His Transfiguration and mine

Today's gospel is
Luke 9:28 - 36 :

About eight days after this had been said, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah’. – He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.

Bible Alive Commentary:

On a number of occasions Jesus chose to take only Peter, James and John with him. One of those occasions was the healing of Jairus' daughter; another was his last visit to Gethsemane. They were also with him when, as we read in the Gospel today, his human body was transfigured and glowed with the divine life of a glorified and resurrected body. The disciples were granted, if you like, a glimpse of heaven.

Peter, the first Pope, vividly recalled the event: "we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honour and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,' we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain" (2Peter 1.16-18).

We believe in the resurrection of the body and the soul - it is always important to be clear on this point. We believe in the hope that on the last day our bodies will rise and be resplendent and illuminated with the life of God, just as Jesus' was at the Transfiguration. What a hope! What a future! What a destiny! What kind of body it will be we don't know. Our own bodies are subject to death, decay and corruption but we live in hope of resurrection. St Paul poses the questions we all ask: "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" There will always be an element of mystery about this - how can we know for sure what kind of body it will be?

St Paul says that there are earthly bodies and there are heavenly bodies and they both have their own beauty and splendour - however, whereas the earthly body dies, the heavenly body is not subject to corruption, and that is our hope. What we do know for sure is that just as we have borne the likeness of Jesus on earth, so in heaven we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly transfigured Jesus.

"For by the sacrifice of his own body, he did two things. He put an end to the law of death which barred our way; and he made a new beginning of life for us, by giving us hope of resurrection." (St Athanasius)