August 5, 2025 • 31 mins
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Luke 9: 28b-36 - 'Jesus was transfigured before them.'
Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:
- 2600 (in 'Jesus Prays') - The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ's ministry. Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission: before his Father's witness to him during his baptism and Transfiguration, and before his own fulfillment of the Father's plan of love by his Passion (abbreviated).
- 2583 (in Elijah, the prophets and conversion of heart') - Finally, taking the desert road that leads to the place where the living and true God reveals himself to his people, Elijah, like Moses before him, hides "in a cleft of the rock" until the mysterious presence of God has passed by. But only on the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses and Elijah behold the unveiled face of him whom they sought; "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [shines] in the face of Christ," crucified and risen (abbreviated).
- 554 (in 'A Foretaste of the Kingdom: the Transfiguration) - From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking "of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem". A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
- 556 (in 'A Foretaste of the Kingdom: the Transfiguration) - On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed "the mystery of the first regeneration", namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own Resurrection. From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body." But it also recalls that "it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God":
- 1151 (in 'Signs and Symbols') - He gives new meaning to the deeds and signs of the Old Covenant, above all to the Exodus and the Passover, for he himself is the meaning of all these signs (abbreviated).
- 516 (in 'Characteristics common to Jesus' mysteries') - Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" (abbreviated).
- 697 (in 'Symbols of the Holy Spirit')
Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast, where we take an
in-depth. Look at the Gospel reading from
today's mass, we want to give you the tools to help you
understand the literal sense of scripture.
What did Jesus intend when he said certain words?
How does the church understand? Particular gospel passages.
So today we're looking at quite a while.
Known passage. We're looking at Luke's version
(00:32):
of the Transfiguration, and in many ways, it's fairly similar
to Matthew and marks version. But there's also a couple of
interesting things that we learnabout the Transfiguration only
from Luke. And this one is only read on a
Sunday, so you'll never hear Luke's version of the
Transfiguration on a weekday, but you will hear at once on a
Sunday. So let's jump into the text.
(00:54):
Luke chapter 9 verses 28. Be 236 Jesus Took with him Peter
and John and James and went up the mountain to pray as he
prayed the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing
became brilliant as Lightning suddenly.
There were two men talking to him.
(01:16):
They were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they
were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in
Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were
heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the
two men standing with him, as these were leaving him.
Peter said to Jesus Master, it is wonderful for us to be here.
(01:40):
So, let us make three tents one for you.
One for Moses and one for Elijah.
He did not know what he was saying as he spoke a cloud came
and covered them with Shadow. And when they went into the
cloud, the disciples were afraid.
And a voice came from. The cloud saying, this is my
son. The Chosen One.
(02:02):
Listen to him. And after the voice had spoken,
Jesus was found alone. The disciple was kept silence.
And at that time, told no one what they had seen.
So that's our reading for today.It's a bit of a longer one, and
there's quite a few interesting things going on here.
One of the things people often miss is, what was the point of
(02:25):
the Transfiguration? Why did Jesus allow the
Transfiguration to happen? At this point in his ministry?
Let's see if he can pick up on that as we go through the
exegesis. So what's the context?
Jesus has just said to his disciples.
If anyone wants to be a followerof mine, he must take up his
cross daily. So those were fairly challenging
(02:46):
words from Jesus. And then in verses 26 to 27, he
says to them for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words of
him, will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his
glory and the glory of the father and of the Holy Angels.
But I tell you truly there are some standing here who will not
(03:07):
taste death before they see the kingdom of God.
So those are fairly challenging versus there and they're never
never read in the lectionary, soif you To hear verses 26 and 27.
We'll take a look at those as bonus episodes of the podcast
and you can get access to that through the patreon page.
So now we get to verse 28 and today's election area doesn't
include the first half of verse 28, but will mention it here
(03:29):
because it helps set context. So verse 28, a now about eight
days after these sayings. So Luke here tells us that
what's about to happen. Took place eight days after what
has just come before. So Luke is seeing a connection
here. Between what Jesus has just said
about being his disciple. And what's about to happen?
(03:51):
So eight days, the other gospelssay, six days, but Luke is
actually being more inclusive here.
There was a couple of different ways of counting days in that
culture. So Luke is included including
the starting day and the ending day so that makes it eight days.
Why is he done that rather than saying six days?
Well some Scholars think he's deliberately framing it as eight
(04:12):
days because on the Feast of Tabernacles Chuckles the Eighth
Day, had special significance. You see that in Leviticus 23.
And as we go through the story here, we'll see that the Feast
of Tabernacles, maybe what's in the background of some of Peters
comments. And perhaps, that's what Luke is
trying to bring out as well. Jesus Took with him Peter and
John and James. So this is the inner circle of
(04:35):
disciples. The top three disciples It's
interesting in Jesus Ministry of, there's some things that he
only allows these three disciples to see.
He only trusts them with certainthings and this is one of them.
So there's a hierarchy even within the apostles.
And this is in a way this gets developed later in church,
(04:56):
tradition to see that some Bishops are more important than
others. Particularly the bishop of Rome
has a particularly important role to play and we see that
even in the apostles not all thedisciples had equal.
What? I want all equal in every
respect. So he brings in here that the
three just three key disciples, and these three do go on to have
(05:17):
key leadership roles in the church.
Interestingly, Scholars have pointed out that Luke mentions,
it mentions John before James. Whereas the other gospel
authors, always say, James, before John, James was older,
but Luke recognizes, and he knows this because he was around
during the early church, Luke knows the importance of John in
the early church so he mentions As Peter and John and James.
(05:43):
So, Luke tells us that the threeof them went with Jesus up the
mountain to pray. Now in scripture people go up
mountains, to be closer to heaven, to be closer to God, and
Matthews version, specifically tells us that Jesus wanted them
to be alone for this. So, they're going up the
mountain, to be closer to God, but to also be alone as well.
Now what mountain is this, none of the gospels tell us the
(06:05):
traditional site is Mount table and by the fourth century,
Christians believed it was Mounttable.
But Not necessarily that you could be Mount Hermon as well,
but most Scholars, do take it tobe Mount table verse 29, as he
prayed. So notice that as Jesus is
praying, something happens to him.
Luke is constantly emphasizing how the key moments in Jesus
(06:28):
life happened as a result of hisprayer and the implication is
supposed to be that if Jesus wasn't praying, this may not
have happened. As he prayed the aspect of his
face was changed, or you can translate this as the The
appearance of his countenance was altered.
Now Matthews version, says his face Shone like the sun.
