Rev. Justin Cheng
When it comes to the Transfiguration, we often think of those paintings and icons which feature Jesus raised above the ground, radiant and glowing in light, the disciples stumbling off to the ground, mesmerized by what is happening. It is a spectacular, almost other-worldly image that often seems detached from the earthly, messy reality of ordinary life. And it be helpful to situate the story of the Transfiguration within the larger gospel narrative.

Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration in the middle of two passion predictions. In the passion prediction, Jesus tells his disciples of the eventual end of his earthly ministry, far from winning great crowds of people and the support of the establishment in building the reign of God, Jesus when he enters Jerusalem will be rejected by the powers that be, the established elites, and will suffer the death of crucifixion. Immediately prior to this Transfiguration event, Jesus utters the calling that anyone who would be his follower, must be prepared to take up his cross and follow in, as in Jesus and his movement will walk the road of love and self-giving sacrifice that will be rejected by the powers that be. We sentimentalize Jesus’ way of love and grace if we assume that it will be welcomed with open hours by the powerful who will lose their privilege and prestige if the way of love is actually accepted. Power ultimately does not want love, because love demands that power give up its privilege so that love of God, love of neighbour, love of creation takes priority. And power is willing to inflict its most violent fashion against love that stands in this way.

All this Jesus tells his disciples quite openly, and we would not be amiss if we didn’t wrestle with its truth. The graveyard is littered with the victims of power and violence. But the Transfiguration offers us a glimpse of the deeper truth of the passion story, as much as power can do its worst, power cannot at the end of the day, eliminate or destroy love. The Transfiguration foreshadows the Resurrection, and offers the disciples, a glimpse, a first savour of the redeemed, resurrected creation, that Jesus will be the first fruits of. Jesus appears as the Transfigured one, basking and dwelling deep in the beauty and glory of divine love. This isn’t just a revelation of Christ’s divinity, it is a revelation of Christ’s ultimate destiny, which he will not ultimately be abandoned to the horror of the grave, but will be raised fully, into the very life of God. And that is a glimpse not only of Christ’s ultimate destiny, but ours, and also of the entire creation.

We can find much to despair right now, whether it is the souls who are lost due to the earthquakes of Turkey and Syria, to those who have been lost due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and other parts of the world. We can also grieve our own losses, of the people who have died, and yet, while these losses are real, they are not the end of the story. Transfiguration is a foreshadowing of the ultimate end of the story, of the story of Jesus, of our own stories. None of us will be abandoned to the grave, none of us will die, lost and abandoned, and yet all of us, in all creation will find our ultimate destiny, our eternal rest in the light and love of our gracious God. As theologian David Bentley Hart once wrote, we do not know why a child has died, but we do know that God is wiping her tears this moment and that God is embracing her with the love and grace that she may not have known while alive.
Jesus of course, knew full well what immediately lay ahead of him. He will walk the way of the Cross, knowing full well, that the Cross will not be end of his story. And so he leads us to walk that way, that way of love, that way of self-giving service and compassion to all people, even if it invites opposition and even violence at the hands of those in power. Because ultimately love will win in the very end, and it is this confidence in the ending of the story that propels us to move forward, to walk with Christ, to carry our cross as we journey towards the glory that is Easter. Amen.