From: 2 Peter 1:16-19
The Transfiguration, an Earnest of the Second Coming
________________________________________
[16] For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of
His majesty. [17] For when He received honor 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,” [18] we heard this voice borne from heaven, for
we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Prophecy and the Second Coming
________________________________________
[19] And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay
attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and
the morning star rises in your hearts.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
16-18. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ, at which the voice of God the Father
was heard (verses 16-18), and the testimony of the Old Testament prophets
(verses 19-21) are a guarantee of the doctrine of Christ’s second coming.
“The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”: this phrase sums up the pur-
pose of apostolic preaching: “power” indicates that Jesus Christ is God and is
almighty like the Father; the “coming (literally “Parousia”) means the same as
His manifestation in glory at the end of time. This is not a matter of “myth”; it
will be as real as His sojourn on this earth, of which the Apostles are “eyewit-
nesses”. When speaking of the Transfiguration, the sacred writer refers to the
“majesty” of Jesus Christ (an attribute which He always possesses, because
He is God) and the “voice” of the Father confirming Christ’s divine nature (cf.
Matthew 17:5). The simple line of argument is that if Jesus Christ allowed His
divinity to be glimpsed just for a moment, He will also be able to manifest it in
its fullness and forever at the end of time.
“On the holy mountain”: this wording indicates that he is referring to the transfi-
guration and not to the baptism of our Lord (Matthew 3:16-17). The mountain is
described as “holy” because a theophany occurred there; similarly, in the Old
Testament Zion is called a “holy mountain” because God revealed Himself there
(cf. Psalm 2:6; Isaiah 11:9).
19-21. “The prophetic word” finds its complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ (cf.
Hebrews 1:1). This does not refer to a particular prophecy; at that time “the pro-
phetic word” meant the messianic prophecies or (more usually) all the Old Tes-
tament insofar as it proclaims the enduring salvation to come.
These verses encapsulate the whole notion of biblical prophecy—its value, inter-
pretation and divine origin. They also show the close connection between the
Old and the New Testaments. “The books of the Old Testament, all of them
caught up into the Gospel message, attain and show forth their full meaning in
the New Testament (cf. Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:27; Romans 16:25-26; 2 Corin-
thians 3:14-16) and, in their turn, shed light on it and explain it” (Vatican II,
“Dei Verbum”, 16).
By reaching their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Old Testament prophecies con-
firm the truthfulness of what Jesus said and did. Together with the Transfiguration
they constitute a guarantee of the second coming of the Lord.
The comparison of prophecy to the morning star is a very good one, for that star
is designed to bring light and announce the coming of day. Similarly, the fullness
of Revelation which begins with the earthly life of Christ will reach its climax when
He comes in glory.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Luke 9:28b-36
The Transfiguration
***********************************************************************
Commentary:
28-36. By His transfiguration Jesus strengthens His disciples’ faith, revealing a
trace of the glory His body will have after the Resurrection. He wants them to
realize that His passion will not be the end but rather the route He will take to
reach His glorification. “For a person to go straight along the road, he must have
some knowledge of the end—just as an archer will not shoot an arrow straight
unless he first sees the target [...]. This is particularly necessary if the road is
hard and rough, the going heavy, and the end delightful” (St. Thomas Aquinas,
“Summa Theologiae”, III, q. 45, a. 1).
Through the miracle of the Transfiguration Jesus shows one of the qualities of
glorified bodies—brightness, “by which the bodies of the saints shall shine like
the sun, according to the words of our Lord recorded in the Gospel of St.
Matthew: `The righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father’
(Matthew 13:43). To remove the possibility of doubt on the subject, He exemp-
lifies this in His transfiguration. This quality the Apostle (St. Paul) sometimes
calls glory, sometimes brightness: `He will change our lowly body to be like
His glorious body’ (Philippians 3:21); and again, `It is sown in dishonor, it is
raised in glory’ (1 Corinthians 15:43). Of this glory the Israelites beheld some
image in the desert, when the face of Moses, after he had enjoyed the presence
and conversation of God, shone with such luster that they could not look on it
(Exodus 34:29; 2 Corinthians 3:7). This brightness is a sort of radiance reflec-
ted by the body from the supreme happiness of the soul. It is a participation in
that bliss which the soul enjoys [...]. This quality is not common to all in the
same degree. All the bodies of the saints will be equally impassible; but the
brightness of all will not be the same, for, according to the Apostle, `There is
one glory of the sun, and another of the moon, and another glory of the stars;
for star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead’ (1
Corinthians 15:4f)” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, I, 12, 13). See also the notes on
Matthew 17:1-13; 17:5; 17:10-13; and Mark 9:2-10; 9:7.
31. “And spoke of His departure”: that is, His departure from this world, in other
words, His death. It can also be understood as meaning our Lord’s Ascension.
35. “Listen to Him!”: everything God wishes to say to mankind He has said
through Christ, now that the fullness of time has come (cf. Hebrews 1:1).
Therefore,” St. John of the Cross explains, “if any now should question God or
desire a vision or revelation, not only would he be acting foolishly but he would
be committing an offense against God, by not fixing his gaze on Christ with no
desire for any new thing. For God could reply to him in this way: `If I have spo-
ken all things to you in My Word, which is My Son, and I have no greater word,
what answer can I give you now, or what can I reveal to you that is greater than
this? Fix your eyes on Him alone, for in Him I have spoken and revealed to you
all things, and in Him you will find even more than what you ask for and desire
[...]. Hear Him, for I have no more faith to reveal, nor have I any more things to
declare’” (”Ascent of Mount Carmel”, Book 2, Chapter 22, 5).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States