(06:48):
Now this is clearly supposed to be a parallel with Moses on
Mount Sinai. So after Moses, spoke with God,
Moses, his face was shining. It says that in Exodus chapter
34 and certainly that would fit in with Jesus being depicted as
the new Moses. So Jesus face is shining on the
mountain just as Moses face shown when he came down from the
(07:10):
mountain. And his clothing became
brilliant as lightning or more traditional translation.
They would be his raiment becamedazzling white.
So why does it become white? Well, there's a possible few
different explanations. It's probably showing his
divinity, basically. A white is often simply
associated with divinity. There might also be a reference
(07:31):
here to Daniel 7:9. So Daniel chapter 7 has this
really interesting prophecy of this image of what the coming
Messiah is going to be like, andin that process.
Office e in verse 9 of Daniel 7.It says his clothing was white
as snow and that's clearly a reference to the Messiah.
So, that might be what's going on here, too.
(07:51):
And in fact, Jesus, a few versesearlier had referred to this
exact prophecy in Daniel, when he called himself, the son of
man, which is what Daniel calls the Messiah.
Also, in Matthew chapter 28, when Jesus resurrects, we learn
that the angels have dazzling, white garments, and there's
plenty of other places in the Bible where people have white
(08:13):
garments to. Now, what's going on here?
Why is Jesus clothes and his face suddenly changed?
What's the point of it? The gospels don't actually tell
us but it appears to be something like this.
The true glorified form of Jesusis being revealed.
When Jesus is transfigured, herewe see all the disciples see his
(08:34):
true glorified form. And that's certainly the way the
church is understood this Jesus at this point.
Is shining with his own Divine Glory?
He's showing the disciples. I am Divine.
That's basically what's going onhere now notice.
He's only doing it to Peter, James, and John.
So, he's showing his innermost disciples, his true identity.
(08:55):
He thinks they're ready for it. In a sense, the Transfiguration
is also a foreshadowing of resurrected Humanity as well.
Certainly, there's an aspect here of showing us what all of
humans bodies will be like, whenthey resurrected.
So there's a lot of really interesting stuff we can take
from the Transfiguration verse 30 suddenly, there were two men
there talking to him. So apparently they just appear
(09:17):
out of nowhere and they were Moses and Elijah appearing in
glory Now this same phrase, two men appearing in glory, is used
to describe the appearance of the two angels later in Luke's
gospel. In Luke chapter 24, verse 4.
It says two angels appeared in glory So Moses and Elijah, these
(09:37):
were considered to be the two most important figures in the
history of Judaism basically. Well that's certainly one way of
looking at it, because Moses represented the law and Elijah
represented the prophets. So to have Moses and Elijah
together in one place is basically them representing the
entire Old Testament. Presumably, they show up here
(09:59):
and it's supposed to indicate tothe disciples that Jesus truly
has Divine approval. That's the whole point here.
Is to show these three disciplesthat Jesus is the Messiah.
He has Divine approval, Moses. And Elijah show up as proof of
that. Now, interestingly, both Moses
the lawgiver and Elijah, the prophet were well-known miracle
(10:21):
workers, who fasted for 40 days that's mentioned in Exodus 24
and 1 Kings chapter 19, on top of that, both of them were
rejected by some of God's people.
Both of them encountered, God's glory on Mount Sinai.
And Finally, both Figures were associated with the
eschatological Hope Jews, believe that both Moses and
(10:41):
Elijah would one day show up before the kingdom of God
arrived. So, all of these things have
parallels to Jesus and it's particularly interesting that
the Jews expected Moses, and Elijah to literally return
before the kingdom came. And that's exactly what happens
here. Also, both Moses and Elijah.
Apparently both of them had their bodies taken up to heaven.
(11:03):
We know that happened with Elijah and there's an ancient.
Jewish tradition which is apparently testified, to, in the
book of Jude that Moses is body was also taken up to heaven and
that would explain why they can appear to Jesus here in bodily
form because apparently, their bodies were able to appear
because the body's just came straight down from heaven.
(11:25):
You could say, this is particularly significant for
Moses because Moses never made it to the promised land during
his own lifetime. He didn't get to sit step
forward in the promised land, but here at the Transfiguration,
he finally does get to step footon the promised land verse 31.
They were speaking of his passing, which he was to
(11:45):
accomplish in Jerusalem. This is a detail.
We only get from the Gospel of Luke the other gospels.
Don't tell us what Moses and Elijah were talking about with
Jesus. Luke does.
Luke says, they were talking about the passing.
He wants to accomplish more literally.
It says their Exodus or departure.
So they're talking with Jesus about his forthcoming death and
(12:06):
Resurrection, that's basically what it means by his Exodus.
But some Scholars think there might also be a reference here
to what? The result of Jesus death.
On the cross will be namely the great, Exodus The Exodus from
sin. That Jesus accomplished has for
his people on the cross. Maybe that's what they're
talking about. It will be Great to hear what
they were saying with Jesus. Here, it will be quite an
(12:27):
amazing conversation to hear verse 32, Peter and his
companions were heavy with sleepagain.
Only Luke tells us this, so possibly Peter.
James and John are tired becausethey've been climbing this big
mountain. But interestingly, sleep in the
Old Testament is often associated with Heavenly
Visions. If you look at Genesis 15 and
(12:48):
Daniel chapter 8, both of Danieland Abraham there, they're both
kind of sleepy when they have these visions.
Is interesting, but Luke tells us, they kept awake and saw his
glory and the two men standing with him, notice what?
Luke says here, they saw his glory that language here,
suggests a parallel with the Israelites in the Old Testament
(13:09):
who witnessed the glory of God on Mount Sinai, and they heard
his voice. So that's in Deuteronomy chapter
5. So the parallel here is Jesus is
shining with God's glory and thedisciples.
See it just as the Israelites saw it on Mount Sinai.
My verse 33 as these were leaving him, so Moses and Elijah
start to disappear from Jesus. Peter said to Jesus Master, it
(13:34):
is wonderful for us to be here. So apparently Peter wants the
experience to keep going. He's sort of, he's trying to
prolong it. Apparently.
He's probably been quite genuine.
He really does feel. It's wonderful for them to be
here. This will be a truly amazing
event for them. It's possible that he actually
thinks the kingdom of God Has Come think about it.
They've just seen Moses and Elijah show.
(13:55):
And the Jews believed that wouldhappen just before the kingdom
came. And they've also seen Jesus,
Jesus Shine with God's glory, sohe probably thinks the kingdom
has arrived. So he says to Jesus, let us make
three-tenths more. Literally what it says, there is
booths. Let us make three booths.
So maybe he thinks Moses and Elijah and Jesus are going to
(14:15):
stay here for a while or maybe he wants them to stay here for a
while. So He suggests in his, let's
build some tents on the top of this mountain.
