His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light

 

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  

 

Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. 

 

- Matthew 17:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that from that time (just after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ), Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to His works.  Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

 

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; . . ..  My study Bible says that a high mountain is often a place of divine revelation in Scripture (Matthew 5:1; Genesis 22:2; Exodus 19:3, 23; Isaiah 2:3; 2 Peter 1:18).  Significantly, we're told that the event which occurs in today's reading takes place after six days following Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, and Christ's own confession to the disciples that His messiahship will be one of suffering and sacrifice, and His death on the Cross, followed by His Resurrection.  These "six days" is the period in between these events; thus the Transfiguration takes place on the eighth day -- a day signifying renewal of all things, the eternal day of the Lord.  

 

  . . . and He was transfigured before them.  The Transfiguration (Metamorphosis in the Greek) is a major feast day in Orthodox and other Churches, and is particularly central to the understanding of Orthodox theology. 
 

His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  My study Bible tells us that this is a theophany; that is, a manifestation of God.  It is an expression of the divinity of Christ through a display of His uncreated, divine energy. Here there are several elements which show that Christ is Messiah and God.  First, because God is light (1 John 1:5), the bright cloud, the shining of Jesus' face like the sun, and this stunning whiteness of His garment, all express that Jesus is God, my study Bible says.  In some icons the light is shown as something beyond white; that is, a blue-white, ineffable color that indicates spiritual origin.  The Transfiguration also is a foreshadowing of His future glory; as Messiah He will usher in the long-awaited Kingdom.  The presence of Moses and Elijah give us the communion of the saints (Hebrews 12:1).  Both are recognizable and talk with the Lord.  My study Bible notes that Moses represents the law and all who have died, while Elijah represents the prophets and -- as he did not experience death, all those who are alive in Christ.  The law and the prophets, the living and the dead, therefore, all bear witness to Jesus as Messiah, and fulfillment of the Old Testament.  My study Bible adds that the bright cloud (see the verses that follow) is a recollection of temple worship and the cloud that went in front of the Israelites in the wilderness, the visible sign of God being extraordinarily present.  So for Peter, the Feast of Tabernacles being the feast of the coming Kingdom, he asks to build booths as at that festival, which are symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom. 

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.     God the Father bears witness from heaven concerning the Son, and the divine glory that is Christ's by nature.  He is true God of true God, as the Creed states. Here is the manifestation of the Trinity, in the transfiguration of Jesus, the voice of the Father testifying to Christ's divine sonship, and also the Spirit present in the dazzling light surrounding Christ's person and overshadowing the whole mountain in the bright cloud.  

Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.  My study Bible comments that because of the presence of Moses and Elijah in the Transfiguration and their experience of this event, the disciples can now understand Jesus' words that "Elijah has come already" as referring to John the Baptist.  It notes that their eyes have been opened to the fact that Malachi's prophecy (Malachi 4:5-6) refers to one coming "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17) rather than Elijah himself.  

The Transfiguration figures highly in the theology of the human person, not simply as revelation of who Christ is.  Clearly for the disciples, this revelation of Christ's identity -- following so soon upon Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, and Christ's own prophesy of His suffering and human death, followed by Resurrection -- works as an affirmation for these disciples. These three, Peter, John, and James, form the inner circle of the disciples, the ones closest to Jesus and the ones whose faith is the strongest.  But there is more to the Transfiguration and this important revelation of identity, and even of the Trinity.  For in the Transfiguration we behold the divine light of Christ, and we are to understand that it is this light that not only belongs to deity, but is shared with us through faith.  Through faith, and through grace, we also may become transfigured in our own lives.  So the Transfiguration, or Metamorphosis in Greek, becomes not only a promise of Christ's identity, but also a promise of who we may become through faith.  St. Athanasius is perhaps most well-known for a foundational pillar of Christian theology, which teaches that God became human so that human beings could become like God.  That is, through faith and grace, and through the light of Christ shared with us and within us, we become more Christ-like.  We are able to fulfill the promise that we are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26).  We are meant to become transfigured ourselves through this light and grace, the energies and mercy of God, just as we see the disciples evolve through the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.  They grow in wisdom and in the character their own "works" reveal through time, especially after Pentecost.  St. Paul writes of the fruit of the Spirit, contrasting them with the works of the flesh (see Galatians 5:19-23).  Christ speaks of the light that we are given so that we may also shine it into the world, in the Sermon on the Mount.  He tells His disciples, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).  This light is given to us through our identity as children of God, and the Spirit is shared with us so that we may also reflect the light back into the world as we are able.  But all of this comes through faith, and as we grow in faith, so may that light also be strengthened, illumined, boosted, and reflected more deeply through us.  We can see this reflected in icons and the halos of the saints and angels which are familiar to us.  Light figures in images from the Old Testament, read through the understanding of the New, in which, for example, the Burning Bush witnessed by Moses (Exodus 3) is seen as an icon or type of the Virgin Mary, whose womb was "not consumed by the fire of divinity" although thereby Jesus was conceived.  All of these images of light correspond to what is divine, and yet human beings may also share in and bear this light into the world and through their lives.  So let us consider the Transfiguration and what it means for us.  If in our lives we have found some light, or Christ the true Light who shows us the way, saints whose light shines for us -- well, then, through the Transfiguration we know that this light, corresponding to divine fire, this illumination which is beyond the light of the world always has more to give us, more to show us, more ways in which we may be illumined and in turn illuminate what is around us by our own transfiguration in God's light.  For this is what we are meant for, the only way we are prepared to dwell in God's Kingdom, and live within that light that illumines and yet burns all that is not in accord with it, that cannot stand in the light.  For we are meant for this light.  In the Easter/Pascha service of the Orthodox Church, a candle is brought into the darkened church from the altar, and with the words "Come receive the light," that fire is distributed to all, for each one's candle to celebrate Resurrection.  Without the Transfiguration, we could not understand the fullness of this light that we do, nor the meanings we have received, and at the same time, all the promise in it for the mysteries we do not yet know but are promised.  In the Transfiguration, let us not forget, Christ gives us not only this brilliant divine light, but it is shared in the vision of the apostles, given to us in the communion of saints (Moses and Elijah), revealing to us the Holy Trinity, and establishing for us the Christ, the Messiah, the One whom we need and whose light we need to show us the way to the fullness of life, for "in Your light we see life" (Psalm 36:9).  John's Gospel tells us, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4).  The Transfiguration shows us this light for all.