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Gospel: Mark 9: 2-10
Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Have you ever wondered what heaven is like?
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At times, it seems so distant, so far detached from our daily lives. It’s a place where we hope to end up someday, where we mentally place God and our loved ones, but it’s out there, not here.
The Book of Revelation describes heaven as a city – radiant, clear as crystal, with twelve gates, high walls, and angels protecting it.
A place where every tear is wiped away; where there is no more wailing, pain or death. A place for the poor in spirit, the merciful, the peacemakers, the clean of heart, those whom Jesus calls in his first public sermon, “blessed.”
As magnificent as heaven must be, Jesus simply refers to it as his, “Father’s house.”
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Today’s Gospel reveals who else lives in heaven. Among its residents are Moses and Elijah, who speak with the Lord as Jesus is transfigured before his disciples.
Peter, James, and John cannot comprehend anything like this. God the Father has literally ripped the heavens opened, allowing the disciples a glimpse of the place where everything began, and where everything ends.
So much could be said about this miracle, but there’s one detail, in particular, that captures my attention.
Yes, Peter sees the Lord in his unfiltered glory. “His clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them,” the Gospel says. But what else – who else – does Peter see?
Moses and Elijah.
These men lived 800 to a thousand years before Jesus, yet they are alive again! They have names, faces, and bodies. Peter even distinguishes between the two of them. Moses represents the Law of the Old Testament and Elijah the prophets.
They reveal that in heaven, our names, our bodies, and our memories go with us. Nothing is lost. Nothing is forgotten. You’ll be you. And I’ll be me.
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Peter was overcome with such delight at this marvelous sight – he wished to stay there forever! – that he says to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Peter was not wrong in wanting to build something beautiful for Christ; he was wrong about the building materials.
Peter wanted to construct a tent.
What Jesus wanted was to fill Peter’s “inner room,” that place deep in his heart, with faith.
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The fact that Peter offers to build three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah suggests that, to him, all three are equals. This point is reiterated by the fact that Peter refers to Jesus as “Rabbi,” teacher, not Lord.
What Peter doesn’t understand yet is that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in himself. He is the long-awaited Messiah; the fulfillment of the Law; the one whom all of the prophets foretold. God the Father affirms this as he says, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Although Peter saw such a marvelous sight – the heavens opened, Christ transfigured, Moses and Elijah floating gloriously above him – he failed to put all of the pieces together, reminding us just how difficult it can be to believe.
Faith stretches our minds, enlarges our hearts, and challenges us to see the “fourth dimension,” God’s presence in all things.
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What are other things the Lord wants us to “see”?
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He wants us to see him “transfigured” at the altar. He wants us to see him in the Eucharist we are about to celebrate. He wants us to see him in the face of our family members, our friends, even strangers we pass as we exit this church. As he promises at the end of Matthew’s Gospel:
“Behold, I am with you always.”
Not just in heaven, but always, now.
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So, have you ever wondered what heaven is like?
Maybe it is a city – radiant, clear as crystal, with twelve gates, high walls, and angels protecting it. I hope to find out for certain one day!
But until then, each of us is invited to remain close to the One who will lead us – Jesus, God’s “beloved Son,” the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
What might that mean for us this week?
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Image credits: (1) Busy Blessed Women (2) The Transfiguration of Jesus, Carl Bloch (3) www.bibleinfo.com