He's probably trying to honor them.
One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
Now some Scholars think hear himPeter might specifically be
thinking of the Feast of Tabernacles.
(14:35):
So this is a quote from the Catholic commentary on sacred
scripture. It says, Peter likely has in
mind. The tents used for the Feast of
Tabernacles, the Autumn Harvest Festival in which the Israelites
dwelt in makeshift tents, for seven days commemorating, how
God's presence dwelt in the tentof meeting.
And how is it is It's themselves.
(14:56):
Dwelt in tents, as they journeyed through the Wilderness
on the way, to the promised land, the Greek word here
translates. Tens translated tense is used in
the Septuagint, for the tents made in the Feast of Tabernacles
significantly. The feast also pointed to a
future fulfillment. Anticipating the time when the
nations would come to Jerusalem to Worship the Lord, as King in
(15:19):
an eschatological Feast of Tabernacles in Zechariah, 14,
and Hosea. L've when Peter Witnesses, Jesus
transfigured in glory. He may consider the
eschatological era to be daunting and thus seeks to enter
into the experience in a way reminiscent of the Feast of
Tabernacles. So, I think that's a really good
(15:40):
quote. They're showing what Peter
thinks is probably happening. He knows the Prophecies of the
Old Testament in terms of the Feast of Tabernacles and the
arrival of the kingdom and he thinks that moment is happening.
So he thinks it's appropriate tobuild these tents.
Luke tells us I did not know what he was saying.
So Luke indicates the Peter, doesn't really understand what's
going on now. Mark tells us that it at this
(16:03):
point Peter and the other disciples actually exceedingly
afraid so much. Like when people encounter
angels in the Bible, seeing God's glory is fairly
frightening. So, Peter is probably not in his
right mind here. He's probably quite frightened.
Now what Peter doesn't grasp is that got this is God's glory
that shining through Jesus but it's not going to remain with
(16:24):
them permanently. First Jesus has to go to the
cross in order for the fullness of his glory to be revealed.
Peter does not realize that Jesus has to suffer and die in
order for the glory to remain with them.
So Peter doesn't get an answer for his suggestion here.
Verse 34, as he spoke a cloud came and covered them with
(16:46):
Shadow now Truly what it says there is a cloud overshadowed
them Matthews version tells us, this is a bright Cloud.
So again this is calling to mindThe Exodus experience in the
wilderness, the cloud covered, and protected the Israelites and
also at the tent of meeting the cloud, dwelled, at the entrance
of the tent of meeting. You can see that in Exodus
(17:07):
chapter 40 an in Exodus, the cloud represented, the very
presence of God. So in a sense you think about
the imagery of the tent? I think about that.
Imagery of the cloud. It looks like Jesus here is
being depicted as the dwelling place of God.
So Jesus is the new tent. He's the new Cloud the new place
where God dwells, so he doesn't need Peter to build a tent for
(17:29):
him. Now later in the Old Testament,
after the book of Exodus, the cloud represented God's presence
in the temple. So it was believed that God's
presence left during the time ofEzekiel.
But again, the Jews believed just as Moses and Elijah would
return before the kingdom came the Jews believe that the cloud
of God's presence would return. When the kingdom of God, arrived
(17:53):
will now, the cloud has arrived.So, it probably indicates that
Jesus is the kingdom of God. He's the Fulfillment of it here.
The new Dwelling Place of God all of these symbols and signals
are trying to teach these three disciples that the kingdom of
God has arrived in the person ofJesus.
He is God's Divine messenger, the one they've been waiting
(18:13):
for. Now, some Scholars think that
here, the cloud might also represent the Holy Spirit,
particularly because the same Greek word is used to describe
how the Holy Spirit overshadowedMary.
The same Greek word is used hereto describe how the cloud
overshadowed them. So if this is meant to
represent, Isn't the Holy Spiritand indeed the catechism takes
(18:33):
it that way. That means we have the Trinity
present here. The father who's about to speak
the Son and the Holy Spirit. So again we see a parallel Here
with Jesus baptism, there's a lot of interesting parallels.
Luke tells us when they went into the cloud.
The disciples were afraid. So, apparently, the cloud comes
right down onto them. This is quite a scary
(18:55):
experience. They go right into the cloud
verse 35. A voice came from the cloud.
So, this is the voice of the father.
There are three times in the gospels when the voice of the
father is heard. So the baptism here at the
Transfiguration. And also, there's one really
interesting one in the last weekof Jesus life, which only John
mentions. So, here, the Fathers voice says
(19:19):
this is my son, The Chosen One some manuscripts.
Say this is the Beloved, my son,the Beloved.
So the father's words here, Echotwo places in the Old Testament,
Isaiah 43, which is clearly about the Messiah.
And also some to, which is takento be a Messianic Psalm as well.
So God here is quoting from scripture, this is one of the
(19:41):
three places in Luke, where Jesus divine sonship is
announced, who's God speaking tohere.
Who's the father speaking to? He speaking to the three
Apostles. He's speaking to Peter James and
John so that they're very clear on Jesus identity.
Now this is basically what the father said at the baptism, as
well at the baptism. The father said, something very
similar. This is my son, the Beloved
(20:03):
here. The father says it again, but
this time the father is directing it at the apostles.
So hopefully, you're starting tosee the whole point of the
Transfiguration. At least one of the main points
is for the benefit of Peter, James and John.
So here the father says, listen to him.
So this whole event is a solution supposed to be a
(20:24):
solution to the disciples doubting Jesus and his
authority. Remember the last thing he said
to them a week ago, was if you want to be my disciple, take up
your cross and follow me, they found that very, very difficult
teaching to understand and to accept.
So here, the father says to the disciples, this is my son,
listen to him. The father wants these His
(20:47):
disciples, the leaders of the church to have confidence in
Jesus and to also there, the leaders of the Apostle.
So he wants them to be able to teach the other Apostles to do
the same. So basically God allows the
Transfiguration to happen in order to convince the three
Apostles that Jesus really is the Son of God.
(21:08):
So he wants the disciples to know that they should be serious
about Jesus and they should pay attention to him.
That includes taking seriously what he just said.
About suffering. If the disciples will listen to
Jesus and follow him to the Cross, their Destiny will be
joined to his and they too will experience Divine Glory.
These are the things that the father wants the disciples to
(21:29):
recognize. Now, when the father he says,
listen to him some Scholars. Think they might be an echo here
with something else that happensin the Old Testament.
Which is there's a prophecy thatthey'll be a prophet like Moses,
who the people will listen to. In the Greek.
There, it says, the people will listen to him.
So possibly, this is the Fulfillment of that Jesus is the
(21:53):
prophet, like Moses who the people will listen to.
