The event provides an opportunity to clarify or to revise what the idea of heaven is.
There are two stories happening at the same time when we speak of The Transfiguration. The familiar one revolves around Peter, James and John. They are brought up the mountain where they witness Jesus changing before their very eyes. Peter especially is mesmerised by this spectacular transformation that he wishes to remain there to construct altars dedicated to Elijah, Moses and Jesus.
The other scene is quite earthy. Jesus refuses to remain atop the mountain. He descends and at the foot of Tabor, the others disciples face an unbelieving crowd disappointed that they cannot perform the same miracle as Jesus who had driven demons out from those possessed. The situation is more chaotic than it is controlled.
Between Peter’s desire to stay at the summit of Tabor and Jesus’ encounter with the disappointed crowed, we can tease out what idea of heaven that some people hold.
Firstly, apart from the mistaken notion that everyone has been immaculately conceived, meaning, it is generally assumed that everyone is innocent because everyone is born good, what has happened is that we may have also settled for an idea of an “earthly” heaven, founded upon this world.
How so?
Recently Roald Dahl (BFG or Fantastic Mr Fox) had his books (Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) rewritten by his publisher because certain phrases that he had used in the past are now deemed unacceptable as they no longer meet the standards of inclusion, diversity and accessibility. Therefore they have to be rephrased. James Bond too has had a “sensitivity review” to remove racially offensive language and stereotyping.
This development is more evident in the last couple of years as illuminati have had to reach back into history to rewrite or to whitewash parts of our past in order to present a more perfect present in consonant with whichever prevailing political, cultural or social winds are blowing. We are uncomfortable with words or with thoughts currently regarded as unacceptable. It is a type of terra-forming if you like, a kind “heavenising” of our earthly reality as if whitewashing history will magically transform the present into heaven.
In this regard, Jesus’ refusal to remain atop the mountain is important. He resolutely descended because He has informed the Apostles that the destiny of the Son of Man was to suffer at the hands of evil men. His action is a stark reminder that heaven cannot be what we make of it here. We can never create heaven here. Instead heaven is glimpsed through the Transfiguration.
The Son of God in His bedazzling glory has shown us that His divinity is not incompatible with human suffering. This flies in the face of how we have been trying to construct heaven here on earth. It is not a new development. The Tower of Babel represented man’s futile attempt at this enterprise. The same with Socialism a 100 years ago. The Transfiguration challenges the way we conceive of imperfection here on earth.
In the whole process of trying to make heaven here on earth, we have unwittingly embarked upon the process of denying a central truth of our existence. The most painful blemish of temporal reality is death. The outer wrapping of death is suffering. Since death is inevitable, so too will suffering be. For example, euthanasia even though it is called “good death” as translated literally from Greek is actually a denial of suffering and death. The fear of death is that great that some attempt to escape, thinking that by snuffing out life early, they would have escaped the imperfection of our earthly existence. It is a futile attempt to capture heaven through the preservation of youthfulness.
As a result, the word “suffering” sounds agonising and forbidding. It is a fact which we struggle to avoid at all costs. It is important to note that suffering should not be intended for itself, meaning that no one should want to suffer or even desire to suffer. A person who enjoys suffering is disordered. An example is BIID or body integrity identity disorder. A person with this disorder feels that to be healthy, he or she needs to cut off some parts of the body. It is a form of mental illness. Whereas suffering as a natural process happens when cells age and die.
How do we acknowledge this reality of natural suffering as part of our journey in life? Furthermore, how do we reconcile that there are also other forms of suffering which through no fault of ours have landed on our plates? The case of Christ is clear. He would suffer because of man’s sins and not just because of Judas’ betrayal. This was His firm message to the Apostles as He joined them at the foot of Tabor. Divine and sinless, yet He is not preserved from suffering.
The innocent suffering of Christ makes the Transfiguration even more powerful in the sense that we catch a glimpse of heaven, the true heaven and not the one which we intend to establish here. The Transfiguration is an assurance that we will get to that heaven which God has intended for us and in Jesus coming down Tabor, The Transfiguration also reminds us that this pilgrimage to heaven takes us right through the valley of death.
In short, the forthcoming Passion is Christ’s endeavour to humanise our dying so that we may not be afraid of passing through mortality in order to reach the glory of heaven. At the same time, we will be tempted to think that our destiny is a perfect world here on earth, where problems and pain, sickness and suffering, disease and death are banished. That is not our future, no matter how perfect it is. The Transfiguration is a promise as it reveals where our true destiny lies. Our glory is with Jesus Christ in heaven.
