There’s something missing from the scriptural accounts of the Transfiguration that bothers me. The account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord is one of the few biblical texts that we’re likely to hear more than once each year in church. It’s always assigned to be read on this last Sunday after the Epiphany, as well as on the Feast of the Transfiguration itself, on August 6 of each year. So, if you go to church regularly, you are going to hear about Jesus going up the mountain with Peter, James, and John. The episode is accounted for in three of the four Gospels.
The more I encounter texts like these, that we read over and over in church, the more I think I should assume that I have been missing something, that I may have been reading the text wrong, and that there is probably something there that I have never noticed before. Indeed, reading the text of all three accounts of the Transfiguration in the synoptic Gospels, I find that something does appear to be missing, and I’ll tell you what it is: angels.
Yes, I believe that there should have been angels on Mount Tabor, which is the tall hill outside of Jerusalem that’s normally considered to be the location of the Transfiguration. I say this because the ministry of angels was called for in a very specific way, but that ministry is noticeably missing from all three accounts. Remember that one of the functions that angels regularly perform is to appear when God is about to do something noticeable and unsettling, and to warn people not to be afraid. “Fear not” is a signature greeting of angels. We hear it from them like it’s their job to tell people this. And I believe that it is their job.
But there were no angels on Mount Tabor that day that we know of. There was no one to tell Peter, and James, and John not to be afraid. And the result is - in every one of the synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke - the result is that the three disciples who go up the mountain with Jesus (his inner circle, really, with whom he has established the greatest trust)… the result is that they are afraid. According to St. Matthew, these three disciples “fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.” St. Mark and St. Luke both report that the disciples were “terrified.” That’s why there should have been at least one angel there - because one of the things that angels do is to tell people not to be afraid when God is doing something wonderful.
When the angel Gabriel went to tell Mary that she would bear a son, the angel told her not to be afraid. When an angel of the Lord visited Zechariah to foretell the birth of John the Baptist, he said, “Fear not.” An angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born to tell the shepherds not to be afraid. There were angels at the empty tomb on Easter morning, and at least one of them told the women who went there not to be afraid. Angels are deployed in the scriptures to bring word to God’s people that they need not be afraid of what God is about to do.
St. Matthew reports that in the absence of angels, Jesus himself told the disciples not to be afraid when he came walking to them on the sea. And that instance is a give-away that Jesus knew how likely it was that his disciples were to be frightened, still, when they experienced him in his glory and his power. Jesus knew that his disciples were still susceptible to fear. And he took note that there were no angels around to assuage the fear of his followers.
But there on Mount Tabor, the display of Christ’s glory was like nothing the disciples, or the world, had ever seen before. The true light that lightens the world - God of God, light of light, very God of very God - was on display. Not only had Jesus begun to shine with a dazzling light; the figures of Moses and Elijah appeared and began to speak with him; an unusual bright cloud enveloped them all; and a voice, which can only be the voice of God the Father himself, spoke from the cloud, saying “This is my Son, the Beloved….” It was all too much for Peter, and James, and John who fell to the ground overcome by fear.
Now, fear, in my lexicon, is the opposite of faith. So this fearful response strikes me as surprising. Clearly this vision on the mountaintop is an unobstructed manifestation of God. And who of us hasn’t wished to see God unobstructed? I would expect a display like that to dispel doubts, and to fill me with faith and confidence about who Jesus is, and whether God is involved in his ministry in the world.
I have the suspicion that there was a miscalculation somewhere by someone who assumed that Peter, James, and John were ready for this revelation, that they could take it. But what we discover is that the three of them were not ready to see what they saw or to hear what they heard. They were not ready to be confronted by so much of the power of God. They were not ready to encounter so much light - not even in their darkened world. They were not ready to be in such close proximity to the very Source of truth of the Law and the prophets. They were not ready to hear the voice of the Father. They simply were not ready not to be afraid. And fear does not support or uphold faith.
