A Glimmer of Glory

By Brad Henderson

This past Saturday, August 6, was the observance of the Transfiguration of Jesus found in the ninth chapter of Markʼs Story of Jesus. It begins:

2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transformed in front of them, 3 and His clothes became dazzling-extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

It is at this point that Peter almost loses his hold on reality, awkwardly offering to build everyone a crude hut for shelter (as though the Son of God, Moses and Elijah need his help). James and John are silent, apparently in a stupor born of what is happening before them. And if they werenʼt, they surely would have been when the cloud of Godʼs Presence unexpectedly settles on the top of Mount Tabor with them and proclaims,

“This is My beloved Son; listen to Him!”

All in all, an amazing afternoon for the select disciples, donʼt you think?. What do you figure they talked about as they returned to the valley below? Seeing Moses and Elijah, the great prophets? Seeing the cloud and hearing the voice of Godʼs Presence? Or the stunning transformation of Jesus in which the barely- contained divinity begins to sneak past his humanity?

More importantly, what might we take away from such a story? For me, it is a reminder that the fullness of God is barely-contained in the Creation around us. It is in the depth of space on a clear summer night. It is in the first birdsong of the morning. It is in the smiles of my children and the wisdom of my parents. It is in reflected in the mirror when you and I gaze upon ourselves.

The story of the Transfiguration is a nudge reminding us that everywhere we look, we will see the power and glory of Godʼs Presence. It may dumbfound us at first, but over time it will reveal to us once again the wonder we often overlook.