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SCRIPTURE READING
EXODUS 34:29-35
2 CORINTHIANS 3:12-4:1-2
LUKE 9: 28-36

REFLECTION

Being transformed into His likeness is the theme for our Transfiguration Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday marks the manifestation of the divinity and glory of Christ as the Son of God and the Chosen One who fulfilled the law and the prophets. Being transformed into His likeness means our relationship with Christ will lead us to experience His glorious nature in us. In other words, we shall also share in His glorious image if we live a transformed life through Jesus Christ. We shall reflect on the fact that believing in Jesus and always listening to Him is the sure way to be transformed into His likeness. In other words, we can experience the glory of the Lord when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and abide by His Word.

Beloved in the Lord, by receiving the law or the Word of God that will guide Israel, Moses experienced the glory of the Lord. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him… whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. (Exodus 29-30,34:34-35) Dear friend, Moses’ encounter teaches us that the more we have a closer relationship with the Lord through the reception of His Word, the more we are being transformed into His likeness or glorious nature. Paul tells us that, unlike Moses who had experienced the glory of God through the receiving of the law, we have a better way of being transformed into the likeness of God because, through faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, we shall experience the glory of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

Beloved in the Lord, the only way we can be transformed into the glorious likeness of God is when we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The transfiguration event demonstrated to us that Jesus is the embodiment and the fulfilment of the law represented by Moses and the Prophets, represented by Elijah. It is for this reason we are told, “He took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:28-31) More importantly, to prove that among the three, Moses, Jesus and Elijah, the one who must be listened to, believed in and held as the source of experiencing the glory of God is Jesus. It is for this reason “A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” (Luke 9:35). Friend, God has spoken clearly on who we must trust and obey if we desire to be transformed into His likeness. Moses, Elijah, and all other prophets were mere servants and stewards, but Jesus is the Son of God and God Himself. Again, pastors, popes, bishops, and all church leaders are mere stewards or servants, Jesus is the head of the Church. It is for this reason we are told in John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Beloved in the Lord, I believe you now know who you must trust and obey if you desire to experience the glory of God or be transformed into the likeness of God. This person is none other than Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

In summary, we have discovered that we can only experience the glory of the Lord when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and abide by His Word. May the Holy Spirit empower us to trust and obey our Lord and Master Jesus in order to experience the glory of God or be transformed into His likeness. Amen.