In today’s Gospel we hear the story of Jesus becoming radiant and aglow as he is recognized by God as ‘’my Son, the Chosen One.’’ Jesus has had less success in being recognized by others. Because of what Jesus does and says, people begin asking questions about who he really is. The neighbors think they know: ‘’This is Joseph’s son, surely.’’ Others are not so sure. The disciples ask: ‘’Who is this who commands the waves? Most people reckon that Jesus is more than meets the eye.
Jesus also promotes the question about himself by asking: ‘’Who do people say I am..... Who do you say I am?’’ These are risky questions to ask because people have a habit of getting the answers wrong! In answer to his questions Jesus is told that he is an ancient prophet come back – like Elijah- or the Messiah who will have victory without suffering. Of course, no one will fully know who Jesus is until after the resurrection; but, meantime, the question is important. Nobody gets the answer right and Jesus goes to the mountain to pray.
In the experience of prayer, it is clear that Jesus is not Elijah. Neither is he Moses, the greatest of the ancient prophets. They appear on the scene to direct our attention to a journey Jesus must make to Jerusalem. Peter makes a suggestion that echoes down history: if in doubt, build! But the focus is not on architectural posterity, but on who Jesus is: ‘’This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’’ Is it any wonder Jesus is radiant and aglow? He has an answer to his prayer. There is someone who gets his name right and that someone is his father. The deepest part of Jesus is called forth. The Father doesn’t just recognize Jesus but recognizes him in love as his chosen one, and that transfigures Jesus. That recognition is allied to what Jesus must do: being what he does: he sets his face towards Jerusalem where he will come face-to-face with death.
The transfiguration enables Jesus to make the most difficult journey in his life - to take the road that leads to Calvary. Transfiguration is not a solitary event in the Gospel but one that happens over and over again. Throughout his public ministry Jesus transfigured many people; the broken, the wounded and the wayward. He called to the deepest part of people and transfigured them by the power of God’s love, the same power that transfigured Jesus himself. For Jesus that experience was getting closer to who he really was. And we all get closer to who we really are when we hear our name called in love. When that happens, we become radiant, and we are enabled to face the future.
We can understand transfiguration better when we ask: what would it take to transfigure us? What would it take to transfigure the people we know? Who calls our name in love? Whose name do we call in love? In our Lenten journey we are asked to transfigure each other by the power of God’s love in us. We are all called to the ministry of transfiguration. And like Maude and Harry we might even get a facelift in the process!