Annemarie Reiner (of Adelaide, Australia) posted this reflection on the Transfiguration on her blog “Who Do You Say That I Am.”  It is a very nice reflection to consider in this Lenten Season.

When we look at our Gospel today we can understand why daily reflection is so important. These three disciples (and the rest of them) didn’t get who Jesus was until well after his death. They didn’t understand what had happened at the transfiguration. They didn’t understand what was happening as they witnessed Jesus’ life. They didn’t understand what was happening at the crucifixion. But they kept pondering their experiences over and over – if they didn’t we simply wouldn’t have the New Testament.

So what do we learn from this?

The ideas are taken from a reflection in Culpepper’s treatment of The Transfiguration in the Gospel of Luke [The Gospel of Luke, 207-208]. He makes the point that over the course of the history of Christianity, mystics and saints have lived lives of disciplined piety in hopes of experiencing such a beatific vision of Jesus such as the three apostles experienced on the mountain top. But many of us have had moments we are unable to explain when we felt the presence of God, not on the mountain top, but in the ordinary of the day. Or perhaps in an extraordinary moment of life – a retreat, a graveside – moments when the nature of God is somehow just a little more clear even as it remains transcendent.

This coming Sunday the gospel reading is Luke’s version of the Transfiguration of Jesus. 

³² Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³ As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. 

As before, Peter again responds, again without a full understanding.  Consider Peter’s proposal to make three tents (skēnḗ; also “booth” or “tabernacle”). What did he intend? It has been variously understood as traveler’s hut, the “tent of meeting” where God spoke with Moses outside the camp (Exod 33:7), a more formal tent used in the Festival of Booths (cf. Lev 23:42–43; Zech 14:16ff), and even as the Jerusalem Temple tabernacle.  It is this last image that Luke may have in mind as background – notwithstanding Peter’s intention.  It is the Temple tabernacle where the Shekinah, the fiery cloud that symbolized the continuing presence of God among the people, dwelt over the ark of the covenant.  The response to Peter’s proposal is three-fold (Boring, 364)

This coming Sunday the gospel reading is Luke’s version of the Transfiguration of Jesus. 

³⁰ And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. 

The presence of Elijah and Moses has been much discussed by various scholars. (1) Do they represent the different kinds of life endings (burial versus being taken up to God)? (2) Is their presence an indication of endorsement by great prophets and wonderworkers of old? (3) Is Jesus the fulfillment of the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) – and so listen to him? (4) Or is it that Moses points to the expected great-prophet-like Moses, while Elijah suggests the eschaton’s (end days) arrival – roles fulfilled in Jesus.

This coming Sunday the gospel reading is Luke’s version of the Transfiguration of Jesus. The question that begs for an answer in the Lukan narrative is: who is this Jesus? It is the question that Herod asks, it is the question that the people are considering; it is the question that Jesus asks of his followers (“who do you say that I am”). In the Transfiguration scene, Luke provides a framework that lets the reader know it is less “an answer” but more a revelation that will only unfold in time. Joel Green’s [The Gospel of Luke, 377] insight here is informative:

This coming Sunday in Lent offers Luke’s version of the Transfiguration. It is an event also described in Mt 17:1-9 and Mk 9:2-10 – readings that are traditionally proclaimed on the 2^nd Sunday of Lent in their own respective liturgical years as well as on the Feast of the Transfiguration each August 6^th.  The Lenten use of the reading, following the story of Jesus being tempted in the desert by the devil, breaks up the flow of Luke narrative at the beginning of Ordinary Time. Depending on the start of the Lenten Season the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday includes at least the content of Chapter 5 (or as much as Chapter 6). A summary of the narrative leading up to our gospel pericope can fill in the gap.