The season of Epiphany is a time of the Church year that
sets our attention upon the manner in which Jesus Christ and His saving
ministry were revealed to the world. In
the visit by the magi, the baptism of Jesus and in the miracle at Cana the
saving glory of Christ was made known.
This theme of light, glory and revelation reaches a crescendo as we celebrate
the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.
The Gospel lesson for that day is Matthew 17:1-9. At the
end of chapter sixteen, Peter had just confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the
Son of the living God” (16:16). Our Lord
then proceeded to predict His passion for the first time as Matthew tells us: “From
that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and
suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and on the third day be raised” (16:21).
The end of chapter sixteen presents a paradox: Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God; and Jesus will suffer and die. We may wonder if this can really be
true. Immediately after this, we hear
about the transfiguration. Jesus takes
Peter, James and John up on a mountain and then Matthew tells us, “And he was
transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became white as light.” Jesus shines
forth in divine glory in an event that leaves no doubt about whether He is the
Son of God. Then, a bright cloud
overshadows them and God the Father says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
This statement by the Father returns us to the beginning
of the season of Epiphany, for on the first Sunday after the Epiphany – the
Baptism of Our Lord – we heard these same words spoken at Jesus’ baptism. At that time those words drawn from Isaiah
42:1 identified Jesus as the Servant of the Lord who is also the suffering Servant (see Isaiah 53). At the transfiguration, even as Jesus shines
forth on divine glory He is identified as the One who will suffer and die. The transfiguration confirms that yes Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God; and yes, Jesus will suffer and die.
The Transfiguration of Our Lord brings Epiphany to a
crescendo as Jesus shines forth in glory.
And at the same time it also points to Jesus’ suffering and death. In doing so it marks the end of Epiphany and
signals that Lent and Holy Week are coming.
In the one year lectionary, the season of Pre-Lent
provides a gradual transition from Epiphany to Lent. The three Sundays during
this time are known by the Latin word for 70, 60 and 50: Septuagesima,
Sexagesima and Quinquagesima. In round
figures these names signal the amount of time before Easter. This preparatory
time for Lent was established in Rome before the end of the sixth century and
spread throughout the western Church.
The “Farewell to Alleluia” occurs on the Transfiguration
of Our Lord and so this word is omitted from the Divine Service. However, the color for the season remains
green. There is a spiritual logic to this season of Pre-Lent. A similar practice of Pre-Lent exists in the
Orthodox tradition. In writing about
this, the Orthodox scholar Alexander Schmemann observed: “Knowing our lack of
concentration and the frightening ‘worldliness’ of our life, the Church knows
our inability to change rapidly, to go abruptly from one spiritual or mental
state to another. Thus, long before the
actual effort of Lent is to begin, the Church calls our attention to its
seriousness and invites us to meditate on its significance” (Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, 17).
This coming Sunday, we will celebrate the Transfiguration
of Our Lord in the one year lectionary as we see Christ’s glory shine forth. In that event we will also be pointed forward
to the passion that is to come. Yet before we enter directly into the rigor of
Lent, we will pass through “the Gesima Sundays” as we are prepared for the time
that leads to Holy Week.
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