Meditation 225
Mark 9: 2-9
This gospel lesson for this week is the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. It is the point to which the other scriptures have been leading us. Psalm 50 praised the glory of God, in the lesson in 2 Corinthians we are reminded of the light of the glory of God, and in Mark 9 we read of Jesus being transformed into something more elevated and beautiful than the disciples had ever seen before. This is the Jesus that we love and follow.
Scriptures reminds us to let the light of the gospel shine out of darkness. When we lived in St Stephen, I often had a reminder in the morning of the glorious light of God when I looked out the kitchen window and saw the sunrise. Frequently the sunrise was magnificent. At his time of year the grey blue sky over the middle school would hold fluffy clouds tinged with rosy red, behind which the light of the sun was made its way known. The image of light conjured forth by this scene made a strong impression that would stay with me through the day. The light of the sun that showed forth the wonder of God the creator was breath taking.
On the day of transfiguration there was a different kind of light show that the disciples saw. Transfiguration means to transform into something more beautiful and elevated, so on that day Jesus was made more beautiful. Consider, the disciples who loved Jesus saw him as more beautiful than he had appeared to them before. When they looked upon Jesus on that mountaintop, they saw Jesus as more beautiful than he had been when they climbed the mountain together. His clothes became dazzling white, and Peter said, “Master, it is good for us to be here.”
It may have been that Peter saw this wonder before him as a time to get Jesus to do what Peter thought was a good thing. It had only been six days since Jesus had talked with his disciples about his death (Mark 8:31) and that was not a conversation they wanted to have. Peter had tried to get Jesus to stop. Even before Jesus talked about his death the disciples had to know that Jesus was not popular with powers that be. Surely the disciples had noticed that Jesus did not get the respect that was due him. The leaders were against Jesus, the Pharisees challenged him, the Romans were watchful around him. In short Jesus had made friends of the outcasts and had alienated the powerful. Even with the truth of who Jesus chose to connect with, the disciples did not want to hear of his untimely end. When Jesus was transfigured, they wanted to stay on that mountain top. This place of light and beauty was a good place to be
We like Peter can hope to stay at the places in our faith life that are our mountaintop experiences. The glimpses of nature that have us recognize the glory of God, the times that we feel the presence of God as we act in love toward others, the times we are attending worship and the Spirit speaks to our heart. Like Peter we are strengthened by these gifts of the presence of God, and like Peter we find that we are then able to face the difficult circumstances because we are not alone, we live in the presence of the God who is light and love.