There are moments magnified in memory and they give meaning to all that comes after them. They didn't seem too important at the time, or else they were important in a way we never understood until later.

It must have been like that for Peter and James and John as they thought back on their experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was a significant moment, all right, no doubt about that. Jesus, radiating with that pulsating glow like something from a Spielberg movie. Moses and Elijah, back from the dead, dropping in for a chat with their Master. Not your run of the mill afternoon, even when life with Jesus had taught you always to expect the unexpected.

It could only have been later, from the other side of the cross and the tomb, as they thought about all the events in the life of our L…