There’s a story about a wealthy king who wanted to find a bride. And not just any bride, the king wished to marry a woman who would love him, not for his wealth and power, but for who he was as a man. He knew that if he rode through the streets in his royal robes, with trumpets announcing his intentions, his quest would be compromised. This would attract a superficial bride.
So, he set aside his crown and dressed as a simple peasant. He lived among his subjects, working alongside them, and shared in their struggles. And in time, he met a woman who loved him not for what he owned, but for who he was. Only then did he reveal his true identity.
In today’s Gospel, Peter, James, and John are given an extraordinary grace: they see Jesus transfigured in dazzling white, standing with Moses and Elijah. It is a revelation of His divine glory, a brief unveiling of who He truly is. And yet, Jesus does not remain in that state. He does not go back down the mountain glowing, proving to the crowds that He is the Son of God.
We might wonder: why not. If he wished to attract disciples, why didn’t Jesus appear like that all the time? Why doesn’t He display His full power to the whole world and remove all doubt?
While it seems logical that if Jesus displayed His divine glory all the time, people would believe, but the Scriptures repeatedly show that miracles and divine manifestations do not automatically lead to lasting faith, hope, or love.
The Israelites in the Wilderness saw the parting of the Red Sea, manna from heaven, and God's presence on Mount Sinai, yet they still doubted and turned to idolatry.
Many who witnessed Jesus healing the sick, feeding thousands, and even raising the dead still did not follow Him. In John chapter 11, the chief priests and Pharisees respond to the resurrection of Lazarus not with faith, but with a plot to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.
If people could witness these direct interventions of God and still reject Him, then even if Jesus appeared in transfigured glory to the whole world, many would still dismiss it as an illusion, exaggeration, or something that could be explained away.
God desires a relationship with each of us, not based on mere compulsion or overwhelming evidence, any way, but on our choice to believe, and hope, and love Him. If God simply overpowered us with His glory, it might force knowledge of his existence, but we would lose our ability to have faith. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" Jesus says after his resurrection.
The Transfiguration was a moment of divine revelation, but it was not the ultimate proof of Jesus' deepest identity. For ultimately, He is the one sent by God not to overpower humanity through undeniable proof of God’s existence, but rather to show the depths of God’s love to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Jesus did not walk around permanently transfigured in dazzling light because that dazzling light would have veiled and obscured—his identity as incarnate love willing to undertake supreme suffering for his beloved.
His identity is revealed most fully, not in the transfiguration, but in the crucifixion. His identity is love. God is love. And there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Notice that this was even the topic the Lord was discussing with Moses and Elijah while he was transfigured. He spoke of how he had to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die to deliver us from the slavery of sin and death. But he goes willingly because he loves us and wants to see us free.
If God’s goal was simply to make us believe in Him, he could have done so easily. Just like the king in the story could have easily found a bride through crown and treasury. But Jesus desired a bride who would love Him with true love. And he goes to the cross to show His love for us, his bride.
And of course he goes to the cross to give us an example to follow—to in fact show us the road to heaven—the road we must follow. We must take up our cross and follow him in all things.
To be Christian is not simply to walk around with the idea that God exists in our heads. Rather, to be Christian—to be heirs of the kingdom—is to conform ourselves in thought, word, deed, in obedience to God, to Jesus Christ—to love as he loves—to work for the good of others at cost to ourselves. True love is costly, as our Lord shows us. But we have been redeemed so that we may be transformed into love with Christ.
How are we to experience this transformation? Again, I stress the importance of our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during this season. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving signal our openness to the transformation God wants for us.
Prayer: it’s not just about asking for things; it is about aligning our hearts with God’s will. Through prayer, we allow God to reveal Himself to us—not in overwhelming signs, but in the quiet of our hearts, where He gently calls us to trust Him.
Fasting: it’s not simply an act of self-denial or discipline; it is a concrete way of expressing our hunger for something greater than what the world offers. When we give up certain foods, comforts, or habits, we remind ourselves that our deepest satisfaction is found in God alone.
Almsgiving is not the cold fulfillment of a religious obligation, rather it shifts our focus from self to others. When we give to those in need—not just from our excess, but in a way that costs us something—we imitate Christ-like love. Our almsgiving signals that we are allowing Christ’s love to transform us into people who give of themselves as He did.
Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are not ends in themselves. They are signs of our willingness to be changed. Through them, we tell God: “I want to know You” “I want to be freed from what holds me back” “I want to love as You love”.
Again, it is not through some undeniable sight of Christ’s divinity that God transforms us. But choosing those actions to become like Jesus in his self-giving. By choosing to pray, fast, repent and engage in works of charity, our spiritual sight is made pure to know God’s presence with us in this life and to behold God’s glory in eternity for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
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