There was a campaign that started in Britain called the atheist bus. Richard Dawkins helped raise money to put a sign on thirty London buses that said, “There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” Enjoy? That is a philosophy of life formed by marketing. To someone who sees life as a commodity, the only meaning and happiness in life is to be 25 years old, buff and on the fast track. Cling to it as long as you can because the rest of life, suffering, frustration and loneliness, have no meaning. This view of life pushes euthanasia as the solution to suffering. It is also a philosophy of life that makes no sense of the deaths of innocent people at the hands of religious fanatics and those who ‘enjoy’ creating misery for others. There is more purpose to life than enjoyment, just as there is more to a mountain than just its summit.
The Sign of Jonah In the Gospel today, Jesus is Transfigured on the summit of a mountain. Put Matthew’s story about the Transfiguration into context. Just before we read about the Transfiguration, Matthew recounts a story about Jesus teaching a large crowd. The people aren’t disciples but they are curious about Jesus and ask him for a sign. Jesus responded to them that the only sign the non-believer will receive is the “sign of Jonah.” What would that mean to them? Remember Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Does Jesus think a fish is going to eat him? Jesus hints at his Resurrection, but they don’t understand because there is no category in their mind in which Jesus fits.
Is Jesus a Prophet? Jesus then leads his disciples, people who are struggling with belief, on a journey to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Responding, the disciples offer a bunch of opinions. John the Baptist, Elijah and Jeremiah are all possibilities. The disciples had a category for ‘prophet’ because they knew prophets. When Jesus asked the question to Peter, he responded said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” They all had expectations about the Messiah. Jesus then said that he must go to Jerusalem where he would suffer and die. Peter responded, “God forbid!” because he wanted God without the suffering. Jesus silenced Peter and instructed his disciples that they must “take up their cross” if they are to follow him. All our categories are limited if they do not included suffering.
The Mountain and the Transfiguration It is then that Jesus invites three of his closest disciples to walk up the mountain with him. You cannot understand what Jesus does unless you believe. It is true now as then. On the mountain of the Transfiguration[1] Jesus is made dazzlingly white. Moses face gleamed after he talked with God, “like one human being to another.” (Ex 34: 29– 35). Jesus’ whole body, however, gleamed from within himself. Moses and Elijah appeared talking to him and a voice thundered, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him.” The Torah is at the heart of the Israelite faith; the voice proclaimed that Jesus is the new Torah.
Peter responded by suggesting that they build three booths. In all the Gospel, this sign happens during the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). In the first century that feast, celebrated in the Temple in Jerusalem, was a ritualized remembrance of the hope that God would come to dwell among his people. Remember that when Israel wandered in the desert, the Ark of the Covenant, God’s footstool, was kept in the “Tent of Meeting.” A booth or tabernacle is a tent. When Peter suggested that he should build a booth, he was referring to the fulfillment of the prophecy about God coming at the end time to dwell with his people. When the vision ended, Jesus admonished his disciples to tell no one of this, “until he is raised from the dead.” The sign of Jonah.
So, remember the Atheist Bus? By the time atheists in the United States jumped on the bus, the slogan was “You can be good without God.” Do you think atheists believe that the only reason you try to act for the good of another is because you fear God’s wrath? Do atheists actually believe that the only Christian conception of God is that of an alcoholic, abusive father? In Matthew’s Gospel the non-believers don’t understand what the sign of Jonah means. The disciples struggle with how to understand Jesus. His closest disciple, Peter thought that heaven had come to earth. Where is the meaning of suffering?
life is like a night in a bad hotel The Lord redirects them all to the cross where he bears the suffering and sin of the world. God can only be God if he can enter into every dark place, nook and cranny of our life and lift us up. That is the meaning of salvation. Any approach to life that only recognizes the value of the pleasurable is inadequate. St. Theresa of Avila said that “this life is like a night in a bad hotel.” A hotel is a place where you rest for a while and then move on. Our lives could be better, in some cases, dramatically better. The Transfiguration of our Lord points to his cross, resurrection and the world to come. God enters into sin and suffering and changes the meaning of it for believers. There is more to be written in our lives than can fit onto a billboard on a bus.
[1] Matthew wants us to connect this action with Exodus 24 where Moses takes Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu with him as he climbs the mountain. Mountains are always important in Israelite religious experience. Appears to Moses on Mt. Sinai and Horeb. Abraham takes Isaac to Mt. Moriah for sacrifice. The Temple in Jerusalem is located on Mt. Zion.