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Transfiguration of Jesus

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The upper part of the Transfiguration (1520) by Raphael
The upper part of the Transfiguration (1520) by Raphael
Major events in Jesus' life from the Gospels
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The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported by the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus was transfigured upon a mountain (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36). Jesus becomes radiant, speaks with Moses and Elijah, and is called "Son" by God. The transfiguration put Jesus above the two preeminent figures of Judaism: Moses and Elijah. It also supports his identity as the Son of God. In keeping with the Messianic secret, Jesus tells the witnesses (Peter, James and John) not to tell others what they saw.

In Catharism transfiguration is meant as personal transformation and evolution as opposed to referring to an actual Jesus. The meaning is esoteric.

The original Greek term in Matthew and Mark is metemorphothe, describing Jesus as having undergone metamorphosis.[citation needed]

The principal account is that in the Synoptic Gospels; 2 Peter and the Gospel of John may also briefly allude to the event (2 Peter 1:16-18, John 1:14).[citation needed] Peter describes himself as an eyewitness "of his sovereign majesty." Neither account identifies the "high mountain" of the scene by name. The earliest identification of the mountain as Mount Tabor is in the 5th century Transitus Beatae Mariae Virginis. RT France notes that Mount Hermon is closest to Caesarea Philippi, mentioned in the previous chapter of Matthew.

Contents

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[edit] Interpretation of the passage

Mount Tabor in Israel, traditionally identified as the Mount of Transfiguration.
Mount Tabor in Israel, traditionally identified as the Mount of Transfiguration.

In the narrative, after the voice speaks, Elijah and Moses have disappeared, and Jesus and the three Apostles head down the mountain, Jesus telling his Apostles to keep the event a secret until the "Son of Man" had risen from the dead. The Apostles are described as questioning among themselves as to what Jesus meant by "risen from the dead" (Mark 9:9-10) The Apostles are also described as questioning Jesus about Elijah, and He as responding "...Elijah comes first, and restores all things ... but ... Elijah has come indeed ..." (Mark 9:12-13). It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, as predicted in the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4), and the three Apostles are described as interpreting Jesus' statement as a reference to John the Baptist.(Matthew 17:13)

Symbolic readings take Moses and Elijah to represent the Law and the Prophets respectively, and their recognition of and conversation with Jesus symbolize how Jesus fulfils "the law and the prophets" (Matthew 5:17-19, see also Expounding of the Law).

In general, the events in Jesus's life that are said to have taken place in secret, such as the transfiguration, are given less weight by scholars of the historical Jesus than public events.[1]

[edit] Christian commemorations of the Transfiguration

Icon of the Transfiguration (15th century, Novgorod)
Icon of the Transfiguration (15th century, Novgorod)

In the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican churches, the Feast of the Transfiguration is observed on 6 August and is considered a major feast, numbered among the twelve Great Feasts in Orthodoxy. In all three churches, if the feast falls on a Sunday, its liturgy takes the place of the Sunday liturgy. In some liturgical calendars the last Sunday in the Epiphany season (that immediately preceding Ash Wednesday) is also devoted to this event.

[edit] Eastern Orthodox practices

Icon of the Transfiguration by Theophanes the Greek (15th century, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).
Icon of the Transfiguration by Theophanes the Greek (15th century, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, grapes are traditionally brought to church to be blessed after the Divine Liturgy on this day (if grapes are not available in the area, apples or some other fruit may be brought). This begins the "Blessing of First Fruits" for the year. The Transfiguration falls during the Dormition Fast, but fish, wine and oil are allowed to be consumed on this day in recognition of the feast. The Transfiguration is the second of the "Three Feasts of the Saviour in August", the other two being the Procession of the Cross (August 1) and the Icon of Christ Not Made by Hand (August 16). The Orthodox view the Transfiguration as not only a feast in honor of Jesus, but a feast of the Holy Trinity; for all three Persons were actively present: God the Father spoke from heaven; God the Son was the one being transfigured, and God the Holy Spirit was present in the form of a cloud. In this sense, the transfiguration is also considered the "Small Epiphany" (the "Great Epiphany" being that of the Baptism, where the Holy Trinity appears in a similar pattern).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus (1998), Harper SanFrancisco, ISBN 0-06-062979-7

[edit] External links

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2008

The Polar Express is a 2004 Academy Award-nominated feature film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg.


