Today, on this second Sunday of Lent, we ascend the mountain and witness the transfigured Jesus (Matthew 17:1-9). On the mountain-top, amidst the dazzling light, Jesus’ divinity is made clear before our eyes.
It was just last Sunday that we witnessed something very different – we journeyed with Jesus into the desert where, as he fought off temptation, Jesus’ humanity was made clear before our eyes. In the desert we came to realize that because Jesus allowed himself to be tempted, he empathizes with us in our own struggle against temptation.
But Jesus not only empathizes with us in his humanity. As we witness today on the mountain, Jesus “graces” us with his divinity
St. Paul speaks of this divine grace today in his second letter to Timothy (2 Tim 1:8-10).
St. Paul reminds us that Jesus, in his divinity, bestows upon us the grace that strengthens us in our struggle against temptation. Moreover, Paul tells us that Jesus bestows upon us the unfathomable love, mercy, and forgiveness that rescues us and saves us from our sin in those instances where we succumb to temptation.
Last Sunday, in the desert, we witnessed Jesus in his humanity glorify God through his obedience and steadfastness. Today, on the mountain, we witness Jesus’ divinity and a most profound revelation of God’s glory. In a few weeks at Calvary we will bear witness to another supreme manifestation of the glory of God, a glory with no less splendor than what we witness today. As Jesus hangs on the cross we see a glory revealed amidst despair and anguish, a glory once again revealed through obedience and steadfastness, a glory revealed through a selfless love – a love as dazzling as the light we see today on the mountain.
And of course these two events – the transfiguration on the mountain-top and the cross on Calvary – are intertwined, just as are Jesus’ humanity and divinity. Jesus helps us to understand that the path to ultimate glory passes through the cross. Jesus helps us to see that it is our obedience, our steadfastness, our sacrifice, and our selfless love that glorifies God in the here and now, and leads us to our ultimate glorification. Jesus helps us to understand that even amidst life’s difficulties, life’s hurts, and life’s despair – even amidst all of this – we can still hold firmly onto the hope of our future glory.
So we continue forward on our Lenten journey with trust and confidence in Jesus whose love has no bounds, whose mercy has no limits, and whose forgiveness is extended to all. We go forward as God continues to reveal his glory through us as we imitate Jesus.