“And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.’ And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them, ‘Arise, and fear not.’ And they lifting up their eyes saw no one but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying; ‘Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.’”
While God appeared on Sinai in a dark cloud: “Lo, now will I come to thee in the darkness of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to thee, and may believe thee for ever” (Exodus 19:9), at that time being more threatening to those who needed a strong voice of authority, but in the cloud of brightness being a glorious Father to those who were already walking the way of justice. This can also refer to the essence of truth and love manifested by God in Jesus: “For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17), that overshadows the Gospel, the Law, and the Prophets, being a light of glory that makes them all radiant and understandable. The Father then speaks to St. Peter, wishing Him to understand the truth to a deeper level, that housing Moses and Elijah is not necessary, but to make a tabernacle for the Son alone, for He is the Son, the others are but servants, and so too are you called to house Jesus in the sanctuary of your heart, as all servants of the Lord are: “My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up” (Canticle 4:12). This glory of the Father unveiled then gives testimony to the glory of the Son, but if the Son is loved, then there is nothing to fear, for the mighty One is a loved one rather than an enemy: “Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49). Now, two that love in perfect harmony are one unit, acting with one and the same will for one and the same reason, and with the Son is the Father well pleased, for the Father loves all, but is not well pleased with all, for they do not do the will of the Father: “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:50). With the Son is the Father perfectly well-pleased, “Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:36), always doing, with care, the greatest and most beautiful act of love that He sees. Because this included being crucified out of love for the redemption of captives, the Father exhorts St. Peter here not to speak against it. Jesus is the one to be heard: “Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17), obeyed: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3), and imitated: “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). It is a call to follow the shining light of the Gospel first and foremost, with the saints, the Law, and the Prophets all pointing to the merciful love that He brings to your life: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him” (Luke 24:27), with all else only receiving light by this love. Being overwhelmed by glory, and realizing they had done wrong by trying to steer the divine plan away from Calvary, the Apostles fall on their faces in adoration: “And when I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead” (Apocalypse 1:17), a proof of sanctity, for the wicked fall back, repulsed by true love’s voice: “That they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken” (Isaias 28:13); “As soon therefore as he had said to them: ‘I am he;’ they went backward, and fell to the ground” (John 18:6), whereas the righteous fall on their faces, abasing themselves before the one loved: “Abram fell flat on his face” (Genesis 17:3). Jesus then touches them gently, letting them not remain overwhelmed, for “He that is a searcher of majesty, shall be overwhelmed by glory” (Proverbs 25:27), showing that He became man that rather than trying to raise one’s mind to the very essence of Love and Beauty, an impossible task for the human mind without aid from heaven, one may simply love the man Jesus: “I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures” (John 10:9), to whom the Law and Prophets point, thus the shadow of them both dissipate in the Gospel, as evidenced by no one being present but Jesus. In this is evidenced the need to know Jesus in His humanity rather than pursuing the sight of His divinity, for while the ecstasies of the saints seem enticing, but they are not necessary for a beautiful spiritual life. Rather, it is in familiar converse with the Beloved that love arises, letting yourself be yourself in His presence, and letting Him do the same with you: “I speak to him mouth to mouth: and plainly, and not by riddles and figure doth he see the Lord” (Numbers 12:7). Finally, if His full glory was known among the people, they would try to impede the way of the cross, just as St. Peter did: “Jesus therefore, when he knew they would come to take him by force, and make him king, fled again into the mountain himself alone” (John 6:15), or be deeply scandalized when He was crucified. Therefore, Jesus tells His disciples to keep what they had seen secret, only publishing what they had seen when they had been anointed by the Holy Spirit: “We saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14); “We were eyewitnesses of his greatness” (2 Peter 1:16).