Jesus, like Moses has Divine approval and therefore, he needs
to be listened to by God's people.
So, the point of the Transfiguration is for the
disciples to realize that Jesus is God's chosen one, and he
needs to be listened to. Now, according to Matthew's
gospel, at this point, the disciple was fall on their face
(22:14):
and they are afraid and then Jesus touches them and says,
stand up. Do not be afraid verse 36, Luke
says, after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
So the vision is over, it's accomplished.
Its purpose. And then Luke says the disciples
kept silence. And at that time told no one
(22:37):
what they had seen. So Jesus tells them to keep it
to themselves and they'd actually do in this case, they
keep it to themselves, they probably realized that if they
were to try and explain this to the other Apostles, it's going
to be too much for them. And in fact, there might try to
make him King too early. We see that in other places in
the gospels, when people realizeJesus is the Messiah, they miss,
(22:58):
miss understand what that means and they try to take him as a
military. Later Jesus says, if you tell
the people what they've just what you've just seen that could
happen. So he decides it's prudent for
them to not talk about this until later and indeed after the
resurrection, they start to tellpeople about what they've seen
and that makes sense because after the resurrection people
(23:19):
are more likely to believe this story.
So let's finish this exegesis with a quote from the Catholic
commentary on sacred scripture. This is from Matthews version of
the Transfiguration. What these three disciples We
saw and heard on the mountain would have reminded them of what
happened to Moses at Mount Sinai.
In Exodus 24, Moses LED three ofhis Close Associates up that
(23:41):
high mountain. That Was Then covered by God's
glory in the form of a cloud forSix Days.
On the seventh day, the Divine voice called out from the cloud
and spoke to Moses. Moreover, during Israel.
Stay at Sinai. Moses would enter the cloud.
Atop The Mountain to talk to God, and when he left his face
would shine, Reflecting God's glory and leaving the people in
(24:05):
awe. Similarly, Jesus singles out,
three of his Apostles and leads them up a high mountain.
That is overshadowed by The Cloud of God's glory.
As its Sinai, a Heavenly voice calls out from the cloud on the
seventh day as Moses face Shawn.So Jesus face shines brightly as
the people at Sinai were left inawe.
(24:25):
So the apostles at the end of the scene are lying prostrate
greatly afraid. The disciples soon will see
their master betrayed arrested condemned and crucified here.
Jesus gives three of them an opportunity to see his glory in
order to prepare them for his for this supreme trial of their
faith, the scene reveals to themand to the readers of Luke that
(24:49):
the Son of God on the mountain of transfiguration is the same
son of man who will suffer and be killed on a hill in
Jerusalem. So, I think that's quite an
excellent course, summarizing all the different power levels
here with Moses and the whole purpose of the Transfiguration.
So, the next section of Luke chapter 9 is verses 37, 243,
(25:10):
that tells us what happens as Jesus comes down the mountain
and that's when Jesus heals the demon ayack boy, that's a really
interesting story, but it's never read in the normal
lectionary. So you'll never hear that as
part of the normal episodes of the podcast.
So, if you want to hear this, next section of Luke chapter 9,
you He that as a bonus episode of the podcast and you can get
(25:30):
access to that through the patreon page.
If you are interested in that, have a look at the episode
description, which has a link tothe patreon page.
Now, when we turn to the catechism, there's a whole lot
of really interesting referenceshere to the Transfiguration.
So let's read a few of them paragraph 2600, The Gospel,
According to st. Luke emphasizes the action of
(25:52):
the Holy Spirit and the meaning of Prayer in Christ's Ministry,
Jesus prays before the decisive,Of moments of his mission before
his father's witness to him during his baptism and
Transfiguration. And before his own fulfillment
of the father's plan of Love by his passion.
So there we see the catechism, recognizing the importance of
prayer in Jesus own life. Paragraph 2 5 8, 3 is about
(26:16):
Elijah the taking the desert road that leads him to the place
where the living and true God reveals himself to his people,
Elijah like Moses, before him hides, in the cleft of the rock,
until the mysterious presence ofGod has passed by, but only on
the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses.
And Elijah behold the unveiled face of him who they sought the
(26:40):
light of the knowledge of the glory of God, shines in the face
of Christ. Crucified and risen.
So that's a really interesting point, Moses and Elijah both
encountered God, but kind of in a veiled way, they weren't
allowed to see God. As he is here, Moses and Elijah.
See, God unveiled face to face in the person of Jesus paragraph
(27:01):
554. This is explicitly about the
Transfiguration from the day, Peter confess that Jesus is the
Christ. The son of the Living.
God, the master began to show his disciples that he must go
to. Mm and suffer, many things.
And be killed, and on the Thursday or third day.
Be raised Peters. Scorns this prediction nor did
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the others understand it. Any better than he in this
context. The mysterious episode of Jesus
Transfiguration takes place on ahigh mountain before three
Witnesses. Chosen by himself, Peter James
and John Jesus face and clothes became dazzling with light and
Moses and Elijah appear speakingof his departure which he was
(27:43):
about. To accomplish at Jerusalem.
A cloud covers him and a voice from Heaven says, this is my
son. Listen to him.
Continuing fly, five, paragraph,56, the catechism tells us
what's the Catholic teaching here?
About the meaning of the Transfiguration, on the
threshold of the public life. The baptism on the threshold of
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the Passover, the Transfiguration Jesus baptism
proclaimed. The Mystery of the first
regeneration, namely our baptismthe Transfiguration Is the
sacrament of the second regeneration.
Our own Resurrection, from now on, we share in the Lord's,
Resurrection, through the spiritwho acts in the sacraments of
(28:24):
the body of Christ, the Transfiguration gives us a
foretaste of Christ's glorious coming when he will change our
lowly body to be like his glorious body.
But it also recalls that it is through many persecutions that
we must enter the kingdom of Godparagraph 1151.
Jesus gives Meaning to the Deedsof and signs of the old,
(28:46):
Covenant Above All To The Exodusand the Passover for he himself
is the meaning of all these signs.
So they're the catechism picks up on the fact that Jesus speaks
with Moses and Elijah about the Exodus is about to accomplish.
So Jesus gives the final meaningto what the Exodus is all about.
Paragraph. 69 7 is about symbolsof the Holy Spirit and here it
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mentions how the cloud is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Cloud and light as two images occur together in the
manifestations of the holy spirit in the theophanies of the
Old Testament, the cloud. Now obscure now luminous reveals
the living and saving God. While veiling, the Transcendence
of his glory with Moses on MountSinai at the tent of meeting and
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during the wandering in the desert and with Solomon at the
dedication of the temple, in theHoly Spirit Christ.
