Exodus that would be his death and resurrection. Then the voice from the cloud: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" Jesus and his words are the place where we encounter the kingdom of God. We must listen to him. And his words can be summed up as a call to self-forgetful love of God and neighbour, indeed love of the God whom we encounter in our neighbour.
It is a hard message to take on board and a life-time’s work to even begin to live this way. Christians have had two millennia to learn this and yet what a mess we so often make of it. Even those who walked and talked with Jesus had a hard time taking it on board.
We often take comfort from the all-to-human failings of Peter as he struggled to engage with Jesus’ call. These last couple of weeks I have also found myself drawn to James, whom we celebrated recently. No doubt he was there when Peter confessed Jesus as Messiah and he was one of the chosen three who accompanied Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration. His own misunderstanding of Jesus’ message is captured in that embarrassing scene where, along with his brother John, they asked Jesus whether they might be at his right hand and his left in the kingdom. Again, Jesus points to the path of suffering that he and they must follow if they wish to be part of God’s kingdom. It is a message none of us wants to hear but it is the way to our own transfiguration into the likeness of Christ.
The lives of Peter and James were transformed after the death and resurrection of Jesus. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in a radically new way, to live out the kingdom in such a way that others said ‘See how these Christians love one another’. They knew that Christ lived in them, and their courageous proclamation of the message of salvation in Jesus Christ led to their deaths.
Through our baptism into Christ the crucified and risen one lives in us too and longs to be manifested in the giving of ourselves for others. Our monastic life is a path of transfiguration in its daily call to listen to God and attend to the divine presence in all that we do. As we surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit our lives can be transfigured, in humble and simple acts of love for one another. ‘See how these Christians love one another’
Mother Anne - 6th August 2025