Transfiguration, disfiguration, configuration, reconfiguration. I don't know how many different forms of that root word there are. As I started to write something about transfiguration, I wondered about beauty being in the eye of the beholder, and what some consider to be disfiguration, others consider to be beauty or transfiguration, and vice versa.
I am thinking about transfiguration, because today is the feast of the Transfiguration in the Catholic Church. The Transfiguration is the moment when Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray and is transformed before the eyes of three of his disciples - Peter, James and John. Jesus dazzles their eyes. His face and clothes shine like the sun. Then Elijah and Moses (two Old Testament prophets) appear with Jesus and talk with him. Next a cloud comes over all of them and the disciples hear a voice from the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." (This is recorded in Mark 9, Matthew 17 and Luke 9.) The Transfiguration, the appearance of Elijah and Moses, and the voice from the cloud frightened the three disciples.
Jesus' transfiguration was frightening to them, just as a disfiguration might be frightening to someone. But Jesus' transfiguration was meant to show his glory. We'll talk more about the glory in the next few days, but for today - have you ever experienced God's glory? Has Jesus revealed himself to you? If Jesus has not revealed himself to you, ask him to do so today.
I am thinking about transfiguration, because today is the feast of the Transfiguration in the Catholic Church. The Transfiguration is the moment when Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray and is transformed before the eyes of three of his disciples - Peter, James and John. Jesus dazzles their eyes. His face and clothes shine like the sun. Then Elijah and Moses (two Old Testament prophets) appear with Jesus and talk with him. Next a cloud comes over all of them and the disciples hear a voice from the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." (This is recorded in Mark 9, Matthew 17 and Luke 9.) The Transfiguration, the appearance of Elijah and Moses, and the voice from the cloud frightened the three disciples.
Jesus' transfiguration was frightening to them, just as a disfiguration might be frightening to someone. But Jesus' transfiguration was meant to show his glory. We'll talk more about the glory in the next few days, but for today - have you ever experienced God's glory? Has Jesus revealed himself to you? If Jesus has not revealed himself to you, ask him to do so today.
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