Fulfills these figures the spirit comes upon the Virgin
Mary. Overshadows her, so that she
might conceive and give birth toJesus on the mountain of
transfiguration, the spirit in the cloud came and overshadowed.
Jesus Moses. Elijah Peter.
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James, and John, and the voice came out of the cloud saying,
this is my son. My Chosen listen to him.
Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the
disciples on the day of his Ascension and we'll reveal him
as son of man in glory on the day of his final.
Coming. So a lot of really deep
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paragraphs there from the catechism, really getting into
the Theology of what the Transfiguration means for us as
Catholics. So, I'll include as many of
those paragraphs as I can in theepisode description.
If you want to have a look at those.
Thanks so much for your support of the ministry.
I hope you'll consider becoming a financial partner of the
ministry as well. We can see some information
about that in the show notes. Please continue to tell other
(30:38):
people what you're learning in this podcast.
So that more and more people canhear about it and we'll see you
again tomorrow.
Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast, where we take an
in-depth. Look at the Gospel reading from
today's mass, we want to give you the tools to help you
understand the literal sense of scripture.
What did Jesus intend when he said certain words?
How does the church understand? Particular gospel passages.
So today we're looking at quite a while.
Known passage. We're looking at Luke's version
(00:32):
of the Transfiguration, and in many ways, it's fairly similar
to Matthew and marks version. But there's also a couple of
interesting things that we learnabout the Transfiguration only
from Luke. And this one is only read on a
Sunday, so you'll never hear Luke's version of the
Transfiguration on a weekday, but you will hear at once on a
Sunday. So let's jump into the text.
(00:54):
Luke chapter 9 verses 28. Be 236 Jesus Took with him Peter
and John and James and went up the mountain to pray as he
prayed the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing
became brilliant as Lightning suddenly.
There were two men talking to him.
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They were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they
were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in
Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were
heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the
two men standing with him, as these were leaving him.
Peter said to Jesus Master, it is wonderful for us to be here.
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So, let us make three tents one for you.
One for Moses and one for Elijah.
He did not know what he was saying as he spoke a cloud came
and covered them with Shadow. And when they went into the
cloud, the disciples were afraid.
And a voice came from. The cloud saying, this is my
son. The Chosen One.
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Listen to him. And after the voice had spoken,
Jesus was found alone. The disciple was kept silence.
And at that time, told no one what they had seen.
So that's our reading for today.It's a bit of a longer one, and
there's quite a few interesting things going on here.
One of the things people often miss is, what was the point of
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the Transfiguration? Why did Jesus allow the
Transfiguration to happen? At this point in his ministry?
Let's see if he can pick up on that as we go through the
exegesis. So what's the context?
Jesus has just said to his disciples.
If anyone wants to be a followerof mine, he must take up his
cross daily. So those were fairly challenging
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words from Jesus. And then in verses 26 to 27, he
says to them for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words of
him, will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his
glory and the glory of the father and of the Holy Angels.
But I tell you truly there are some standing here who will not
(03:07):
taste death before they see the kingdom of God.
So those are fairly challenging versus there and they're never
never read in the lectionary, soif you To hear verses 26 and 27.
We'll take a look at those as bonus episodes of the podcast
and you can get access to that through the patreon page.
So now we get to verse 28 and today's election area doesn't
include the first half of verse 28, but will mention it here
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because it helps set context. So verse 28, a now about eight
days after these sayings. So Luke here tells us that
what's about to happen. Took place eight days after what
has just come before. So Luke is seeing a connection
here. Between what Jesus has just said
about being his disciple. And what's about to happen?
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So eight days, the other gospelssay, six days, but Luke is
actually being more inclusive here.
There was a couple of different ways of counting days in that
culture. So Luke is included including
the starting day and the ending day so that makes it eight days.
Why is he done that rather than saying six days?
Well some Scholars think he's deliberately framing it as eight
(04:12):
days because on the Feast of Tabernacles Chuckles the Eighth
Day, had special significance. You see that in Leviticus 23.
And as we go through the story here, we'll see that the Feast
of Tabernacles, maybe what's in the background of some of Peters
comments. And perhaps, that's what Luke is
trying to bring out as well. Jesus Took with him Peter and
John and James. So this is the inner circle of
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disciples. The top three disciples It's
interesting in Jesus Ministry of, there's some things that he
only allows these three disciples to see.
He only trusts them with certainthings and this is one of them.
So there's a hierarchy even within the apostles.
And this is in a way this gets developed later in church,
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tradition to see that some Bishops are more important than
others. Particularly the bishop of Rome
has a particularly important role to play and we see that
even in the apostles not all thedisciples had equal.
What? I want all equal in every
respect. So he brings in here that the
three just three key disciples, and these three do go on to have
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key leadership roles in the church.
Interestingly, Scholars have pointed out that Luke mentions,
it mentions John before James. Whereas the other gospel
authors, always say, James, before John, James was older,
but Luke recognizes, and he knows this because he was around
during the early church, Luke knows the importance of John in
the early church so he mentions As Peter and John and James.
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So, Luke tells us that the threeof them went with Jesus up the
mountain to pray. Now in scripture people go up
mountains, to be closer to heaven, to be closer to God, and
Matthews version, specifically tells us that Jesus wanted them
to be alone for this. So, they're going up the
mountain, to be closer to God, but to also be alone as well.
Now what mountain is this, none of the gospels tell us the
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traditional site is Mount table and by the fourth century,
Christians believed it was Mounttable.
But Not necessarily that you could be Mount Hermon as well,
but most Scholars, do take it tobe Mount table verse 29, as he
prayed. So notice that as Jesus is
praying, something happens to him.
Luke is constantly emphasizing how the key moments in Jesus
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life happened as a result of hisprayer and the implication is
supposed to be that if Jesus wasn't praying, this may not
have happened. As he prayed the aspect of his
face was changed, or you can translate this as the The
appearance of his countenance was altered.
Now Matthews version, says his face Shone like the sun.
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Now this is clearly supposed to be a parallel with Moses on
Mount Sinai. So after Moses, spoke with God,
Moses, his face was shining. It says that in Exodus chapter
34 and certainly that would fit in with Jesus being depicted as
the new Moses. So Jesus face is shining on the
mountain just as Moses face shown when he came down from the
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mountain. And his clothing became
brilliant as lightning or more traditional translation.
They would be his raiment becamedazzling white.
So why does it become white? Well, there's a possible few
different explanations. It's probably showing his
divinity, basically. A white is often simply
associated with divinity. There might also be a reference
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here to Daniel 7:9. So Daniel chapter 7 has this
really interesting prophecy of this image of what the coming
Messiah is going to be like, andin that process.