The film, written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, is entirely live action using performance capture technology, which incorporates the movements of live actors into animated characters. It stars actor Tom Hanks in five distinct roles, including the role of Santa Claus. The film was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment in association with Shangri-La Entertainment, ImageMovers, and Playtone, for Warner Bros. Pictures. Warner Bros. first released the $170 million film in both conventional and IMAX theaters on Wednesday November 10, 2004
Contents [hide]
1 The Story
1.1 Story to film
1.2 Plot
2 The Train
3 The IMAX 3D version
4 Polar Express Experience
5 Reaction
6 See also
7 References
8 External links


[edit]
The Story

[edit]
Story to film

The film expands on the story from the original book. It maintains the visual style of the book.[citation needed] The "Hot Chocolate" production number was derived from a single sentence and a single illustration. The "Hobo," "Lonely Boy," and "Know-it-All" characters, the scenes on rooftops and on the locomotive, and the runaway observation car sequence were all new to the film.

[edit]
Plot

The Polar Express is a story of a young boy on Christmas Eve in the late 1950s who is hoping for belief in the true spirit of Christmas. After he had fallen asleep, a magical train called the Polar Express pulls up in front of his house and he is invited by the train's mysterious conductor to journey to the North Pole.

The boy is handpicked by Santa Claus to receive the first gift of Christmas. Realizing that he could choose anything in the world, the boy asks for one beautiful-sounding silver bell from Santa's sleigh. The boy places the bell in the pocket of his robe and all the children watch as Santa takes off for his yearly delivery.

Later, the boy discovers that the bell has fallen from his pocket. On Christmas morning, his sister finds a small present wrapped under the tree. The boy opens the box and discovers that it is the bell, delivered by Santa who found it on the seat of his sleigh. When the boy rings the bell, both he and his sister marvel at the beautiful sound.

[edit]
The Train

The steam locomotive that pulls the Polar Express is modeled after an actual locomotive that is on display at the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Michigan. The Pere Marquette 1225 Berkshire-type (2-8-4), built in 1941 at the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, OH, was part of the Pere Marquette Railway system before being decommissioned in 1951. Slated for scrapping, it was acquired by Michigan State University (MSU) in 1957 and exhibited on campus.

In 1971, MSU steam enthusiasts commenced the formidable task of restoring the mighty locomotive to operating condition. Restoration was substantially completed in 1985, and in 1988, number 1225 started pulling excursion trains in the Owosso area and around Michigan. The locomotive has been listed on the United States National Register of Historical Places.

In the film, artistic liberty is taken with the appearance of the locomotive and its tender, both being made to seem even more massive than the 794,500 pound (361,136 kilogram) original. Many of the train's sound effects, such as the whistle blowing and steam exhausting, were created from live sampling of number 1225 while in operation.

[edit]
The IMAX 3D version

In addition to standard theatrical 35mm format, a 3D version for IMAX was also released, generated from the same 3D digital models used for the standard version. It was the first animated feature not specially made for IMAX to be presented in this format, and the first to open in IMAX 3D at the same time as main flat release. The financial results were stunning. The 3D version out-performed the 2D version by about 14 to 1. The 3D IMAX version was released again for the 2005 Holiday season in 66 IMAX theaters and amazingly made another $7.5 million prior to Christmas. Due to its financial success, the IMAX version was re-released in 2006 as well as 2007, and has become an annual Christmas movie.

