Fr. Jerome Pistoni sx
SECOND Sunday of LENT, YEAR C
The Transfiguration of Jesus on mount Tabor is the story taken from the gospel of saint Luke: this is what we listen to, this Sunday.
Jesus took with him Peter John and James and climbed with them the mount Tabor till they reached the top.
When they reached there, an extraordinary event took place. The face of Jesus changed and his clothes became as bright as lightning.
What did they see? What happened that moment so that they would remember it even after the death and resurrection of Jesus? They saw Jesus totally changed, transfigured into a divine creature, a figure of heaven, with face and clothes as bright as a lightning.
Two questions arise in my mind when I hear this story:
Why did Jesus show a transfigured appearance to the three apostles? They were sad, confused and disappointed just after receiving from his very mouth the announcement of what was about to happen in Jerusalem very soon. They were sure they were following the Messiah as presented by the Jewish tradition, a glorious and triumphant Messiah. Instead, only a few days earlier, they were confronted with a terrible piece of news: the Messiah was going to be despised, humiliated, killed.
We may say that Jesus wanted to give them a kind of vaccination: to prepare them and strengthen them before they were going to witness "his passing in Jerusalem" (the paschal events). The presence of the two great prophets of the old testament, Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus about "his passing" and the voice from heaven: "This is my Son...Listen to him" (even if you feel confused ), would reassure them that Jesus' suffering and death would not be a mistake or a failure, but simply the plan of God!
I wonder Why the revelation on mount Tabor was offered only to these three apostles. What about the other nine disciples?
On one hand, these three were to become the leaders of the whole group and so they would reassure and convince them all about the meaning of the paschal events.
On the other hand, it was easier and safer to keep a secret revealed only to three people than a secret revealed to twelve. Jesus did not want to expose, before time, too many of his disciples to wavering and doubting.
SECOND Sunday of LENT, YEAR C
The Transfiguration of Jesus on mount Tabor is the story taken from the gospel of saint Luke: this is what we listen to, this Sunday.
Jesus took with him Peter John and James and climbed with them the mount Tabor till they reached the top.
When they reached there, an extraordinary event took place. The face of Jesus changed and his clothes became as bright as lightning.
What did they see? What happened that moment so that they would remember it even after the death and resurrection of Jesus? They saw Jesus totally changed, transfigured into a divine creature, a figure of heaven, with face and clothes as bright as a lightning.
Two questions arise in my mind when I hear this story:
Why did Jesus show a transfigured appearance to the three apostles? They were sad, confused and disappointed just after receiving from his very mouth the announcement of what was about to happen in Jerusalem very soon. They were sure they were following the Messiah as presented by the Jewish tradition, a glorious and triumphant Messiah. Instead, only a few days earlier, they were confronted with a terrible piece of news: the Messiah was going to be despised, humiliated, killed.
We may say that Jesus wanted to give them a kind of vaccination: to prepare them and strengthen them before they were going to witness "his passing in Jerusalem" (the paschal events). The presence of the two great prophets of the old testament, Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus about "his passing" and the voice from heaven: "This is my Son...Listen to him" (even if you feel confused ), would reassure them that Jesus' suffering and death would not be a mistake or a failure, but simply the plan of God!
I wonder Why the revelation on mount Tabor was offered only to these three apostles. What about the other nine disciples?
On one hand, these three were to become the leaders of the whole group and so they would reassure and convince them all about the meaning of the paschal events.
On the other hand, it was easier and safer to keep a secret revealed only to three people than a secret revealed to twelve. Jesus did not want to expose, before time, too many of his disciples to wavering and doubting.