Wisely does the church’s Lenten liturgy follow last week’s narrative of Christ’s temptations with an account of Jesus’ Transfiguration. Last week worshippers at Mass witnessed Jesus’ triple victory as he struggled to express in human terms the meaning of his divine sonship.
As son, Jesus trusted fully in his Father’s divine providence as he resisted the temptation to take things into his own hands and feed on fresh bread. As son, Jesus refused to make a fool out his Father by throwing himself down from the temple expecting a divine rescue. And clearly Jesus confounded the devil when he turned down Satan’s offer of all the world’s kingdoms as a reward for worshipping the evil one. Jesus boldly displayed that the divine Father/Son relationship was his supreme value and no diabolical proposition would deter him from respecting his Father’s excellence. The sonship that Jesus enjoyed from eternity was translated effectively into human experience. Jesus would trust, respect and worship his Father in this world as he had embraced his Father in the heavenly world. Jesus was still the divine Son.
Jesus’ fidelity to his Father is honored liturgically this week in St. Matthew’s description of the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor. Jesus’ human nature becomes iridescent on the mountain top as his inner personal relationship with his Father fills every fiber of his being. Jesus glows with the Holy Spirit that has united him to the Father from all eternity. The sonship that Jesus displayed during the wilderness temptations by his fidelity to the Father is now displayed on this wooded peak through his spiritual transformation. Jesus proved his sonship before the Father and now the Father endorses Jesus’ sonship through this moment of glorification. The words of the Father from the cloud confirm Jesus’ filial excellence: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
The sonship of Jesus Christ is normative for all Christians. Becoming a son in the Son is the vocation of every Christian. Believers must reproduce in themselves the trust, respect and worship revealed in the life of Jesus. Becoming another Christ is not an idle mission. It is the very heart of the Christian faith.
From all eternity, the Father offered himself to the Son and the Son received him fully into his being. In love, the Son offered himself to the Father and the Father graciously accepted his Son’s devotion. This perfect sharing of divine life is, of course, the very Holy Spirit of God himself: the Father embracing the Son, the Son responding to the Father – indeed this is the Spirit. Through this Spirit poured into the hearts of all believers, Christians are invited to participate in this sharing of divine love. Incorporated into Christ through the Spirit, Christians truly become, as noted above, sons in the Son. Christ’s orientation toward the Father is communicated to the Christian. Christ’s focus on the Father is shared with the Christian. Christ’s worship of the Father is imparted to the Christian. Truly, Christian believers become other Christs.
Just as Christ had to sort out the implications of divine sonship in human terms, so each believer has to struggle with the implications of sharing in the sonship of Christ. Certainly, worship of the Father through liturgy and prayer, trust in the Father during challenging times, respect for the Father in his creatures and creation, humility before the Father when confronted with sin – these are basic responses of a dutiful son toward his eternal Father. Every joy and every sorrow experienced in earthly life will demand a variety of filial responses.
To relish the joys and confront the sorrows as a loyal son is the very essence of Christianity. As with Jesus, accepting the Father’s love and returning the Father’s love is at the heart of the Gospel experience. The best news is, of course, that Jesus’ victory as Son is the Christian’s victory as son. Through Christ, each believer can fully realize his or her personal sonship both here in time and then in eternity.
