Mark 9:2-9 (NRSV)
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Verse 2Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, Verse 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. Verse 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Verse 5Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Verse 6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Verse 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Verse 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
Verse 9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Devotion
Consider how the transfiguration of our Lord, witnessed by Peter, James and John on the mountain, is fitting as a final reading in Epiphany just before Lent. Epiphany commemorates the manifestation of Christ to all nations, beginning with the magi who brought gifts to the manger.
An understanding of what this means is anticipated in the vision the three disciples have of the exalted Jesus talking to Elijah and Moses. Their Messiah is not a Moses or an Elijah (in the person of John the Baptist) returned to lead them through this time of crisis, but God’s beloved Son. In order to reflect God’s glory in a world hidden behind a veil of darkness, it was necessary that the Jesus enter its pain.
Prayer
O God, Father of Jesus the Christ, grant that the experience of the transfiguration that strengthened the disciples for the days to come may also strengthen us on our Lenten journeys. Amen.