As soon as the three of them fell to the ground, Jesus noticed what had happened. For all I know, it occurred to Jesus at that moment, “Darn, we should have had some angels handy.” Whatever the case may be, only St. Matthew provides us with the detail that came next. He tells us that Jesus saw that it was too much for Peter, James, and John to take, that Jesus took note of the effect of this manifestation of the glory of God on his friends, and how it filled them with fear. So, immediately, Jesus went to them and he “touched them saying, ‘Get up, and do not be afraid.’”
Get up, and do not be afraid.
It can be hard to locate the good news in the accounts of the Transfiguration. I mean, sure, it’s an impressive production. But when you consider the effect on the three closest disciples - which is to say that it made them terrified - you have to wonder where the good news really is to be found. I just don’t think it’s obvious.
But there is good news to be found here if you know where to look. And I think it’s easier to find the good news if you begin with the assumption that somebody somewhere made a miscalculation about the readiness of Peter, James, and John to be shown what they were shown. If you start to look at the Transfiguration that way, what you see is that Jesus is ready to reveal more to the disciples than they are ready to be shown.
St. Matthew and the other evangelists are clear that Jesus “took” the three men up the mountain with him. Jesus intended for them to be there. They did not follow him up surreptitiously and sneak behind a tree to watch what happened. They were invited. Jesus meant for them to see it; the Father meant for them to hear it. And what that shows us is that Jesus was ready to reveal more than they were ready to see and to hear.
If you think about it, this possibility - that Jesus is ready to reveal more than his followers are ready to be shown - is perhaps the opposite of how we expect God to deal with us. We expect God to keep God’s self hidden. We expect the truth of Jesus to be somehow obscured or inaccessible. We expect that we are hungry to know more about God than God is willing to reveal of himself. We expect that if you want to see the light that enlightens the world, you can’t just walk up a tall hill outside of Jerusalem and find that that light is breaking into the world right there and then, and that the voice of God might speak to you there. But that is exactly what happened to Peter, and James, and John. Jesus was ready to let them bask in his light and see him for who he truly is. And Jesus is ready to show us that light even before we are ready for it, too.
Each of the three evangelists who provide accounts of the Transfiguration tells us that on the way down the mountain, Jesus orders his disciples not to speak of it to others. Normally we associate this kind of enforced silence about what Jesus has shown to his disciples as having something to do with keeping his so-called Messianic secret, a reluctance to let too many people know the truth about how bright the light is that shines forth from the person of Jesus, about how close he is to the Father’s heart. And this very suggestion, at the end of all three accounts of the Transfiguration, tends to support the view that God is reluctant to let too many people see the truth, that the light must stay hidden until we have shown ourselves to be worthy or ready, or something.
But I wonder if the reason that Jesus told the disciples to say nothing is precisely because he saw how they reacted to the revelation of his glory - with fear: they were terrified! And Jesus knows that fear does not support and uphold faith. Maybe Jesus perceived that someone somewhere had miscalculated when the decision was made (wherever such decisions are made) not to send angels to Mount Tabor to warn the three disciples not to be afraid. And maybe Jesus did not want others to react the same way with fear. Whatever the case may be, the lesson, I think we can learn from these accounts of the Transfiguration is that Jesus is very likely ready to show us more of himself that we are ready to behold.
We have been conditioned by fear, most especially the fear of scarcity - that there is not, cannot be, and will not be enough to go around: not enough light; not enough love; not enough grace; not enough of God. This scarcity is not true, and could not be further from the truth. But the fear is what comes from an enlightened, market-driven society that is wary of too much light, too much love, too much grace.
I suppose that, looking down from his throne at God’s right hand, Jesus can see us now, still un-prepared, un-ready to see and hear as much of him as he is ready to show to us. And for reasons that I cannot explain, there still are not any angels around to warn us not to be afraid. And I suppose that Jesus can see what has happened: that we have already fallen to the ground, that we are already so overcome by fear that all we can do is buy things to try to make ourselves feel better.
And this is without even standing in the light; without even hearing the voice from the cloud, having practically forgotten all about the Law and the prophets. Yes, Jesus can see that we are overcome by fear.
So he comes to us. And he touches us, and says to us, “Get up, and do not be afraid!”
Preached by Fr. Sean Mullen
19 February 2023
Saint Mark’s, Locust Street, Philadelphia
The Transfiguration by William Blake