Why was Jesus transfigured? What purpose did it serve? Why did he take only three disciples with him? Why Peter, James and John? Why did Peter betray the Lord after having witnessed first hand such an amazing miracle? All interesting questions and ones about which the Spirit will surely enlighten us.
The Transfiguration was a foretaste, a glimpse into the life to come. The disciples were allowed to see what happens when a human being is completely suffused by the knowledge of God’s love. As the second person of the Blessed Trinity, from eternity Christ’s glory has been that he is the beloved Son of the Father. But now, as man, Jesus reveals how our sinful humanity will also be glorified.
As we in faith embrace Jesus as the manifestation of God’s loving plan of salvation, a wonderful transformation takes place in us. We also become a gloriously new creation, destined to share in the same glory as Jesus himself. Through baptism, by grace, and not by our own merits, God will raise us up on the last day. Our bodies are destined to be transformed by the love and glory of God. Christ in us, the hope of glory, is the promise of being a new creation. We can know and experience something of this transfiguration in our own lives. In prayer, when we read God’s Word and supremely when we receive the Eucharist, we come in touch with God’s divine life and say, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here.‘