Mountaintop Vision
Scripture Reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent (March 20, 2011)
Scripture Readings:
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 33
2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Matthew 17:1-9
“He was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun”(Matt 17:2)
What really happened at the Transfiguration? Each of the evangelists tells it slightly differently, with his own theological emphases. Was it a miraculous glimpse of Jesus’ heavenly glory? A temporary unveiling of his divine nature to give hope to his disciples? Or was it a recasting of a resurrection appearance story placed in the middle of the Gospel? These and other theories have long been entertained by biblical scholars. In Matthew’s version, the radiance of Jesus’ face and clothing and the brightness of the cloud that overshadows the disciples are highlighted. Coming on the heels of Jesus’ teaching that he must suffer and die before being raised up (16:21), the brilliance underscores that Jesus, although executed as a criminal, is righteous.
As Jesus had told his disciples, at the end of the age “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father” (13:43). The voice from the cloud likewise reaffirms Jesus’ identity as God’s beloved Son, upon whom divine favor rests (as at his baptism, 3:17). The admonition “listen to him” echoes Deut 18:15, and emphasizes that Jesus is the authentic interpreter of the Law and the Prophets. He is not replacing Moses and Elijah, but continues the long line of faithful leaders.
The presence of Moses and Elijah recalls their powerful mountaintop experiences of God and hints that similar things happen there to Jesus. On Mount Sinai God spoke to Moses face to face, entrusting to him the commandments that would guide his people to live in faithfulness through the desert days ahead. The glory of God is reflected on Moses’ own face as he returns to the difficult task of leadership (Exod 34:29). Elijah flees to the same mountain, when trying to escape the murderous intents of Jezebel. There God speaks to him in a still, small voice, giving him the courage to go forward to anoint a new king and Elisha as his successor (1 Kings 19). Likewise, Jesus is at a turning point in his mission. There are those who seek his life as well as those who try to live faithfully God’s law that he teaches. On the mountaintop, he is able to see with God’s own vision the way forward in faithfulness.
Jesus’ transforming experience also resonates with that of Martin Luther King Jr., who on the night before he was assassinated declared that he had been to the mountaintop, and had seen the Promised Land. He set aside all fear and assured his followers that even if he were killed, as a people they will get to the Promised Land. God’s transformative love radiates through a face determined to love no matter what the other’s response. As Jesus had taught his disciples from a mountaintop about transforming enmity through love, so King reminded his followers to disarm police forces through loving nonviolent confrontation and to answer firehoses with “a certain kind of fire that no water could put out.”
King urged his listeners to continue to struggle for justice here and now, not only to wait for “long white robes over yonder.” So too, Jesus’ radiant clothes in the Gospel are not simply a glimpse of his own divine status, but a vision of the way in which each beloved child of God is to be clothed here and now. King urged his followers, to give themselves to this struggle until the end, saying, “Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point.” For Jesus, nothing would have been more tragic than to stop with teaching, preaching, and healing in the Galilee. To bring transfigured life to completion for all he continues on toward Jerusalem.
Praying with Scripture:
• Go to the mountaintop with Jesus. What is the vision you see?
• How does the mountaintop vision strengthen us for the desert journey to freedom?
• Pray for God’s transformative love to radiate through you by choosing to love no matter the other’s response.
(This article appeared in the March 14, 2011 issue of America.)
Image: Transfiguration of Christ, Giovanni Bellini 1487. By http://freechristimages.org
Vice President and Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament Studies
M.A., Aquinas College; Ph.D., The Catholic University of America
Barbara Reid is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She holds a Masters from Aquinas College in Religious Studies and a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She is the author of Abiding Word: Sunday Reflections for Year B (Liturgical Press, 2011; Year C, 2012, Year A, 2013), Taking Up the Cross: New Testament Interpretations Through Latina and Feminist Eyes (Fortress Press, 2007; Spanish translation: Reconsiderar la Cruz, Editorial Verbo Divino, 2009), The Gospel According to Matthew, New Collegeville Bible Commentary Series (Liturgical Press, 2005), Parables for Preachers (3 volumes; Liturgical Press, 1999, 2000, 2001; Spanish translation: Las Parábolas: Predicándolas y Viviéndolas (Ciclo A, B, 2008, 2009), Choosing the Better Part? Women in the Gospel of Luke (Liturgical Press, 1996), A Retreat With St. Luke (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2000), and many journal articles. Her latest book is Wisdom's Feast: An Invitation to Feminist Interpretation of the Scriptures (Eerdman’s Press, 2016). She is General Editor for Wisdom Commentary Series, a new 58-volume feminist commentary on the Bible (Liturgical Press). Her introduction to the series can be downloaded for free at www.wisdomcommentary.org.
Books written by Barbara Reid
