Transfiguration Sunday
Donna Joy

Mark 9:2-9

Imagine this scene for a moment: On what likely was an ordinary day, Peter, James and John are led by Jesus up a high mountain, when suddenly Jesus is transfigured. That is, his clothes become dazzling white like he was the center of the most radiant vision of light. That alone was astonishing, but then suddenly two iconic individuals from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, appear and become engaged in conversation with Jesus. And when Peter suggests that they need to turn this fleeting moment into something permanent, Jesus is rendered speechless because he is aware of how terrified they are; he is aware that their response to all this is fear. Fear is a negative emotion caused by a real or perceived threat to our well-being. Clearly, something is happening here that is both magnificent, and terrifying. It seems that the world as they have known it is shifting, and somewhere in their deepest gut they know that their lives are forever changed. They don’t yet fully grasp the magnitude of all this, but they are beginning to realize that there’s no going back to life before they agreed to follow Jesus.

We live in a fear-based society, and fear is used to make people play it safe, and to engage in such things as empowering a small few while disempowering the majority. Most fear is not about the actual fear itself, but the threat of what its consequence may be. That is, if this or that happens, we will lose something or someone important to us or some other suffering will likely occur. And let’s face it, especially over this past year, everywhere we turn there is something for which we could choose to be afraid.  Much of this is extremely subtle, but because it is so intricately woven through the very fabric of society (and, I would argue, the church), it dominates and dictates how our society functions (and often the church).

Fear in our society generally comes on three levels: (1) The impersonal; (2) The personal; and (3) The self. Impersonal fears include such things as: war, economic collapse, global warming, natural disasters, terrorist attacks. Personal fears include such things as: bankruptcy, getting fired, being abandoned by someone we love, losing independence. Self-fear includes, among other things: the fear of rejection, failure, phobias (e.g. claustrophobia – fear of confined spaces, and agoraphobia – fear of open space), intimacy, acceptance, any physical threats of bodily harm, including illness.

A global pandemic seems to involve fear at all three levels: (1) Impersonal, as it threatens so many systems, such as possible economic collapse. (2) Personal, as it threatens some at a financial level, and for some this also involves the fear of losing people we love, and (3) Self-fear, for those who are uncomfortable with confined spaces, prolonged isolation can highlight this fear, and of course a deadly virus can magnify the fear of getting sick, and possibly dying.

So, we live in a fear-based society, and today as we gather for worship, we recognize fear in Jesus’ followers, but when we reflect closely on the text we also recognize a message of hope. Clearly this is an important story – event – because Matthew and Luke also include this in their gospels. This fear factor is one detail that is identified in each telling of this story.

So, when Jesus recognizes that Peter, James and John are terrified, it seems there is a bit of a pause as Jesus decides how to respond to their fear during which the cloud of God’s presence surrounds them and they hear a voice saying, “This is my Son the Beloved. Listen to him!”

Yes, they were afraid. But while there may be much that they could choose to fear, they have also been given a glimpse of what they might see and experience with the resurrection. That is light and radiance and hope. And suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one with them, and this leaves Jesus to continue on the road to Jerusalem and the cross and, of course, the resurrection.  On the way down the mountain Jesus instructs the disciples to not tell anyone, which is Mark’s way of saying that none of this will make sense until Jesus has died on the cross and risen to new life. He seems to be saying, “So, guys, keep this to yourselves for now, and let people discover for themselves what God is up to.”

I believe this story of the transfiguration offers some helpful insights at this particular moment in time.  While we live in a fear-based culture, it could be said that this fearful condition has become magnified over the past year for obvious reasons. In this story we are reminded that as Jesus’ followers, we are called to identify and address our fears, while searching for the light of Christ in the midst of the challenges we face. We are called to discover Jesus on the journey. And this story of the transfiguration offers those disciples, and us, a glimpse. Those disciples were given a transformative moment, an image of radiant light and hope, that they could hold on to and gain strength from as they work through their fears and begin the long and arduous journey to the cross, as they prepare to pick up their cross to live lives of courageous, sacrificial love.

To follow this path is to put our own selfish needs and wants aside in order to place our role as followers of Jesus first.  It is to forgive and to allow ourselves to be forgiven (it can be terrifying to make that first step toward forgiveness). It is to put aside our ever-present human need for power and control in order to allow God’s power to fill us and work through us (it can be terrifying to let go of the need to be in control). It is to be deeply troubled by the injustices in our world and in our church, and motivated to become the very hands/heart/ears/voice of Christ; that is, to be so deeply troubled by the injustices in our world that we become the agents of Christ’s healing and wholeness.

This can be terrifying, and daunting, to say the least.  But when we see forgiveness in action, when we put aside our need for control, when we dare to challenge systems of injustice, we catch a glimpse of the radiance of Christ.  As we think about our own fears, whatever those fears may be, we find they surface when we’re faced with our own sense of powerlessness, vulnerability, and weakness. And the only way through these fearful times, is to embrace the weakness of Christ on the cross. Our strength is found in the weakness and vulnerability of Christ, because this is what leads to the resurrection. This is what leads to new life, new possibilities, new hope.

In Matthew’s telling of the story of the transfiguration, when those disciples fell on their faces and became overcome with fear, Jesus left his place with Elijah and Moses, went over and touched them, and said, “Rise, and have no fear. Be not afraid.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw only Jesus.


This coming week we begin our journey this year through Lent with Ash Wednesday. Lent is that season when we are called to reflect on our lives, repent of our sin, identify the fears that are holding us back, and prepare to see Jesus with fresh new eyes. I encourage you join in for worship at 7:00 on Wednesday evening, to launch this important Lenten season. I pray that this coming season of Lent may be a time of focusing intentionally on Jesus who promises to transform our fears into courage, hope, and joy.