By Clara Meier

“While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” ~ Luke 9:29

When I was in high school, I “did theater”.  While some of my friends were actors and actresses, and others played in the orchestra, I was the makeup artist.  From the audience, makeup may not seem to be anything important.  The audience watches the play, seeing an old man, a young child, a scary neighbor, or whatever character is being played on stage by the actor.  If the makeup and costuming crews do their jobs very well, the audience doesn’t think, “Oh, wow, I wonder how they made them look that way?”  But the audience can easily view the character and enter into the plot and spirit of the story because of the skill of the makeup and costume crews.

Witnessing the Glory of Christ

In this passage of The Transfiguration, the makeup and costume crew is God Himself.  This transfiguration of Jesus, his son, into a very beautiful and glowing figure, was important to God.  Though Jesus did many miracles throughout the gospels quietly, even telling the recipients of the miracles not to tell anyone who performed the miracles, this time was different.

Here was Jesus, praying with his three top apostles, and His Father chose to change his appearance dramatically.  Why?  It was clear that Jesus wanted to make an impression on these men.  And he wanted them to talk about it!  In the verse before the transfiguration (Luke 9:27), Jesus had told his Apostles that they would see the kingdom of God before their death.

Sadly, Peter, James, and John did not tell anyone what they had seen. Certainly, the work of the most grand of all makeup artists had made an impression on them, but they were overwhelmed with what they had seen and were afraid to talk about it.

Waking Up to God’s Presence

I have always loved the story of the Transfiguration, perhaps because it is such a glorious vision of Jesus while he is still on earth, unlike any other depiction of Jesus in the other gospel stories.  It is Jesus, glowing for God the Father!

Yet, I also place myself in the setting, along with Peter, James, and John.  They had been with Jesus for three years, listening to his teachings, living in community with The Twelve, and never living in a luxurious fashion.  And then this!  It is a complete turnabout, and I think I would have had to take time to process what I had just witnessed.  Even today, I have to process what it will be like to meet Jesus in heaven, certainly looking as glorious as he is described in this passage.

Shining His Light in the Everyday

I also consider the response of the Apostles when they saw Jesus in the great glory described, and his companions, Moses and Elijah.  These three men, who had been sleeping, even though the Lord asked them to pray with him, became “fully awake”.  That statement makes me consider my own response to my faith.  Am I fully awake?  Do I do as the Lord asks?  Do I glow with the Lord’s presence?  Or do I just carry on day after day, keeping Jesus to myself?

I think that God chose this moment to be our grand makeup artist.  He wants us to be fully awake. The bright glow of Jesus will certainly wake us up!  God wants us to heed the words Jesus brought us while He walked the earth.

Being lulled into comfort and sleep is not what God expects of us.  Being alert and acting as Jesus taught is what God wants of us. He wants us to glow, and to show our glow of the Lord to everyday people we meet along our life’s path!

In today’s world, that can be very hard!  Our modern culture asks us to conform to Easy Street, to let people do what they want, not to recognize that being a Christian is challenging and calls us to take up our cross.  The road Jesus calls us to will lead us to heaven, not Easy Street on earth! If you read carefully, Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about what he would accomplish in Jerusalem.  And we all know that Jesus’ accomplishment in Jerusalem was centered on the way of the cross, ending in his death.  And resurrection!

When I look back at my high school days as a makeup artist, I remember that it was a skill I had to learn and continually improve with each show.  The goal was to change the appearance of the actor while making them look natural.  That is what following Christ is!  Jesus wants us to glow in his presence, as we share his words, but he also wants it to be a natural process for us.  The glow of the Lord within us will show but not look artificial.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, please guide me in your ways, making them a natural part of my daily life.  And help me to show those I meet that following you is not easy but will lead us to eternal life after death.

Call to Action:

How can you bring the glow of the Lord to your life and then spread it to others?  Is there someone you can think of right now who would benefit from hearing your story of your life in Christ?

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