Luke 9: 28-36

 As Jesus was praying, the look on his face altered, and his clothes became radiant white………..

 and a cloud came over them, and a voice spoke out of the cloud:

“This is my own Son, the chosen one; listen to him.”

 If you reckon the story of the transfiguration is a bit “way out,” then you are definitely on the right track. If your mind gags when you try to understand it, then I think Luke would be delighted. You should mentally gag; you should puzzle over the picture that Luke frames for you.  You should feel out of your depth because you are out of your depth! Far out of your depth!

 Luke, in telling the transfiguration story, is attempting to convey the confounding mystery of Jesus the Christ…  A mystery which in the final analysis is: “inaccessible to human mind and tongue”

 [to quote the New Testament scholar, Eduard Schweizer.]

 It is a story of enlightenment, an epiphany story. That is why we use this Gospel reading at the beginning of Lent…to prepare us as we ponder and participate in the amazing story and mystery of Easter.

The Transfiguration is another shot at encapsulating the good news: “We have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus the Christ”.

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