Figuring out Transfiguration

This Sunday (February 11) is observed as The Transfiguration of Jesus.

Here is the account, from Mark 9:2-9 (NIV):

"After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

"Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

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"Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

"As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what 'rising from the dead' meant."

I freely admit that the account of Christ's transfiguration has always puzzled me.  

Oh, I understand what took place on the mountain, the miraculous event that occurred.  Many people smarter than me have concluded that Moses and Elijah are the embodiment of the Old Testament scriptures - the Law and the Prophets - that were fulfilled in the Messiah Jesus.

I think I understand the Father's command to the disciples to listen to Jesus. (After all, he stands here in God's glory, right before your eyes.  Who better to listen to and follow?)

But it is very difficult for me to grasp the glory of Christ that was revealed to those three disciples.  I do not think I am alone in this.

The transfiguration of Jesus is observed at the end of the season of Epiphany - the time of teaching when Christ is revealed to the world.  The transfiguration is the greatest revelation of all.  He is not a mere man.  He is God in human flesh.

With that revelation in mind, we enter the season of Lent, the long slog that leads to his crucifixion. Holy Week climaxes in his Easter resurrection.  His ascension into heaven follows in 40 days and the day of Pentecost in 10 more, when the Holy Spirit is received by the Church.  All of this takes place so that we might be made members of his kingdom.

And that is what makes the glory of the transfiguration so difficult for me to comprehend.

I know everything there is to know about sin and evil because they have always been a part of me.  Scripture tells us that God's law is written on our hearts, therefore even those who have never read the Scriptures are aware of their separation from God because of sin.

I have felt the experience and guilt of sin.  All of us have. Those who claim that there is no such thing as sin are liars, especially to themselves.

Even for Christians it is difficult to imagine a world that is free from the impact of sin, a world filled with God's glory that gives light to everything in existence.

We are very good at describing the life that constitutes ultimate evil, which is rejection of Christ.  We are impossibly bad at describing ultimate good, which is Christ.    

Unlike the Apostle John, one of the three who were with Jesus at his transfiguration, we know little about God's glory, except by faith.
  
He wrote, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

In further writing John urges us to believe that as ones who trust in the redemption won for us by Jesus, we share in his glorious life, even though we continue in a world dominated by its sinful condition.

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

So, at the end of this, I can state two things. First, I am a sinner in need of a savior and he is Jesus. He is the means by which God intercedes in his creation.  Second, I cannot fully comprehend the wonderful, glorious life Jesus has in store for me. It simply won't be possible until we meet face to face.  

However glorious that life is, he will share it with me.