Office e in verse 9 of Daniel 7.It says his clothing was white
as snow and that's clearly a reference to the Messiah.
So, that might be what's going on here, too.
(07:51):
And in fact, Jesus, a few versesearlier had referred to this
exact prophecy in Daniel, when he called himself, the son of
man, which is what Daniel calls the Messiah.
Also, in Matthew chapter 28, when Jesus resurrects, we learn
that the angels have dazzling, white garments, and there's
plenty of other places in the Bible where people have white
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garments to. Now, what's going on here?
Why is Jesus clothes and his face suddenly changed?
What's the point of it? The gospels don't actually tell
us but it appears to be something like this.
The true glorified form of Jesusis being revealed.
When Jesus is transfigured, herewe see all the disciples see his
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true glorified form. And that's certainly the way the
church is understood this Jesus at this point.
Is shining with his own Divine Glory?
He's showing the disciples. I am Divine.
That's basically what's going onhere now notice.
He's only doing it to Peter, James, and John.
So, he's showing his innermost disciples, his true identity.
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He thinks they're ready for it. In a sense, the Transfiguration
is also a foreshadowing of resurrected Humanity as well.
Certainly, there's an aspect here of showing us what all of
humans bodies will be like, whenthey resurrected.
So there's a lot of really interesting stuff we can take
from the Transfiguration verse 30 suddenly, there were two men
there talking to him. So apparently they just appear
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out of nowhere and they were Moses and Elijah appearing in
glory Now this same phrase, two men appearing in glory, is used
to describe the appearance of the two angels later in Luke's
gospel. In Luke chapter 24, verse 4.
It says two angels appeared in glory So Moses and Elijah, these
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were considered to be the two most important figures in the
history of Judaism basically. Well that's certainly one way of
looking at it, because Moses represented the law and Elijah
represented the prophets. So to have Moses and Elijah
together in one place is basically them representing the
entire Old Testament. Presumably, they show up here
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and it's supposed to indicate tothe disciples that Jesus truly
has Divine approval. That's the whole point here.
Is to show these three disciplesthat Jesus is the Messiah.
He has Divine approval, Moses. And Elijah show up as proof of
that. Now, interestingly, both Moses
the lawgiver and Elijah, the prophet were well-known miracle
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workers, who fasted for 40 days that's mentioned in Exodus 24
and 1 Kings chapter 19, on top of that, both of them were
rejected by some of God's people.
Both of them encountered, God's glory on Mount Sinai.
And Finally, both Figures were associated with the
eschatological Hope Jews, believe that both Moses and
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Elijah would one day show up before the kingdom of God
arrived. So, all of these things have
parallels to Jesus and it's particularly interesting that
the Jews expected Moses, and Elijah to literally return
before the kingdom came. And that's exactly what happens
here. Also, both Moses and Elijah.
Apparently both of them had their bodies taken up to heaven.
(11:03):
We know that happened with Elijah and there's an ancient.
Jewish tradition which is apparently testified, to, in the
book of Jude that Moses is body was also taken up to heaven and
that would explain why they can appear to Jesus here in bodily
form because apparently, their bodies were able to appear
because the body's just came straight down from heaven.
(11:25):
You could say, this is particularly significant for
Moses because Moses never made it to the promised land during
his own lifetime. He didn't get to sit step
forward in the promised land, but here at the Transfiguration,
he finally does get to step footon the promised land verse 31.
They were speaking of his passing, which he was to
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accomplish in Jerusalem. This is a detail.
We only get from the Gospel of Luke the other gospels.
Don't tell us what Moses and Elijah were talking about with
Jesus. Luke does.
Luke says, they were talking about the passing.
He wants to accomplish more literally.
It says their Exodus or departure.
So they're talking with Jesus about his forthcoming death and
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Resurrection, that's basically what it means by his Exodus.
But some Scholars think there might also be a reference here
to what? The result of Jesus death.
On the cross will be namely the great, Exodus The Exodus from
sin. That Jesus accomplished has for
his people on the cross. Maybe that's what they're
talking about. It will be Great to hear what
they were saying with Jesus. Here, it will be quite an
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amazing conversation to hear verse 32, Peter and his
companions were heavy with sleepagain.
Only Luke tells us this, so possibly Peter.
James and John are tired becausethey've been climbing this big
mountain. But interestingly, sleep in the
Old Testament is often associated with Heavenly
Visions. If you look at Genesis 15 and
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Daniel chapter 8, both of Danieland Abraham there, they're both
kind of sleepy when they have these visions.
Is interesting, but Luke tells us, they kept awake and saw his
glory and the two men standing with him, notice what?
Luke says here, they saw his glory that language here,
suggests a parallel with the Israelites in the Old Testament
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who witnessed the glory of God on Mount Sinai, and they heard
his voice. So that's in Deuteronomy chapter
5. So the parallel here is Jesus is
shining with God's glory and thedisciples.
See it just as the Israelites saw it on Mount Sinai.
My verse 33 as these were leaving him, so Moses and Elijah
start to disappear from Jesus. Peter said to Jesus Master, it
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is wonderful for us to be here. So apparently Peter wants the
experience to keep going. He's sort of, he's trying to
prolong it. Apparently.
He's probably been quite genuine.
He really does feel. It's wonderful for them to be
here. This will be a truly amazing
event for them. It's possible that he actually
thinks the kingdom of God Has Come think about it.
They've just seen Moses and Elijah show.
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And the Jews believed that wouldhappen just before the kingdom
came. And they've also seen Jesus,
Jesus Shine with God's glory, sohe probably thinks the kingdom
has arrived. So he says to Jesus, let us make
three-tenths more. Literally what it says, there is
booths. Let us make three booths.
So maybe he thinks Moses and Elijah and Jesus are going to
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stay here for a while or maybe he wants them to stay here for a
while. So He suggests in his, let's
build some tents on the top of this mountain.
He's probably trying to honor them.
One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
Now some Scholars think hear himPeter might specifically be
thinking of the Feast of Tabernacles.
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So this is a quote from the Catholic commentary on sacred
scripture. It says, Peter likely has in
mind. The tents used for the Feast of
Tabernacles, the Autumn Harvest Festival in which the Israelites
dwelt in makeshift tents, for seven days commemorating, how
God's presence dwelt in the tentof meeting.
And how is it is It's themselves.
