“Well Written”: Icon of the Week, Vol. 2 | Our Lord is Brilliantly Transfigured on High

It's no accident that the first reading for the second Sunday of Lent (Year B) is the testing of Abraham's faith. Genesis chapter 22 begins: "God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am!' [Abraham] replied. Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you."

"When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven, 'Abraham, Abraham!' 'Here I am!' he answered. 'Do not lay your hand on the boy,' said the messenger. 'Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.' As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he went and took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son." (See Genesis 22:1-2; 9-13.)

The allegorical or typical sense of Scripture is how people and events in the Bible point forward to future events, practices and figures. The story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac is a prefiguring of Christ. Isaac, a son carries the wood for his own sacrifice (which fortunately for Isaac doesn’t happen). Christ, the Son of God carries the cross for his own sacrifice, the Crucifixion. Contrary to most traditional portrayals, Isaac was not a helpless child, but a vital young man. He could have easily disobeyed his aged father to the point of physically fighting back. Instead, Isaac was a willing holocaust, like the Savior in offering Himself for our salvation.

The Transfiguration is a pivotal event in Jesus' life and ministry. The words of God the Father, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him." are a further revelation of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God and evoke the Father's words at Jesus' Baptism. The significance of this identification is enhanced by the presence of Elijah and Moses. Jesus is the voice of God par excellence, not Elijah (who represents the prophets) or Moses (who represents the law). Jesus is the preeminent moral authority who should be listened to, surpassing the law of Moses by virtue of his filial relationship with the Father. The Transfiguration embodies Jesus as the one in whom human nature meets God: the union of the temporal and the eternal, with Christ as the bridge between Heaven and earth.