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Second Sunday of Lent
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
Philippians 3:17-4:1 or 3:20-4:1
Luke 9:28B-36
S
UMMARY
Peter, James and John follow Jesus up the mountain where Jesus is trans-
figured and visited by a glorified Moses and Elijah. They are enveloped in
a God cloud where they hear his voicing telling them “This is my chosen
Son; listen to him.” Peter wants to build three tents on the site.
R
EFLECTION
Peter is nothing if not a man of action! Here he, along with James and
John, not only witness but take part in an amazing (in the truest sense of
the word) experience, transcending time and finite reality. Moses, repre-
senting law, and Elijah, representing the prophets, have now found ulti-
mate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ, the new Moses. Jesus is
leading his
people
, now all of us, out of
exile
, the bondage of sin
and death, into the new
promised land
, a life with Him forever.
Luke is telling us that this man is in fact God’s Son, the chosen
one.
This gospel moment, for me, is such a glorious summing up of old
and new testament, so awesome and transcendent, that at times I
wonder if Luke includes it because of his desire to convey the di-
vinity of Jesus Christ and Christ’s centrality in human history. I
might think it is apocryphal, except for the line about Peter. Peter
is so dumbfounded by this experience that he feels it is necessary
to “mark” this incredible moment of heaven and earth kissing, of
the curtain of time being pulled back – and mere mortals getting
to witness it and so he mutters, “Master, it is good that we are
here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one
for Elijah.”