Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.
—Luke 9:30–31
In a small Christian community in Nicaragua, everyday people reflect on the meaning of Jesus’ transfiguration, especially his conversation with Moses and Elijah. Writing from within the liberation movement, priest and poet Ernesto Cardenal shares their insights:
TOMÁS: “And those two dead men that appear beside him and that are very happy, it’s to make us see that they hadn’t died, and they were not only alive, they had a better life.”
FELIPE, Tomás’s son: “That was also to give them courage, because Jesus was going to be like the two of them….”
They asked me [the priest] why Moses and Elijah appeared, and I said that Moses was the great liberator of the people, that he brought them out of Egyptian slavery, and Elijah was a great prophet, a defender of the poor and the oppressed, when Israel again fell into slavery, with social classes. Both of them were closely identified with the Messiah, for it had been said that the Messiah would be a second Moses and that Elijah would come back to earth to denounce injustices as a precursor of the Messiah (and Jesus said that Elijah had already arrived in the person of John the Baptist).
The people gathered continue reflecting together on the story of Jesus’ transfiguration, and what it means to suffer, hope, and rise with Christ together.
WILLIAM: “They’re talking about his death, and they’re in glory too, sharing that glory of his. It seems to me it’s because all people who share the sufferings of Christ and struggle for his cause (for freedom) will share in that same glory of his, like those two prophets. And I believe that when they were talking about his death they weren’t talking just about him but also about all people who together with him were going to enjoy that same happy ending.”
OLIVIA: “As I see it, the resurrection is something you can already begin to have in this life. Christ was still made of mortal flesh, and they already see him with that brightness, that light so beautiful, the way he’d be after his death, resurrected.… They’ve seen Jesus this way, already transfigured in life because of the death he was going to have. And what they saw there you can apply to the people, the people still suffering. They’re transfigured like Christ even though we can’t see it, because the people are Christ himself.”…
WILLIAM: “It seems to me the victory over death is when somebody, because of the good he’s done for others, becomes part of future humanity, which will be resurrected. Even though your death is obscure and nobody remembers it, you stay alive in the consciousness of humanity. And what the disciples saw in that little moment is the glory of that future humanity.”
Reference:
Ernesto Cardenal, The Gospel in Solentiname, vol. 3, trans. Donald D. Walsh (Orbis Books, 1979), 2–3.
Image Credit: Ravi Sharma, untitled (detail), 2021, photo, India, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. There is a wisdom that knows humanity as one continuous breath—the veil between worlds thin and alive—where the memory of our ancestors moves through our very cells.
Story from Our Community:
My husband and I, our children, and grandchildren met by the sea for two whole weeks. It was a time full of many blessings and much love. One evening we were all present—working puzzles, reading, preparing dinner, and watching the world go by—and for just a moment, I felt the Presence of all the generations before us and after us, felt the lives, love, and stories that made each of us who we are and will be. I knew our own lives would join our ancestors in shaping those coming after us. We’re all part of a glorious oneing. Now, in times of doubt, I bring this moment back to my heart and remember that the Divine is indeed always Present.
—Lucienne S.