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Dwelt in tents, as they journeyed through the Wilderness
on the way, to the promised land, the Greek word here
translates. Tens translated tense is used in
the Septuagint, for the tents made in the Feast of Tabernacles
significantly. The feast also pointed to a
future fulfillment. Anticipating the time when the
nations would come to Jerusalem to Worship the Lord, as King in
(15:19):
an eschatological Feast of Tabernacles in Zechariah, 14,
and Hosea. L've when Peter Witnesses, Jesus
transfigured in glory. He may consider the
eschatological era to be daunting and thus seeks to enter
into the experience in a way reminiscent of the Feast of
Tabernacles. So, I think that's a really good
(15:40):
quote. They're showing what Peter
thinks is probably happening. He knows the Prophecies of the
Old Testament in terms of the Feast of Tabernacles and the
arrival of the kingdom and he thinks that moment is happening.
So he thinks it's appropriate tobuild these tents.
Luke tells us I did not know what he was saying.
So Luke indicates the Peter, doesn't really understand what's
going on now. Mark tells us that it at this
(16:03):
point Peter and the other disciples actually exceedingly
afraid so much. Like when people encounter
angels in the Bible, seeing God's glory is fairly
frightening. So, Peter is probably not in his
right mind here. He's probably quite frightened.
Now what Peter doesn't grasp is that got this is God's glory
that shining through Jesus but it's not going to remain with
(16:24):
them permanently. First Jesus has to go to the
cross in order for the fullness of his glory to be revealed.
Peter does not realize that Jesus has to suffer and die in
order for the glory to remain with them.
So Peter doesn't get an answer for his suggestion here.
Verse 34, as he spoke a cloud came and covered them with
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Shadow now Truly what it says there is a cloud overshadowed
them Matthews version tells us, this is a bright Cloud.
So again this is calling to mindThe Exodus experience in the
wilderness, the cloud covered, and protected the Israelites and
also at the tent of meeting the cloud, dwelled, at the entrance
of the tent of meeting. You can see that in Exodus
(17:07):
chapter 40 an in Exodus, the cloud represented, the very
presence of God. So in a sense you think about
the imagery of the tent? I think about that.
Imagery of the cloud. It looks like Jesus here is
being depicted as the dwelling place of God.
So Jesus is the new tent. He's the new Cloud the new place
where God dwells, so he doesn't need Peter to build a tent for
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him. Now later in the Old Testament,
after the book of Exodus, the cloud represented God's presence
in the temple. So it was believed that God's
presence left during the time ofEzekiel.
But again, the Jews believed just as Moses and Elijah would
return before the kingdom came the Jews believe that the cloud
of God's presence would return. When the kingdom of God, arrived
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will now, the cloud has arrived.So, it probably indicates that
Jesus is the kingdom of God. He's the Fulfillment of it here.
The new Dwelling Place of God all of these symbols and signals
are trying to teach these three disciples that the kingdom of
God has arrived in the person ofJesus.
He is God's Divine messenger, the one they've been waiting
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for. Now, some Scholars think that
here, the cloud might also represent the Holy Spirit,
particularly because the same Greek word is used to describe
how the Holy Spirit overshadowedMary.
The same Greek word is used hereto describe how the cloud
overshadowed them. So if this is meant to
represent, Isn't the Holy Spiritand indeed the catechism takes
(18:33):
it that way. That means we have the Trinity
present here. The father who's about to speak
the Son and the Holy Spirit. So again we see a parallel Here
with Jesus baptism, there's a lot of interesting parallels.
Luke tells us when they went into the cloud.
The disciples were afraid. So, apparently, the cloud comes
right down onto them. This is quite a scary
(18:55):
experience. They go right into the cloud
verse 35. A voice came from the cloud.
So, this is the voice of the father.
There are three times in the gospels when the voice of the
father is heard. So the baptism here at the
Transfiguration. And also, there's one really
interesting one in the last weekof Jesus life, which only John
mentions. So, here, the Fathers voice says
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this is my son, The Chosen One some manuscripts.
Say this is the Beloved, my son,the Beloved.
So the father's words here, Echotwo places in the Old Testament,
Isaiah 43, which is clearly about the Messiah.
And also some to, which is takento be a Messianic Psalm as well.
So God here is quoting from scripture, this is one of the
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three places in Luke, where Jesus divine sonship is
announced, who's God speaking tohere.
Who's the father speaking to? He speaking to the three
Apostles. He's speaking to Peter James and
John so that they're very clear on Jesus identity.
Now this is basically what the father said at the baptism, as
well at the baptism. The father said, something very
similar. This is my son, the Beloved
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here. The father says it again, but
this time the father is directing it at the apostles.
So hopefully, you're starting tosee the whole point of the
Transfiguration. At least one of the main points
is for the benefit of Peter, James and John.
So here the father says, listen to him.
So this whole event is a solution supposed to be a
(20:24):
solution to the disciples doubting Jesus and his
authority. Remember the last thing he said
to them a week ago, was if you want to be my disciple, take up
your cross and follow me, they found that very, very difficult
teaching to understand and to accept.
So here, the father says to the disciples, this is my son,
listen to him. The father wants these His
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disciples, the leaders of the church to have confidence in
Jesus and to also there, the leaders of the Apostle.
So he wants them to be able to teach the other Apostles to do
the same. So basically God allows the
Transfiguration to happen in order to convince the three
Apostles that Jesus really is the Son of God.
(21:08):
So he wants the disciples to know that they should be serious
about Jesus and they should pay attention to him.
That includes taking seriously what he just said.
About suffering. If the disciples will listen to
Jesus and follow him to the Cross, their Destiny will be
joined to his and they too will experience Divine Glory.
These are the things that the father wants the disciples to
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recognize. Now, when the father he says,
listen to him some Scholars. Think they might be an echo here
with something else that happensin the Old Testament.
Which is there's a prophecy thatthey'll be a prophet like Moses,
who the people will listen to. In the Greek.
There, it says, the people will listen to him.
So possibly, this is the Fulfillment of that Jesus is the
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prophet, like Moses who the people will listen to.
Jesus, like Moses has Divine approval and therefore, he needs
to be listened to by God's people.
So, the point of the Transfiguration is for the
disciples to realize that Jesus is God's chosen one, and he
needs to be listened to. Now, according to Matthew's
gospel, at this point, the disciple was fall on their face
(22:14):
and they are afraid and then Jesus touches them and says,
stand up. Do not be afraid verse 36, Luke
says, after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
So the vision is over, it's accomplished.
Its purpose. And then Luke says the disciples
kept silence. And at that time told no one
(22:37):
what they had seen. So Jesus tells them to keep it
to themselves and they'd actually do in this case, they
keep it to themselves, they probably realized that if they
were to try and explain this to the other Apostles, it's going
to be too much for them. And in fact, there might try to
make him King too early. We see that in other places in
the gospels, when people realizeJesus is the Messiah, they miss,
(22:58):
miss understand what that means and they try to take him as a
military. Later Jesus says, if you tell
the people what they've just what you've just seen that could
happen. So he decides it's prudent for
them to not talk about this until later and indeed after the
resurrection, they start to tellpeople about what they've seen
and that makes sense because after the resurrection people
(23:19):
are more likely to believe this story.
