He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them

 

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

- Mark 9:2-13

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.   And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said them, "Whoever 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 and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit 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 whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

 

  Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  The event described in today's reading is known as the Transfiguration (Μεταμορφωσις/Metamorphosis in the Greek).  This is a theophany, meaning a manifestation of God.  In particular there is the manifestation or appearance of the divinity of Christ, through a display of what is understood in Orthodoxy as His uncreated, divine energy -- appearing as dazzling light.  St. John writes that God is light (1 John 1:5); so His shining, exceedingly white clothing such as  no launderer on earth can whiten them, demonstrate that Jesus is God.  In some icons this color is shown as beyond white, tinted blue-white, meaning an ineffable, inexpressible color of spiritual origin.

 

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  Here is the presence of the kingdom of heaven; Moses and Elijah give us the reality of the communion of saints Hebrews 12:1), always present, and they communicate with Jesus.  They are both immediately recognizable (where we know and are known; see 1 Corinthians 13:12).  In Peter's confusion and fear, as he knows that the Feast of Tabernacles is the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, he suggests the building of tents or tabernacles for them as was done at that feast (symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom).  My study Bible comments that Moses represents the law and all those who have died, while Elijah represents the prophets and -- as he did not experience death -- all those who are alive in Christ.  My study Bible says that their presence 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.  

 

And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  The bright cloud recalls  temple worship and the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness, which my study Bible calls the visible sign of God being extraordinarily present.  The Father's voice combines with the Spirit in the brightness of the cloud and the dazzling light around Christ, while the identity of Christ revealed as beloved Son to manifest the Holy Trinity.  

 

  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  What they have seen is true and real, but throughout St. Mark's Gospel so far, Jesus has emphasized the need to keep the messianic secret until the proper time it can be revealed.  Note the mystery; they question what the rising from the dead meant.  

 

 And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."  Now the disciples are prepared to understand that Christ is referring to St. John the Baptist.  When He says that Elijah has also come already, He indicates that Malachi's prophesy of the return of Elijah (Malachi 4:5) refers to one coming "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17), rather than to Elijah himself.  

 

The Transfiguration comes to us as a manifestation, a "showing forth" of Christ's true identity.  This occurs in a kind of symbolic language, a language of light, of sound in the Father's voice, of vision and recognition in the appearance of Moses and Elijah.  And all of these things occur in the presence of witnesses, the three who are known as the pillars among His disciples, and that, too, happens for an important reason.  Not only will they remember this experience during the time of the horrific events they will live through during the Passion and Christ's crucifixion and death.  But they are those who tell us for posterity, and this, too, occurs for an important reason.  For our earliest Christian ancestors, and for the first millennium of the Church, this experience of Transfiguration was an important factor in understanding the whole purpose of Christ's mission into our world, and how exactly we come to be saved.  This is because this notion of transfiguration, of metamorphosis, to use the borrowed Greek word in our language, is the effect of grace upon us.  Most powerfully, throughout the course of the history of the Church, the words of our early Church Fathers and theologians have come to us indicating that God became human, so that we human beings could become [like] God.  This doesn't happen merely through a kind of deductive reasoning, or simply asking ourselves, "What would Jesus do?" or any other sort of purely imitative behaviors.  It happens first of all because of the Incarnation.  Divinity has touched human flesh and human experience, and this becomes a part of our world, a part of the fabric of the created world, where even in His Resurrection and Ascension, human flesh may rise and ascend with Him, and thus humanity.  This is opening the doors to salvation.  Through grace, and our cooperation with that grace, through the workings of the Holy Spirit, the Helper and Counselor sent to us by Christ and the Father, we also are given a kind of blueprint for our lives, a transformative, transfiguring grace, so that we may grow in the fruits of the Spirit.  These fruits become evidence of our own metamorphosis, our own transfiguration, so that we are changed as people, and we become more compatible with the Kingdom and its reality, preparing the way for us to dwell in Christ's many mansions.  We, like Christ, are able to bear the Kingdom into the world, and share the light placed in us, and magnified through the work of grace, and our acceptance and cooperation with that grace.  The Transfiguration shows us who Christ really is, but it also gives us the unseen reality that is always there whether we know it or not.  The light of God is with us, and it is within us.  God's love and mercy always awaits our attention and acceptance.  But because of the Transfiguration, we have a sense of what that is and means.  Let us always remember the light of the world, our true Light, and where it comes from.

