Sunday Meditation: The Transfiguration in Matthew

In today’s Gospel, we encounter a theophany, God making Himself manifest in the Transfiguration, and as Dr. Scott Hahn says below one of the most undervalued feasts in the Catholic calendar.  First the passage.

 

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John,

and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them;

his face shone like the sun

and his clothes became white as light.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,

conversing with him.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,

"Lord, it is good that we are here.

If you wish, I will make three tents here,

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

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."

When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate

and were very much afraid.

But Jesus came and touched them, saying,

"Rise, and do not be afraid."

And when the disciples raised their eyes,

they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

 

As they were coming down from the mountain,

Jesus charged them,

"Do not tell the vision to anyone

until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

~Mt 11:1-9

 

First, Dr, Brant Pitre breaks the passage down line by line.  How brilliant is this.

 

I have been trying to get an exegesis from Dr. Scott Hahn for a while.  So I am giving you two this Sunday, but Hahn’s explanation focuses more on why the Transfiguration is important while Pitre’s explains the connections with the Old Testament.  Here is Dr. Hahn’s.

 

Now in my study of this passage, a particular verse struck me that perhaps I never noticed before, and I have read this passage many times.  Let’s offer that verse up for meditation.

 

Meditation:

“But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid."

Can you imagine Jesus touching you?  If this passage is also a foreshadowing of our resurrection, I assume Jesus will touch us at that moment.  It is good to think on it.  I can almost feel it!