Luke 9:28b-36

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18

Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14

Philippians 3:17-4:1 or Philippians 3:20-4:1

Luke 9:28b-36

Jesus took Peter, John, and James

and went up the mountain to pray.

While he was praying his face changed in appearance

and his clothing became dazzling white.

And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,

who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus

that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.

Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,

but becoming fully awake,

they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.

As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,

“Master, it is good that we are here;

let us make three tents,

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

But he did not know what he was saying.

While he was still speaking,

a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,

and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.

Then from the cloud came a voice that said,

“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

They fell silent and did not at that time

tell anyone what they had seen.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you reveal your beloved Son to us and cry out to me today, “Listen to him!” Open my ears to hear your Word today and put it into practice.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Moses and Elijah Spoke of His Exodus: When the Gospel of Luke narrates the transfiguration of Jesus, he is the only one who tells us what Moses and Elijah spoke about with Jesus. They spoke about Jesus’ exodus. Moses had led the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness on the way to the earthly promised land. Jesus will lead all people out of the slavery of sin to the heavenly promised land: “Jesus is gathering the new Israel around him as he journeys to Jerusalem in a new exodus that will culminate in a new Passover (the Institution of the Eucharist), marking the deliverance of Israel not from Egyptian bondage but the bondage to sin” (Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Year C, 82). The transfiguration reveals the glory Jesus has as the Son of God and the Son of Man. It gives the three disciples – Peter, James, and John – a foretaste of the glory of the kingdom. 

2. The First Promise to Abraham: In the First Reading, we are looking at some of the most important moments in the history of salvation. In particular, we read about the first promise that God made to Abram and how the promise was elevated to a covenant. When God first called Abram, he promised that Abram would become a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3). Three chapters later, we learn that “God’s first promise, that Abram’s descendants would become a landed nation, was upgraded to covenant status in Genesis 15, when God appeared in the form of a fiery torch, which passed between the pieces of divided animals” (Hahn, A Father who Keeps His Promises, 95). Under the Mosaic Covenant, Abram’s descendants saw the fulfillment of this covenant promise. They became a nation and conquered the land of Canaan, the land promised to Abram and his descendants. Abram didn’t see this fulfillment, but he believed. Just as Abram looked up during the day and couldn’t see the stars God referred to, Abram never lived to see the vast number of his descendants or the land occupied by his descendants. As the Letter to the Hebrews teaches: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (11:1).

3. Citizens of Heaven: In the Second Reading, from the Letter to the Philippians, Paul reminds the community that their true citizenship is not attached to an earthly empire, but is of heaven. “The Roman citizens who lived in Philippi looked to Rome as the source of their identity, allegiance, and security. Indeed, they even worshiped the emperor as ‘Lord’ and ‘Savior.’ The Christian community, too, included both citizens and noncitizens. Therefore, when Paul asserts that the citizenship of Christians truly is in heaven, he is not saying they do not have a life in Philippi, but rather that the source of their security and identity is the risen Messiah, whom they worship as Lord and Savior. If Jesus is Lord and Savior in the most absolute sense, then Caesar is not. So the point is not that the Philippian Christians are in exile but that as members of the church, they live as a colony of heaven, not of the Roman Empire; their ultimate allegiance is to the Lord Christ, not to Lord Caesar. And they await a visitation not from the Roman savior but from the Savior Christ” (Hamm, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 136).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you revealed your glory to Peter, James, and John. Allow me to contemplate the glory of your face. May it be a source of strength in time of trial.

Living the Word of God: Do I act more like a citizen of earth or a citizen of heaven? Are my thoughts centered on building up earthly wealth or heavenly wealth?