The Transfiguration is weird. It’s strange.

Think about it: Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. As He stands there before them, His face begins to shine as bright as the sun. His clothes become dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appear. A bright cloud overshadows them. The Father’s voice speaks, taking us back to the Baptism. It’s dramatic and overwhelming. And then, just as suddenly as it begins, it’s over. Then they come down the mountain and head straight toward Jerusalem where Jesus will eventually give His life. So, what does this all mean?

As I was praying with this Gospel this week, what struck me most wasn’t simply the glory aspect of what’s happening here. Instead, what got my attention is the timing.

This moment happens right after Jesus tells His disciples that He will have to suffer and be killed. In fact, the Scripture tells us this event happened 6 days after Jesus tells them that. If we look at that, their image of the Lord is being shattered. Here they thought that Jesus was the Messiah. To them, that meant He was all powerful, He was mighty, He would be victorious over the forces that were working against Him. Now, He’s telling them about how He’s going to be rejected, how He’s going to be put to death? How is that possible?

The disciples still don’t fully understand what being the Messiah means. They don’t understand the implications of that truth. So, before they watch the Lord be humiliated, what does Jesus do? He gives them a glimpse into the deeper reality of who He is and what He was sent to accomplish. He’s giving them a deeper insight into the end goal of His coming. He’s allowing them to see His coming radiance, His coming triumph; His glory is being revealed. He is showing them the true meaning of being the Messiah.

Jesus knows what’s coming. He knows His followers will see Him arrested, beaten, crucified. He knows they’ll be tempted to think they were wrong about Him. So, He wants to make sure that this mountaintop experience becomes so deeply engrained in their hearts that they’ll never forget it. The moment of Transfiguration isn’t a reward for their faith; it’s a gift meant to bring reassurance before the storm, to give peace to their shaken hearts. It’s God offering a moment of strength when they’re most vulnerable. He wants them to remember the light in that moment in the future when everything looks like defeat.

Hopefully, that changes how we view the Season of Lent. We often think Lent is about proving something to God. We try harder to grow in our spiritual life, add more stuff to try to get close to the Lord. Many times, we do that by relying on our own strength, by white knuckling it through the temptations that come our way. But that’s not how our fasting, that’s not how our Lenten penance is supposed to go; the Christian life isn’t just about willpower. The Christian life is about remembering who Jesus is when the cross appears in our own lives; it’s about turning to Him in those moments of temptation and struggle; it’s about relying on His grace to get us through the challenges.

All of us, in some form or fashion, have had an encounter with the Lord that has touched our hearts. In some way, He has revealed Himself to us. Whether that has been through the Sacraments of the Church, in a moment of prayer, in the love shown to us by a friend or family member. In some way, we have encountered Him. For those of us who may not be able to point to one of those experiences right now, ask the Lord to bring to mind some of those moments. It’s important to remember them because they’re moments of transfiguration; they’re moments of God revealing His glory and His presence in our lives.

The Transfiguration reminds us that Jesus’ glory isn’t just for mountaintops. It’s not just for those times in our lives when everything is going right. It’s given to carry us through the valleys; it’s meant to help us stay the course when the path forward is hard.

Lent can so often feel like one of those valleys. It can be uncomfortable, messy, even discouraging at times. But in the midst of it, the same light that shone on the mountain is still shining now. It’s not taken away by struggle. It’s not erased by doubt. Jesus is that light. He is the One who is with us. Don’t forget who He is. Don’t forget that He is walking alongside us on this journey, that He is with us always.

So, whether we are experiencing challenge now or if that challenge comes in the future, don’t give up. Stay the course. Persevere. Keep our eyes focused on Jesus because His presence will see us through whatever valley we face. 

Image: Transfiguration of Christ, Giovanni Bellini (1478-1479), in Museo nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy. Wikimedia Commons. Used under public domain license.