Two different icons,
both of Christ lifted up;
One Transfigured,
the other Crucified.
Once flanked by Elijah and Moses
with Peter, James and John looking up
Later flanked by two condemned men
gazed up at by two Marys and Salome.
The Gospel writer Mark knew the end of
the story before he wrote his last words,
that
“Life Himself came down to be slain”; (Augustine)
and
that Christ is glorified in all…
May Lent be a season for us
to embody the glory and sacrifice
of disciples of Jesus…
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Mark 9:2-10