Transfiguration Sunday: Did You See That?

The Feast of the Transfiguration is a major feast of the Church normally celebrated on August 6. But on today, the Last Sunday of Lent, the Gospel lesson is always of the Transfiguration, so this has come to be called Transfiguration Sunday.

2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9

And again, the creators of the lectionary have brought together a collection of terms that each spin on a particular axis, but their orbits are not even. They are, indeed, unlike the planets, not even in the same direction. In this case, the axis is to be understood as the faithful seeing the things of the divine.

In the story of the assumption of Elijah in 2 Kgs, the senior prophet tells his your assistant Elisha that he must stop while the master goes on. But, repeatedly, from Elisha: "As Yahweh lives, as as you yourself live, I will not leave you. And various members of the company of the prophets come out to remind Elisha that his master is to be taken today, and, repeatedly, "I know. Keep silent." Elisha is not content to remain with his master; he knows that the master must go on--this will become important later on. The climax of the story comes in Elijah's charge that if Elisha sees the chariot of God taking him up into heaven, then Elisha will receive what he has asked for, a double portion of Elijah's spirit. In other words, if Elisha is faithful to see, then his faith will be rewarded.

Psalm 50's spinning on this axis runs in an entirely different direction. In v 5, the direction is entirely from God: "Gather my faithful ones!" The obvious idea is that God wants to see all those who have made a covenant with him by sacrifice, but the clear implication is that the faithful ones will by this action be able to see him. They have been faithful, they are being rewarded, and God says it is time for the reward to begin. It is a supremely eschatological statement, and one that will get replayed throughout apocalyptic literature, particularly in the scenes after the cataclysmic judgments have been rendered on the earth. This, essentially, is the answer to the question of the martyrs under the altar in Revelation, "How long, O Lord?" Wait a little while more, and I will call you.

From 2 Cor 4, the idea of the faithful having true sight and the unfaithful being blinded comes out most clearly. This does not mean that this text has Mercury's orbit to the concept, but just that its particular spin does not have the narrative or theological elaboration that we found in 2 Kgs 2 and Ps 50. If our gospel is veiled, says Paul, it is only veiled against those who are perishing, because they have been kept from seeing the true light. Paul does not proclaim himself as Lord, but he proclaims Jesus for the sake of the Corinthians and all his other audiences. The final verse of the passage links creation and redemption in a powerful way, thus contributing to the ongoing debates with Gnosticism and its deprecation of the natural order. God is the God of all it, says Paul, says the New Testament, and says the Church.

Finally, the transfiguration story itself in Mark 9 picks up on a similar theme as 2 Kgs 2. In v 5, Peter says that it is very good to be here, and he proposes to build three shacks, one for Jesus and one each for his two heavenly visitors. Notice that he doesn't bother with the accomodations he, James and John will use. The theme of course picked up from 2 Kgs is that Elisha never thought of the idea that he would remain with Elijah forever. In fact, this formed part of his hissing rebuke to the company of the prophets: "Yes I know. Keep silent." Maybe he was trying to steel his own nerves for what is about to happen, yet Peter does not have that same compunction. So he desires to stay here; this is the only thing he knows to say, for he is absolutely terrified. The allaying of these fears is given through the heavenly voice, the confirmation of God on the mission of Jesus.

So, did you see that? What? I didn't see it. Oh, too bad, it was really interesting. Maybe you'll catch it next time. Amen.