‘Listen to Him’
Reflections on the readings for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6, 2020): DN 7:9-10,13-14; PS 97:1-2,5-6,9; 2PT 1:16-19; MT 17:1-9
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days
“While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’” (Matthew 17:5)
Today we honor the Transfiguration of the Lord that is commonly believed to have occurred on Mount Tabor in Galilee. Jesus brought his closest Apostles with Him for a miracle that none of them could have anticipated and certainly did not comprehend. Christ appears to them now in His divine nature rather than His human nature. And He also let them see Moses and Elijah who symbolized the law and the prophets in Jewish history and Scriptures. They were shocked, dazed, and yet joyful. They wanted the experience to continue. But God planned something else. “Behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him’” (Matthew 17:5).
This revelation and the pronouncement of God the Father is recounted in each of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, just as these three Gospels told the story of Jesus’ Baptism. At that time at the start of His ministry, the voice from heaven also says that Jesus is His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. However, at the Transfiguration, these Apostles who have spent so much time with our Lord are particularly admonished to “listen to Him.” All who follow Christ must hear everything He has to say – and to make it part of their lives. The glorification of Christ is meant to do more than reveal that He is both God and human. It is a foreshadowing of the future of His cherished people at His Second Coming. We, too, will be shown as the sons and daughters of God in the glory He will share with us for eternity.
Suggested missionary action: On this feast of Jesus’ Transfiguration, let us take some time to meditate on the glory of everlasting life that He promises to all who listen to Him and who do what He asks of us.
