Mark 9:2-9
2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
"They saw no one but Jesus."
Mt. Tabor is the traditional site of the Transfiguration
This last Sunday before Lent, St. Mark is taking us to walk with Jesus into our inner being, as He did with the disciples who refused the idea of His Passion.
The disciples want to see Jesus performing their own will and not God's will. They want to have their Jesus according to their concept about the almighty Son of David who would use His mighty power to restore the Kingdom of Israel by putting an end to the Roman occupation. Jesus speaking about His Passion pushes them into doubt about the Messiah, the "Son of the Living God,” facing sufferings and death.
Jesus does not forsake His disciples. He Knows they need to be fortified and deeply rooted in their faith. He transfigures in the presence of three of them, permitting them to see His Divinity through His human body.
This is the call we are invited to think about just before we start Lent. Renew your faith in His presence as both God and human in spite of, or because of, the troubles of all kinds that may surround us. Though we may doubt, He will offer us signs of His true identity and call us to wake up. Listen to the Father's voice confirming Jesus' nature and advising us to listen to Him (v. 7), not to our doubts or our own desires.
When we reject our desires to see God behaving according to our will and wake up from our imagination and deep sleep, we may look up and see no one but Jesus. This is what we need to reach in order to start an acceptable Lent in Jesus’ footsteps.
Let us pray as global Church members to wake up and see no one but only Jesus.