Imagine this:聽 a group of students went up to the mountaintop and saw Jesus walking and talking with Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx鈥攖wo of the most influential people of the modern world. Freud was the founder of the psychoanalytic movement whose work helped a lot of people. Karl Marx thought the working classes deserved to have a larger share of the profits created by their labours. Then from a cloud a voice said: 鈥淭his is my Chosen One. Listen to him.鈥澛犅� And when they looked up they saw no one but Jesus alone. He had been transfigured for them..
Again, imagine this: a group of business leaders and politicians went up to the top of the mountain and saw Jesus walking and talking with Henry Ford and Mahatma Gandhi. Henry Ford was one of the outstanding business people of the 20th Century. Mahatma Gandhi pioneered nonviolent political change in the liberation of India. Then from a cloud a voice said: 鈥淭his is my Chosen One. Listen to him.鈥� And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus alone. He had been transfigured for them.
Peter and James and John went up with Jesus to a high mountain and saw Moses and Elijah walking and talking with Jesus. God had given the Ten Commandments and other laws to Moses who wrote the Torah and led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt.聽 Elijah was the prototype of the Ultimate Prophet鈥攖he Messiah who, like Elijah, would be full of the Spirit of God. Then from a cloud a voice said: 鈥淭his is my Chosen One. Listen to him.鈥澛� And when they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone. He had been transfigured for them.
The transfiguration of Jesus happens when anyone sees Jesus as the one to listen to. And could it be that the great religious figures like Mohammad or Buddha or Baha Ullah are transfigured for their followers? And what specifically would the transfiguration mean?
Followers of Jesus have seen his transfiguration to mean that he is the test or criterion聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽or standard for what is truly the word or laws of God in the Scriptures. There are some things in the Scriptures that do not measure up to the standard of Christ. When modern 鈥減rophets鈥� claim on scriptural grounds that God will eventually wipe out everyone except a chosen few of their followers it doesn鈥檛 fit with the compassion and justice that we see in Jesus. And a law requiring stoning or imprisoning of people who have same-sex relations with those whom they love does not fit with the understanding of love we have seen in Jesus. Transfiguration can have some immense implications!
For the disciples, Jesus was transfigured to become the criterion of Spirit as well as criterion of the Scriptures and the law. There are many expressions of spirit. Not all are Godly Spirit. Righteous anger is a spirit that says in effect 鈥淭hey deserve whatever they get. They have done things that are wrong. 聽Damn them, fire them, teach them a lesson, let them live in jail for the rest of their lives.鈥� 聽Righteous anger鈥攁 common spirit among human beings聽 that often does not measure up to the standards of Jesus鈥� Spirit.
Jesus is transfigured for us when his Spirit takes precedence over any spirit, or any law, or any social values, or any philosophies or any wisdom that conflicts with his Spirit.
Whom might you and I see walking with Jesus on the mountain of Transfiguration? And what might Jesus ask of them? Jesus might ask Henry Ford: 鈥淒oes my world really need so many new cars, not to mention tanks, submarines and fighter bombers鈥�? He might ask Mahatma Gandhi: 鈥淚n a global-village-world should patriotism really be the supreme commitment for people鈥�? Jesus might ask Sigmund Freud: 鈥淒oes the inner world of thoughts and feelings have no room for God鈥檚 Spirit鈥�? And Jesus might ask Karl Marx: 鈥淚s money really the most important and powerful force in human history? 聽What about faith and hope and love鈥�?
Are we listening for the voice from the cloud? 聽Has Jesus or anyone been transfigured for us? And what does he or she say to the others on our mountaintops?
Paul Newmans聽is a retired United Church minister, and retired Professor Emeritus of Theology at St. Andrew鈥檚 College, Saskatoon. He lives in Sooke, 91原创 Island.聽
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking,
