Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 18th February 2023

As on weekdays in Ordinary Time we read through the three Synoptic Gospels in turn, beginning with Mark, today we come to chapter 9, (Mk 9: 2-13), and the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor. We will read Matthew’s account on the Second Sunday in Lent, just two weeks away, bearing in mind that this year Ash Wednesday will be kept on 22nd February. All three accounts of the Transfiguration are remarkably similar.

 

​Mark tells us that Jesus led three of his disciples, Peter, James and John, up a high mountain where they could be alone. These are the three closest to Jesus and accompany him, for example, on the night of his betrayal to the Garden of Gethsemane. Without any further introduction, we are told that Jesus was transfigured in their presence. Mark describes it like this. “His clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them.” He describes the clothes but not the face of Jesus. Perhaps at this stage, they cannot look at his face for the brightness of his clothes. What else do they see? “Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.” Elijah and Moses, the Prophets and the Law, but how would they have recognised them? Even so, Peter has a bright idea. “Then Peter spoke to Jesus: ‘Rabbi,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say; they were so frightened.” Mark comments rightly that when men are afraid, they have the tendency to say too much and often without thinking. It is not Jesus who replies, but the Father from heaven. “And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a voice from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ Then suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them any more but only Jesus.” The cloud reminds us of the Exodus. The disciples can hear the Father’s voice, but they cannot see him. The voice of God declares Jesus to be his beloved Son, to whom the disciples should listen, for he now speaks with the authority of the Father. Just as suddenly as the cloud appeared, it disappears, and the disciples can see no one but only Jesus, for in Jesus they see the Law and the Prophets and hear the Father’s voice.

 

​As Jesus and the three come down from the mountain, Jesus warns them to tell no one what they have seen until after his resurrection. Although they obey his command, nevertheless they discuss among themselves what this rising from the dead might mean. They ask him about Elijah and the tradition that he would come before the Messiah. Jesus tells them that Elijah has already been among them and was badly treated. Was this John the Baptist, perhaps? Jesus now wants his disciples to focus on his passion and death, for which he has prepared them by allowing them to see his Transfiguration and thereby enter into the very mystery of God.