So let's finish this exegesis with a quote from the Catholic
commentary on sacred scripture. This is from Matthews version of
the Transfiguration. What these three disciples We
saw and heard on the mountain would have reminded them of what
happened to Moses at Mount Sinai.
In Exodus 24, Moses LED three ofhis Close Associates up that
(23:41):
high mountain. That Was Then covered by God's
glory in the form of a cloud forSix Days.
On the seventh day, the Divine voice called out from the cloud
and spoke to Moses. Moreover, during Israel.
Stay at Sinai. Moses would enter the cloud.
Atop The Mountain to talk to God, and when he left his face
would shine, Reflecting God's glory and leaving the people in
(24:05):
awe. Similarly, Jesus singles out,
three of his Apostles and leads them up a high mountain.
That is overshadowed by The Cloud of God's glory.
As its Sinai, a Heavenly voice calls out from the cloud on the
seventh day as Moses face Shawn.So Jesus face shines brightly as
the people at Sinai were left inawe.
(24:25):
So the apostles at the end of the scene are lying prostrate
greatly afraid. The disciples soon will see
their master betrayed arrested condemned and crucified here.
Jesus gives three of them an opportunity to see his glory in
order to prepare them for his for this supreme trial of their
faith, the scene reveals to themand to the readers of Luke that
(24:49):
the Son of God on the mountain of transfiguration is the same
son of man who will suffer and be killed on a hill in
Jerusalem. So, I think that's quite an
excellent course, summarizing all the different power levels
here with Moses and the whole purpose of the Transfiguration.
So, the next section of Luke chapter 9 is verses 37, 243,
(25:10):
that tells us what happens as Jesus comes down the mountain
and that's when Jesus heals the demon ayack boy, that's a really
interesting story, but it's never read in the normal
lectionary. So you'll never hear that as
part of the normal episodes of the podcast.
So, if you want to hear this, next section of Luke chapter 9,
you He that as a bonus episode of the podcast and you can get
(25:30):
access to that through the patreon page.
If you are interested in that, have a look at the episode
description, which has a link tothe patreon page.
Now, when we turn to the catechism, there's a whole lot
of really interesting referenceshere to the Transfiguration.
So let's read a few of them paragraph 2600, The Gospel,
According to st. Luke emphasizes the action of
(25:52):
the Holy Spirit and the meaning of Prayer in Christ's Ministry,
Jesus prays before the decisive,Of moments of his mission before
his father's witness to him during his baptism and
Transfiguration. And before his own fulfillment
of the father's plan of Love by his passion.
So there we see the catechism, recognizing the importance of
prayer in Jesus own life. Paragraph 2 5 8, 3 is about
(26:16):
Elijah the taking the desert road that leads him to the place
where the living and true God reveals himself to his people,
Elijah like Moses, before him hides, in the cleft of the rock,
until the mysterious presence ofGod has passed by, but only on
the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses.
And Elijah behold the unveiled face of him who they sought the
(26:40):
light of the knowledge of the glory of God, shines in the face
of Christ. Crucified and risen.
So that's a really interesting point, Moses and Elijah both
encountered God, but kind of in a veiled way, they weren't
allowed to see God. As he is here, Moses and Elijah.
See, God unveiled face to face in the person of Jesus paragraph
(27:01):
554. This is explicitly about the
Transfiguration from the day, Peter confess that Jesus is the
Christ. The son of the Living.
God, the master began to show his disciples that he must go
to. Mm and suffer, many things.
And be killed, and on the Thursday or third day.
Be raised Peters. Scorns this prediction nor did
(27:22):
the others understand it. Any better than he in this
context. The mysterious episode of Jesus
Transfiguration takes place on ahigh mountain before three
Witnesses. Chosen by himself, Peter James
and John Jesus face and clothes became dazzling with light and
Moses and Elijah appear speakingof his departure which he was
(27:43):
about. To accomplish at Jerusalem.
A cloud covers him and a voice from Heaven says, this is my
son. Listen to him.
Continuing fly, five, paragraph,56, the catechism tells us
what's the Catholic teaching here?
About the meaning of the Transfiguration, on the
threshold of the public life. The baptism on the threshold of
(28:04):
the Passover, the Transfiguration Jesus baptism
proclaimed. The Mystery of the first
regeneration, namely our baptismthe Transfiguration Is the
sacrament of the second regeneration.
Our own Resurrection, from now on, we share in the Lord's,
Resurrection, through the spiritwho acts in the sacraments of
(28:24):
the body of Christ, the Transfiguration gives us a
foretaste of Christ's glorious coming when he will change our
lowly body to be like his glorious body.
But it also recalls that it is through many persecutions that
we must enter the kingdom of Godparagraph 1151.
Jesus gives Meaning to the Deedsof and signs of the old,
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Covenant Above All To The Exodusand the Passover for he himself
is the meaning of all these signs.
So they're the catechism picks up on the fact that Jesus speaks
with Moses and Elijah about the Exodus is about to accomplish.
So Jesus gives the final meaningto what the Exodus is all about.
Paragraph. 69 7 is about symbolsof the Holy Spirit and here it
(29:11):
mentions how the cloud is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Cloud and light as two images occur together in the
manifestations of the holy spirit in the theophanies of the
Old Testament, the cloud. Now obscure now luminous reveals
the living and saving God. While veiling, the Transcendence
of his glory with Moses on MountSinai at the tent of meeting and
(29:35):
during the wandering in the desert and with Solomon at the
dedication of the temple, in theHoly Spirit Christ.
Fulfills these figures the spirit comes upon the Virgin
Mary. Overshadows her, so that she
might conceive and give birth toJesus on the mountain of
transfiguration, the spirit in the cloud came and overshadowed.
Jesus Moses. Elijah Peter.
(29:57):
James, and John, and the voice came out of the cloud saying,
this is my son. My Chosen listen to him.
Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the
disciples on the day of his Ascension and we'll reveal him
as son of man in glory on the day of his final.
Coming. So a lot of really deep
(30:17):
paragraphs there from the catechism, really getting into
the Theology of what the Transfiguration means for us as
Catholics. So, I'll include as many of
those paragraphs as I can in theepisode description.
If you want to have a look at those.
Thanks so much for your support of the ministry.
I hope you'll consider becoming a financial partner of the
ministry as well. We can see some information
about that in the show notes. Please continue to tell other
(30:38):
people what you're learning in this podcast.
So that more and more people canhear about it and we'll see you
again tomorrow.
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