(Listen to this homily here).
We celebrate a fascinating feast today, commemorating the
moment in which Jesus allowed his divinity to really shine through his
humanity.
Now,
when we hear the readings today, we have them side-by-side in our
Lectionary. Even in the Bible, the
narrative of the Transfiguration from Matthew and St. Peter’s allusion to it
are only a few pages apart. But I
want to point out how Peter is attesting to the reality of the Transfiguration
across time and space. Remember,
this event happened in Jesus’ life—near the year 30 AD. Matthew didn’t write his Gospel account
until around 60 AD. Peter wrote
even later. These accounts were
written by different men at different times and in different places.
Yet
listen again to how Peter describes what happened on Mount Tabor: “We did not follow cleverly devised
myths when
we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but we [Peter,
James and John] had been eyewitnesses of
his majesty. For
he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came
to him from the majestic glory, ‘This is my Son, my beloved, with
whom I am well pleased.’ We
ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy
mountain.” This is
almost verbatim to what Matthew reported!
Peter is offering testimony to the truth of the Transfiguration. Interestingly enough, secularists and
atheists often claim we Christians believe in fairy-tales or myths, and Peter
denounces such a perspective head on.
Another
point for you today—we know that Jesus’ mission was to die for our sins. This is the number one thing we must
know about him. Yet linked
intimately with this mission is the identity
of Jesus Christ—that he is true God and true man. As Jesus was obedient to the will of his Father, we see in
the Scriptures—over and over again—Jesus’ claim to be God. As he traveled around Galilee he did so
in his teaching, forgiveness, healing and combating evil. He did so in a particular way as he
allowed himself to be transfigured—allowing his divinity to shine through his
humanity—as a proof that he was and is God.
We
do not follow cleverly devised myths. We follow Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man.
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