Mt.Tabor

Mount Tabor is a mountain near Nazareth where Christians believe Jesus was transfigured and shone momentarily with the glory of his divinity (see it on a map here).

Mt. Tabor stands majestically alone in a wide valley—it is the most prominent thing on the landscape for miles and miles. With no other hills nearby, it dominates the horizon in the region.

Mt. Tabor would have been central to Jesus’ travel patterns between Galilee and Nazareth (one can see Nazareth in the distance from the summit). The mountain is also very near places of miraculous transformation from Jesus’ ministry—within a 30-minute drive from Mt. Tabor is Nain, where he raised the son of the widow, and Cana, where he changed water into wine.

As a miracle, the Transfiguration stands out in the Gospels because it happens to Jesus himself. Midway through his public ministry, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him “and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” (The Gospels don’t specify which mountain; by the third century, Christianity had settled on Mt. Tabor.) There, “he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” The great prophets Elijah and Moses appear with him, and a cloud covers them all and a voice calls out, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (This video shows this Gospel story read in the Church of the Transfiguration by a Holy Cross priest from Notre Dame.)



The Judeo-Christian tradition has always seen mountains as places of encounter with God. Noah’s ark came to rest on a mountain and that’s where God made a covenant; Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai; God spoke to Elijah on Mt. Carmel. Mt. Tabor would fit in that tradition—people naturally want to ascend to find God.

Pilgrims can hike the mountain in a rigorous climb, but the top is very pleasant—a breeze blows consistently and while it can be sunny, there are many trees for shade. It is easy to see why Peter said, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Luke records that Peter “did not know what he was saying,” however, because the disciples are not meant to dwell in that mountain-top experience—like us, they have to come down to the realities of everyday life. Moments of clarity about the divine are fleeting, and can only sustain us in memory.

It is rather paradoxical, then, that the church at the top of Mt. Tabor, the Church of the Transfiguration, has three worship spaces: the large, central nave is flanked by two side chapels, each dedicated to Moses and Elijah. The stone of the Church is bright and white to reflect the light of the transfiguration.

The Transfiguration complements Jesus’ baptism—God’s voice calls out a blessing from heaven in both instances—and gives Jesus’ followers clarity as to his identity. As fully human and fully divine, Jesus’ transfiguration shows us our own destiny—to shine with this same glory in heaven. Mt. Tabor is a fitting place for the full revelation of Jesus’ divinity, then—we climb the mountain of holiness and discover at the summit Jesus, the mediator between God and humanity, the image of our divinization.

Scripture Passages Associated with this Passage