Do Not Be Afraid

After the Transfiguration, “Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid’” (Mt 17:7). Peter, James and John are perplexed by this event. What could all of this mean? Much has to do with what Jesus had just revealed to them a few days prior. After telling them that He would build His Church upon Peter, Jesus reveals that the Church will be born through His Passion: “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Mt 16:21).

The Apostles certainly hear the part about suffering and death. Peter had just confessed “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16) and Jesus affirms this confession, but it is inconceivable that the Messiah should suffer let alone be killed. Yet the meaning of suffering greatly and being killed was clear enough. No doubt the Apostles were disheartened at the idea of losing their Leader, of seeing Him suffer, and having to bear His death. What would this mean for them? They had left everything behind to follow Jesus. Would they have to start over from scratch, going back to fishing, tax collecting, and whatnot? Would the Apostles suffer the same fate as Jesus?

The Transfiguration, happening not long after Jesus’ first prediction of the Passion, answers many of these questions. “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples” that He had to undergo the Passion. Opposition, betrayal, suffering, and death are all things that the Apostles did not need any lessons to understand. They are all sad parts of life that are impossible to avoid. But “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem … be killed and on the third day be raised.” What does it mean to be raised? Well, Peter, James, and John were the only witnesses among the disciples who saw Jesus raise the 12-year-old daughter of Jairus from the dead. Surely, this is what Jesus means by being raised. But it was Jesus who raised the girl from the dead. The disciples must have been asking, Who will raise Jesus from the dead? ‘Peter, do you know how to raise someone from the dead? Did Jesus give you this power?’ ‘No, He gave me the keys of the kingdom, the authority to bind and loose, but He never said anything about power over death.’

The Transfiguration answers the question of who will raise Jesus from the dead. The Voice from the cloud Who said “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” With the transfigured and glorified Jesus, a Jesus talking with two holy but long-dead patriarchs, and the Heavenly Voice, Peter, James, and John now have been given insight into what Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection mean. In the Transfiguration, Jesus gives the Apostles a preview of what is to come, a preview intended to soothe their weary and troubled hearts. Jesus needs to soothe their hearts because the thought of the Passion and death of Jesus was too much for the Apostles to bear. This is why He provides this experience to Peter, James, and John and why He says to them, “Rise, and do not be afraid.”

This is also why we consider this glorious episode in the life of Jesus during Lent. During our observance of Lent, we are called to consider the meaning of the Passion of Jesus, what Jesus has done for us. The bottom line is that it is our sins that bring Jesus to be arrested, beaten, scourged, crowned with thorns, and crucified. This becomes more tangible in the liturgies of Palm Sunday and Good Friday, where the people respond “Let him be crucified!” or “Crucify him, crucify Him!” In saying these phrases, we should come to understand that our sins have more to do with the suffering and death of Jesus than the treachery of Judas, the cowardice of Pilate, and the pettiness of the Temple officials.

Dwelling on the reality of our sinfulness and what this has done to Jesus can be as overwhelming to us as the announcement of the Passion was to the Apostles. When we only ponder the Crucifixion, we only see half of the reality. When we focus only on the Resurrection, again our sight is impoverished. We must always keep the Crucifixion and the Resurrection together or we will never understand what Jesus has done for us. St Paul urges us to “believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification” (Rom 4:24-25). Keeping His passion and resurrection together helps us to not be overwhelmed with grief over our sins so that Jesus might touch us and say “Rise, and do not be afraid.”

—Fr Booth