Transfiguration

[thomasf]

I have a question about the transfiguration. It occurred to me while I was saying the rosary last night. What is the meaning behind Peter asking if they should build tents for Elijah and Moses and themselves? Why is that in the scripture, what is the significance of that? Was his suggestion wrong or foolish? If so, why? I can see myself asking the same question.

 

[beaumains]

J.M.J.
Thomas,

I’ve heard a couple interesting things. The first is that this took place on the feast of booths, which had something to do with erecting tents, and so… I don’t know, St. Peter had tents on the brain or something.

But I heard an excellent homily on this story recently, and the pastor pointed out a really excellent meaning behind the text. It was that, as fallen men, we desire to settle down, to have a routine, to be comfortable, and this extends even to worship. We like to have our nice Sunday morning worship, or pray the Rosary on Wednesdays, or what have you, and just keep it that way. We resist change. But! The whole purpose of the worship of God is to get up, move, and be on our way towards holiness and towards God, which can be uncomfortable sometimes.

So, St. Peter here is acting as the voice for our slothful selves, but Our Lord ignores the comment, because one big reason He took Peter, James, and John with him was to give them strength enough to bear with the suffering of the days ahead, or at least to turn back to Him afterward.

I found that explanation helpful, anyway. God bless!​

 

[Julia_Mae]

I have a question about the transfiguration. It occurred to me while I was saying the rosary last night. What is the meaning behind Peter asking if they should build tents for Elijah and Moses and themselves? Why is that in the scripture, what is the significance of that? Was his suggestion wrong or foolish? If so, why? I can see myself asking the same question.

Peter would most likely not have recognized them as apparitions, he would have assumed they had come back to life. I can’t recall if this was the Feast of Booths or not, but that also makes sense.

We’re so used to knowing there is afterlife, I think we forget how revolutionary this was for people. Jesus had to come back for quite a while, eat and talk and have some guy stick his hand in the wounds to really make the idea of life after death, not in some far-distant future but right away, indelible in people’s minds.

 

[thomasf]

Do you think they knew it was Moses and Elijah? I wouldn’t know Moses if he appeared before me today, unless he looked like Charleton Heston

I always find it interesting, because like I wrote that would have been my first thought too, let’s build some tents so Jesus’ guests can hang out and rest.

 

[Julia_Mae]

Do you think they knew it was Moses and Elijah? .

Yes, he called them by name. The knowledge is supernatural, just like when he says “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” In that moment, he would not question the source of his knowledge, the experience itself would have engaged his total focus. Even asking himself: How do I know this? wouldn’t occur to him.

 

[mikeeh]

I interpret it as Peter still not understanding that Jesus was the Savior. He calls him the Son of God, Messiah and Savior, but with his Jewish heritage Peter still saw Jesus as only equal to the prophets. Throughout the Gospels the apostles are always confused and unbelieving of Jesus’ authority. It’s not until the Resurrection that the apostles truly start to believe and even then it’s a long road.

 

[Glacies]

The Evangelists St. Mark (9:6) and St. Luke (9:33) emphasize that St. Peter was unsure about his words, and the Church Fathers hold that he spoke inadvertently. As the Disciples were mortal they could not have stayed there forever while for Christ it would have been against His plan of Salvation. The English St. Bede the Venerable expounds that the Law, Prophets, and Gospel are inseparable wherefore it would be unfitting to make three tabernacles for them.

Catena Aurea: Matthew 17:1-4
Catena Aurea: Mark 9:1-8
Catena Aurea: Luke: 9:32-36

Catena Aurea on St. Luke:

Bede: If the transfigured humanity of Christ and the society of but two saints seen for a moment, could confer delight to such a degree that Peter would, even by serving them, stay their departure, how great a happiness will it be to enjoy the vision of Deity amidst choirs of Angels forever?

It goes on, “For he wist not what to say;” although, however, Peter from the stupor of human frailty knew not what to say, still he gives a proof of the feelings which were within him; for the cause of his not knowing what to say, was his forgetting that the kingdom was promised to the Saints by the Lord not in any earthly region, but in heaven; he did not remember that he and his fellow Apostles were still hemmed in by mortal flesh and could not bear the state of immortal life, to which his soul had already carried him away, because in our Father’s house in heaven, a house made with hands is not needed.

But again even up to this time he is pointed at, as an ignorant man, who wishes to make three tabernacles for the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel, since they in no way can be separated from each other.

 

[thomasf]

The Evangelists St. Mark (9:6) and St. Luke (9:33) emphasize that St. Peter was unsure about his words, and the Church Fathers hold that he spoke inadvertently. As the Disciples were mortal they could not have stayed there forever while for Christ it would have been against His plan of Salvation. The English St. Bede the Venerable expounds that the Law, Prophets, and Gospel are inseparable wherefore it would be unfitting to make three tabernacles for them.

Catena Aurea: Matthew 17:1-4
Catena Aurea: Mark 9:1-8
Catena Aurea: Luke: 9:32-36

Catena Aurea on St. Luke:

This is a great point and something I’ve never heard or considered. That Peter in his humanity and limited perspective sought to contain God’s wonder as represented by these men, but God’s wonder, his kingdom are not containable by the material world or by works of man. Great points. And extremely relate-able to us today.

 

[sirach2v4]

The feast of booths was commanded in Leviticus (I was just reading about this moments ago) and it was a reliving of the sojourn from captivity in Egypt to the Promised Land.

But, the theological drama that unfolds so quickly in the account of the transfiguration is that Jesus is the new sojourn from the captivity of sin to liberation, freedom. So, the Father so emphasizes this when he says “This is my beloved Son…listen to HIM.”

So, this occurs like when Moses was on a mountain, when he beheld the glory of God, even from behind. So now, Peter, James, and John behold Jesus’ glory briefly. Recall, Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus about the upcoming events in Jerusalem. So, the direction of focus is the future, not the past. What ever else (previous posts), there is no time to dwell in the past, when the Law and the Prophets personified come to witness to Jesus.

 

[fred_conty]

Whenever I read that passage I always thought Peter was just so scared that he really didn’t know what to say when he saw all of this, so he just offered to make a shrine(tent) to Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. He was just beside himself, and who wouldn’t be?

St. Peter, pray for us because we are still down here.