Glory and the Cross You Bear

The Gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Lent is always one of the strange and wonderful accounts of the Transfiguration. While the astonishing event seems so unique in Jesus's life, there are Old Testament resonances that help us to interpret what God is communicating here. In particular, the connection with the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah, where Isaac is referred to several times as the only beloved Son, coupled with the placement of this text in Matthew's Gospel, helps us to remember that the Glory that shines out from Jesus is intimately linked to his self-sacrifice on the Cross. The Cross is the means -- the way -- to Glory. For us, too, our Cross, is the means -- the way -- to our Glory.