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| The Transfiguration of Christ (1511) Lorenzo Lotto |
Depending
upon the date of Easter, the season of Epiphany can vary in length by several
weeks. But however long or short it is, the final Sunday in Epiphany always has
the ‘Transfiguration’ as its theme. This year the Gospel reading comes from
Mark; in the other two years of the cycle it comes from Matthew and Luke. There
is, however, an unusual degree of unity in all three accounts. Indeed, the Transfiguration
is one of very few episodes in the life of Christ that gets substantial
confirmation across the different Gospels.
This is
enough to indicate how significant an episode the Evangelists thought it to be,
chiefly, no doubt, because of the way it so directly connects Jesus with two
highly venerated prophetic figures – Moses and Elijah. One aspect of its
meaning, though, lies in a repeated motif – a ‘veil’ that obscures an
overwhelmingly bright light.
The
reference to a ‘veil’ appears in a number of the readings in the cycle. This
year it is to be found in Paul’s Epistle to the Corinthians. Paul contrasts
those from whom the light of the Gospel is ‘veiled” by “the god of this world”,
with believers in whose hearts the Gospel has shone sufficiently “ to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”.
It is a
fact that we very easily become devoted to “the god of this world” as pressures
of many kinds – internal as well as external – lead us to an all consuming
concern with the health, prosperity, success and personal happiness of
ourselves, our families and our friends. The season of Lent provides a
spiritually vital opportunity for re-orientation in this regard, a chance to
remove the veil that prevents us from seeing “the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ”. Perhaps that is why the lectionary always makes Transfiguration
the theme of the Sunday before Lent begins.
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