Transfiguration is the last Sunday in Epiphany and the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday and takes us into Lent. In that way, it serves as a hinge, helping us turn from one season into the next. Luke highlights this turning point by describing Jesus’ “mountaintop moment” immediately followed by him returning to “the trenches” where he will heal a young boy possessed by a demon. Like Peter, in the midst of a mountaintop moment, we might think, “It is good for us to be here,” or “Let’s just stay here.” Yet Jesus calls us to return to the trenches and even turn to the cross later this week. There, we can share the light we have seen and let it shine in the darkness. There, we can tell the words we have heard, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him,” and help others hear his good news amid competing voices and messages. We are not meant to stay up on the mountaintop, for God needs us and the good news back in the trenches.
image: The Transfiguration of Jesus by Raphael. In the public domain.