[edit]
Polar Express Experience

In November 2007, SeaWorld Orlando debuted the Polar Express Experience, a motion simulator based around the movie. The attraction is a temporary replacement for the Wild Arctic attraction. The building housing the attraction was also temporarily re-themed to a railroad station and ride vehicles painted to resemble Polar Express passenger cars. The plot for the ride revolves around a trip to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Guests feel the motion of the locomotive as well as the swinging of the train on ice and feeling of ice crumbling beneath them. The attraction will be available until 2008-12-01.[2]

[edit]
Reaction

The film was released to mixed to generally positive reviews from film critics, while faring better with movie goers. The decision to model the characters so realistically was met with criticism from some reviewers, who felt that the appearances of the characters were "creepy" or "eerie".[3][4] This is related to the concept of the Uncanny Valley, which holds that the closer something appears to human, the more its dissimilarities may stand out and create a negative reaction in viewers. Critics complained that a serious problem in the film is what they refer to as "dead eye syndrome," where the eyes do not move, making the characters have a deadened, "soul-less" look as a result of inanimate eyes.[citation needed] Though it was not the first film to use motion capture technology, The Polar Express is generally regarded as the first film where the dead-eye syndrome was most noticeable and most distracting.[who?]

Currently, the film has a "Rotten" rating of 56% from selected critics with an average rating of 6.4/10, a "Rotten" rating of 54% from top critics with an average rating of 6.1/10, and a "Certified Fresh" rating of 69% from users on Rotten Tomatoes. However the film also has a 61 out of 100 critic rating and a 7.3 out of 10 user rating on Metacritic, both indicating "generally favorable reviews".

It opened at #2, behind Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles, and brought in $23,323,463 in 3,650 theaters for a per theater average of $6,390 in its opening weekend. Initially, the movie seemed to be headed toward a box office failure after its first week, due to it opening 5 days after The Incredibles and 9 days before Disney's National Treasure and Paramount/Nickelodeon's The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie, and facing even more competition in the coming weeks with Columbia/Revolution's Christmas with the Kranks and Paramount/Nickelodeon's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. However, despite the crowded family audience marketplace, it was one of the few films to actually improve its gross in the weeks after its premiere. In fact, by New Year's Day, 2005, The Polar Express ended up grossing nearly $160 million in the United States alone, shocking disbelieving critics. Fully 25% of the world gross came from just 82 IMAX 3D theaters. It has been widely noted, however, that much of this latent revenue was due to its status as the only major motion picture available in the IMAX 3D format. As of December 27, 2007, with the original release and IMAX re-releases, the film has made $178,519,973 domestically, and $124,100,000 overseas for a total worldwide gross of $302,619,973. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound, Best Sound Editing and Best Original Song.

[edit]
See also
The Polar Express (soundtrack)
Uncanny valley

[edit]
References
^ Box Office Mojo: The Polar Express (Retrieved on December 14, 2007)
^ Bevil, Dewayne (2007-11-24). "SeaWorld visitors take inaugural ride aboard the Polar Express", Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
^ Loder, Kurt (2004-11-10). "'The Polar Express' Is All Too Human". MTV. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
^ "'The Polar Express'". New York Post Online Edition. Retrieved on 2005-01-14.

[edit]
External links
Official US site
Official UK site
The Polar Express at the Internet Movie Database
The Polar Express at Rotten Tomatoes
[hide]
v • d • e
Films directed by Robert Zemeckis

1970s
 I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)


1980s
 Used Cars (1980) · Romancing the Stone (1984) · Back to the Future (1985) · Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) · Back to the Future Part II (1989)


1990s
 Back to the Future Part III (1990) · Death Becomes Her (1992) · Forrest Gump (1994) · Contact (1997)


2000s
 What Lies Beneath (2000) · Cast Away (2000) · The Polar Express (2004) · Beowulf (2007) · A Christmas Carol (2009)


Categories: 2004 films | Fictional trains | Rail transport in fiction | Christmas films | Films based on children's books | 3-D films | Computer-animated films | Films directed by Robert Zemeckis | Santa Claus in film and television | Warner Bros. films | Playtone films | Films set in the 1950s | American films | English-language films


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