Transfigured to Shine

Mark 9:2-9, II Corinthians 4:3-6


Our Mark passage today is read on Transfiguration Sunday which celebrates the time Jesus took three disciples up on a high mountain and his clothes become dazzling bright. He begins to talk with Elijah and Moses.

These disciples are witnesses to the glory of Christ later told of in our II Corinthians’ passage, “in the face of Christ.” It also says that Christ is the image of God.

These disciples are terrified, but Peter speaks out wanting to capture these transfigured people by setting up a tent for each of them. To this God speaks out from a cloud saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.” Jesus then returns to his normal human state.

Who today are privileged to see the glory of Christ? II Corinthians tells us that we who proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. It is then that the light will shine in the darkness of our souls. God shines in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. We are transfigured from the inside out.

Jesus came to earth not only to save us from our sins but to show us the image of God in how he lived and how he loved others. It says the glory of God shone in the face of Christ.

Now is this physical transfiguration a preview of coming attractions for us when we get to heaven? That knowledge is beyond me, but I know that these once terrified disciples later after Pentecost with the aid of the Holy Spirit had faces that shone. It was probably not like Christ’s did physically in Mark but in their zeal and passion to share and pass on the light of the knowledge of Christ. This is the light of the gospel – the good news that Jesus has saved us from our sins.

As Christians we aim to return to the image of God we were created to be, but sin has marred us. We seek this by following and living Christ’s example. May our love of Christ be reflected on our faces, in this way as we let God’s light shine through us. Amen 

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