The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record an incident now known as the transfiguration.See Matt. 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-36 . It was an event of singular brilliance for those who witnessed it.
Christ Jesus was talking with Moses and with Elias. Both were Old Testament figures from centuries before. And they both had had radiant experiences. "The skin of his [Moses'] face shone"Ex. 34:30. when he came down from Mount Sinai. And Elias —Elijah—had been translated, an event so bright it is described as involving "a chariot of fire, and horses of fire."II Kings 2:11.
And now, here was Jesus. Radiant seems almost too dim a word to describe what was revealed. Mark begins his account of the transfiguration: "...Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them."Mark 9:2, 3.
The term white Christ is used only twice by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science. In a passage that casts its own pure light, she writes, "The law of Love saith, 'Not my will, but Thine, be done,' and Christian Science proves that human will is lost in the divine; and Love, the white Christ, is the remunerator."Miscellaneous Writings, p. 212.
The transfiguration occurred on Jesus' last trip northward, immediately prior to his final journey into Jerusalem. It has been suggested that translation such as Elias went through—in which he wasn't subjected to death—may have appealed to Jesus. And perhaps Jesus experienced a foretaste of this on the mount of transfiguration. Translation at that point would have spared him the trial and terrible persecution that came near the end of his career.
But the events surrounding and including the crucifixion neither doomed him nor darkened his message of boundless Life and Love. Those events only rocketed his mission forward to bestow on mankind a momentous blessing. We see, then, how vital it was for Jesus to yield fully to the divine will. Doing so, he demonstrated for humanity the absolute supremacy of divine Love and the immortality of man.
By yielding to God's will and unclasping our own outline of events, however good that design may seem, we experience a brilliance in our lives that can come in no other way. Jesus' remuneration was not found in a crucifixion-avoiding translation following the transfiguration. It was found in a world-changing resurrection and ascension following the crucifixion. All brought about through the Master's humble obedience to the Father's will.
The Bible records the divine announcement of Jesus' true nature during the transfiguration: "Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."Matt. 17:5. What was present for the disciples to hear, and to see, wasn't instruction shaped by human will. What was present for them to hear and see was the appearing of the utterly pure nature of Christ, the white Christ.
There is only one Christ. White light is not just a single hue of light; it is all the hues, all the colors of the rainbow combined. The white Christ is the whole Christ. And the spiritually illuminating power of the Christ is more than sufficient to meet the needs of the whole earth. It is more than sufficient to overcome the whole mass of errors of mortal existence so insistently advanced by mortal wills. This is true in times of great light, great inspiration. It is true in times of utter darkness.
Mrs. Eddy's statement quoted earlier contains Jesus' words "Not my will, but thine, be done."Luke 22:42. Interestingly, Jesus did not say this in the brightness of the transfiguration. He said it during the lonely night in Gethsemane. Those two events, so opposite in mood, might be thought of as twin landmarks along the road to defeating mortal willfulness. First there was the humility to demonstrate obedience to the divine will in the companioned light. Then there was the courage to demonstrate obedience in the lonely night.
Jesus showed forth man's true nature, undarkened by mortal will. His obedience to God in the brilliant light on the mount of transfiguration and then during the lonely night in Gethsemane was a defeat for human willfulness. And that defeat of human willfulness was a victory for mankind.
Human will is so insistent. The mentality influenced by it becomes convinced of its own rightness, whether in business dealings or politics, church work or personal relationships. Personal will leaves little room for other viewpoints, and no room for the light of inspiration. But Jesus banished self-will. There was no room for it in his experience.
Mortal will cannot, in truth, mask man's radiancy.
Think of Jesus' pure, unselfed love, expressing divine Love, without a trace of willfulness. He did not avoid the crucifixion. He went through it for our sake. He didn't need to do this for himself. But we needed the example. There was no better way we could grasp the reality of divine Love and learn of our own indestructible, Christly nature. So human will was not allowed to write another script, a script that might have left out this most important example for us.
And what of us? How do we demonstrate more of our true selfhood, which embodies unselfed love? Perhaps we have to unclasp our favorite ways of handling difficulties. Perhaps we have to let go of whatever we hold most willfully.
And just what do we hold most willfully? Political viewpoints, opinions about what our relatives should do? Usually what we hold most willfully is even more personal: our own definition of ourselves. A mortal defines himself in terms of likes and dislikes and fears and ambitions. He defines himself in terms of the brightest and the darkest corridors he's traveled along. And then, whether he adores that "selfhood" or hates it, he holds on to it willfully. The individual in the grip of willfulness and backing down from, say, a strongly held view, may feel almost as if he's losing his own identity.
But wait! A mortal selfhood is never man's true identity! As willfulness is subdued, it can be laid aside. Man is not a collection of prejudices and mortal opinions. Nor is he a set of genetic limits and educated beliefs. He is the pure, unlimited, spiritual idea of God. His identity is filled with light. Mortal will cannot, in truth, mask man's radiancy. As we defeat mortal will in our lives, our reward—the appearing of man's true, unlimited spiritual selfhood—begins to shine through. Right here on earth we find day by day that we're more able to live lives that shine; lives of unselfed love. We're still able to be decisive regarding politics, family matters, church issues, but without being willfully chained to our personal viewpoints.
Of course, yielding to the Divine takes practice. And practicing when things are going well in our lives, when we're in the light, so to speak, equips us to face better any night, any Gethsemane-like experience. But whether our lives seem bright or dark, right now is the time to start asking in all humility, "Father, what would You have me do?" Then we will understand more of what Christ Jesus did for us. We will begin to discern just what the Father's will is for us, and to see that we are up to fulfilling His plan.
There are still mountains for us to climb that lead to Christly illumination. On their summits our true selfhood, no longer shrouded by mortal definitions, shines. Our ascent cannot be a persecution-avoiding journey. But it will signal the dawning in consciousness of the whole Christ, representing man's true selfhood. We are then poised, not to force our own agenda, but to yield even more fully to the Father's.
When our own outlining of events yields to the will of God, our pure, Christly identity—and the blessings it includes—come to light.
