Mystic Echoes: Transfigured

In the last post we looked at John's apocalyptic vision in the book of Revelation in which Eden is restored and heaven and earth are united together as one. We might be tempted, as many are, to write this vision off as some future afterlife reality with little relevance for the here and now. To counter that temptation, it may be helpful to see another moment from Jesus' life in which it became clear that this apocalyptic vision was a present reality for those with eyes to see it.

The strange account of Jesus' transfiguration occurs after he delivers these cryptic words: "There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God." As we've explored before, the kingdom of God represents the uniting of heaven and earth, where divinity and humanity are joined together on God's divine throne to care for the created world. And some of these first century Jews were going to see it happen in their own lifetime.

Six days later (think of the six days of creation that precede the holy Sabbath), Jesus takes a few of his disciples up a high mountain (think Eden and Mt Sinai) and Jesus is transformed into a glowing figure standing alongside the long-deceased Elijah and Moses, each of whom had visions of God at Mt Sinai. After the gospel writers mock Peter for offering to set up tents for each of these three transcendent humans, a voice from heaven interrupts telling the disciples to listen to Jesus just as Moses and Elijah disappear.

So what do we make of this glimpse into another reality? Not long before this encounter, Peter had a rare moment of clarity in which he called Jesus "the Christ", a title for one filled with God’s Spirit to usher in a new kingdom. Jesus quickly advised them to keep that truth quiet, likely due to the fact that many wrongly believed this new kingdom would be a new earthly empire. The transfiguration provided a glimpse into the present reality of this new kingdom, one in which our dividing categories are overshadowed by unity and we are simply God's beloved. Not three tents, but one.

This is the new kingdom and new humanity that Paul spoke of when he said, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ." Paul says that we too are to be transfigured by renewing our way of thinking about the world (Romans 12:2). In doing so, we also stand on the mountaintop and see through the veil of reality into something more true. Here heaven and earth are one. Here humanity and divinity shine from within one body. Here we are one with the All.

“Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time.” - Thomas Merton