A Glimpse of Spirituality 靈修一瞥77 (Mark 9:2-13)                  Fr. Abraham Chiu 趙必成神父

 

The primary purpose of Jesus’ transfiguration is to allow him to consult his heavenly Father and ascertain his salvific work for his Son’s suffering, death, and resurrection. The secondary aim is to make the three disciples aware of his divine glory so that they might discard their worldly ambitions and dreams of a political Messiah and consequently, might be strengthened in their time of trial.

While praying, Jesus was transfigured into a shining figure, meeting with Moses and Elijah. These representatives of the Law and the Prophets foreshadowed Jesus, who was the culmination of the Law and the Prophets. Both prophets were initially rejected by the people but vindicated by God at the end.

By Jesus’ transfiguration, Christians are to be transformed from the sinful to the sinless, i.e. from the worldly life to the heavenly. How? Christians can follow the instruction of God the Father when he said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” What the verb “listen” (akouete) denotes here is that one should perceive Jesus’ voice and further, obey him. This is not blind obedience but a commitment of life into the cross event of Jesus.

The first change after listening to Jesus begins at baptism, transforming us into children of God. The second transformation takes place by going through the trials of life with our courage integrated with Jesus’ cross event. The third transformation arrives at death, from the earthly life to the eternal. In short, every challenge or every moment of suffering is an opportunity for transformation.

During our dark moments of despair and hopelessness, Jesus’ transfiguration will help us to reach out to God. Through the acceptance of daily crosses we may become closer to Jesus especially in his suffering so that we may finally share the glory of his transfiguration.

 

耶穌顯聖容主要目的是讓他跟天父密談，確定他的救贖工程是苦難、死亡和復活。次要目的，是讓三個門徒意識到他的神聖光榮，這樣就可放下他們的世俗野心和政治默西亞的錯覺，從而在信仰旅程當中獲得力量。

祈禱時，耶穌變了容貌，光耀奪目，同時與梅瑟及厄里亞會面。這兩位法律和先知的代表預示耶穌是法律和先知的滿全者。他們兩位最初都被人拒絕，但最終被天主平反。

通過耶穌顯露聖容，基督徒從罪惡生命轉化為無罪的，即從世俗生活轉化為天堂永生。如何？基督徒可以聽從天父指引：“這是我的愛子；你們要聽從他。”

“聽從”（akouete）這動詞意即人該聆聽耶穌聲音，進一步服從他；這非盲目服從，而是對耶穌十字架事件的生命承諾。

聽了耶穌的話之後的第一個轉化點，始於洗禮，領受洗禮將我們轉化為天父子女。第二次轉化是通過我們的勇氣結合耶穌的十字架事件來面對生命的高低起伏。最後是死亡這個終極轉化，從塵世到永生。簡言之，人生每一挑戰或每一痛苦都可以成為轉化機會。

絕望黑暗時刻，耶穌顯露聖容將幫助基督徒靠近天主。通過每天接受生命裡面的十字架，基督徒不但不會遠離，反而更加接近耶穌，尤其是在分享耶穌苦難死亡之後，基督徒最終分享他顯聖容的光榮。