This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!

 

 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.  And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.  Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.  While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

 

- Luke 9:28-36 

 

In our readings from Tuesday, and Wednesday, we were given themes of the kingdom of God, in preparation for yesterday (Thursday) which was the celebration of the Feast of the Ascension (Matthew 28:16-20).  Today's reading takes up where Monday's left off, in which we read that, as Jesus was alone praying, His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  so they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised on the third day."  Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and In His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

 

 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.  And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.   Our reading today describes the event called the Transfiguration (in Greek, Μεταμόρφωσης/Metamorphosis) after the appearance-altering effect of the brilliant holy light seen by the disciples surrounding Jesus' person, His face, and His clothing, in which even His robe became white and glistening.  These three disciples form Jesus' inner core of His closest disciples, the ones referred to as the "pillars" by St. Paul), the ones whose faith was the strongest.  This event is a theophany, or a revelation of God.  Additionally, the communion of saints is revealed in the appearance of Moses and Elijah, known and recognized by the disciples in this experience.  Christ's decease (in Greek, ἔξοδος/exodus; literally, "departure") refers to His death.  My study Bible comments that Christ's death is intimately connected to the glory of the Transfiguration, for Christ is glorified through His death (John 12:23).  In the liturgical cycle of the Orthodox Church, my study Bible points out, the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th) comes forty days before the feast of the Holy Cross (September 14th), showing the connection between Christ's glory and His Cross.  That the term exodus is used here in the text is an expression revealing Christ's Passion as a fulfillment of the Old Testament Passover, and the true exodus from enslavement into salvation.  Additionally, this revelation of divine power confirms that Christ's upcoming death was not imposed on Him by outside forces, but is a voluntary offering of love.  My study Bible comments that no arresting soldier could withstand such glory if Christ had not consented (Matthew 26:53).  

 

 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.  Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.  Peter senses that the Kingdom is close at hand, and knowing that the Feast of Tabernacles is the feast of the coming Kingdom, he suggests building tabernacles for Christ, Moses, and Elijah as was done at that feast, to serve as symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom.  Again, the glory of Christ is a revelation of the divine reality present.  My study Bible further notes that Moses represents the law and all those who have died.  Elijah represents the prophets and -- as he didn't experience death -- all those who are alive in Christ.  Their presence, it says, shows that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament.  

 

 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.  Here, finally, the Holy Trinity is manifest here, as Christ is transfigured and revealed in the brilliant holy light, the Father speaks from heaven testifying to Christ's sonship, and the Spirit is revealed in the form of the dazzling light which surrounds Christ's person, and overshadows the whole mountain.  The bright cloud recalls temple worship and the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness, the visible sign of God being extraordinarily present, as my study Bible notes.  

 

Everything about this extraordinary witness tells us about the presence of the Kingdom, even in our midst.  This transfiguration of Christ is, in fact, a revelation of a reality so deep that it is, in fact, timeless.  Our own experience of time doesn't apply to this experience of the disciples, for as we can read, Moses and Elijah, although living in completely different historical times both from one another and from Christ and the disciples, appear and are immediately recognizable.  All is present here at once, and the knowledge of each person is present to the others as well.   In this sense of a timeless eternal reality, it's understood that the Father's declaration, "This is My beloved Son," indicates that the divine glory witnessed by the disciples is Christ's by nature.  That is, as my study Bible puts it, from eternity past, infinitely before Jesus' Baptism and Transfiguration, He is God's Son, fully sharing in the essence of the Father.  As God is light (1 John 1:5), the bright cloud, the alteration of His appearance, and the white and glistening quality of His clothing, testify to the same.  Thus in the Creed of the Church we can say He is "Light from light, true God of true God."  It's these experiences and stories we're given that define the theology of the Church.  In the hands of the Church Fathers and Mothers, they became tools and prisms through which we have come to know and to understand Christ, and our faith, to the extent that we do.  This would include our understanding that so much of the reality of the kingdom of God is a mystery, and we approach through mystery and the sacraments.  Let us understand that what we're given -- what's revealed to us -- holds so much more than we know.  But it's given to us through the apostles and the life of Christ so that we may find our faith and seek to know and understand.