 

 

 

 

He was transfigured before them

 

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wishes, as it is written of him."

 

- Mark 9:2–13 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever 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 and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit 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 whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

 

  Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  The phrase after six days can indicate a six day period in between the events in our previous reading (above), which would mean the Transfiguration took place on the eighth day following His teaching regarding the Cross.  The eighth day is associated with the eternal time of the kingdom of heaven, giving us a significance regarding this revelation of Christ's transfiguration before Peter, James, and John.  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).  

 

His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.   This event is what is called a theophany; that is, a manifestation of God.  In particular it expresses the divinity of Christ, through a display of what my study Bible calls His uncreated, divine energy.  The Transfiguration, which was celebrated yesterday across many denominations, is a major feast day.  Because God is light (1 John 1:5), my study Bible says, the brilliant light described coming from Jesus' person (and especially His clothes) demonstrates that Jesus is God.  In some icons this light is shown as beyond white, as a blue-white, ineffable color, indicating its spiritual origin.

 

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.   Moses and Elijah represent all that has come before, which points to Christ.  These two indicate Christ's lordship of His kingdom to come.  My study Bible says that Moses represents the law and all those who have died.  Elijah represents the prophets and -- since he did not experience death -- all those who are alive in Christ.  It notes that their presence shows that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament.  The presence of Moses and Elijah is also a manifestation of the communion of the saints, which St. Paul calls "so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1).  Note that both are immediately recognizable by the disciples, and that they speak with the Lord (regardless of which time period they lived earthly lives).  St. Peter, in his confusion, understands the manifestation of the presence of Christ's kingdom; my study Bible says he sees all of this as a sign that the Kingdom has come.  As he knows that the Feast of Tabernacles is the feast of the coming Kingdom, he asks to build tabernacles (also called tents or booths) as is done at that Feast, serving as symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom. 

 

 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  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 (Exodus 13:21), while the voice of the Father bears witness to Christ as God's Son.  My study Bible asks us to note that God the Father does not say that Jesus has become His beloved Son, but "This is My beloved Son," which indicates that this divine glory showing to the disciples is Christ's by nature.  From eternity past, my study Bible comments, infinitely before Christ's Baptism and Transfiguration, Jesus is God's Son, fully sharing in the essence of the Father.  He is God of God, as the Creed declares.

 

  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.   Let us note that at this point the disciples are mystified at Christ's words, and do not understand what the rising from the dead meant.

 

 And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wishes, as it is written of him."  After their experience of the presence of Elijah and Moses, the disciples are now able to understand Christ's words that "Elijah has also come" as referring to St. John the Baptist.  Their eyes have now been opened, my study Bible says, to the fact that Malachi's prophecy (Malachi 4:5) refers to one coming "in the spirit and power of Elijah," as prophesied by the angel of the Lord to Zechariah in Luke 1:17, rather than to Elijah himself.  

 

 Today's reading asks us to see prophecy and the symbolic presence of images with the eyes of those who understand how to read Scripture, in the light of the understanding of what we might call the language of God.  This language is often given to us in the form of symbols, such as Moses and Elijah representing the law and the prophets.  In our very literal-minded modern tendencies, we would perhaps simply view this as a representation of these two people for their individual lives, but that is not the case.  Symbolic language is not literal, and it is the language of Scripture we must try to learn to perceive in order to perceive clearly what we're given in the Gospels.  The cloud that appears overhead, together with the voice of the Father, is more than simply a cloud and a voice -- they represent many things at once, such as the cloud that led the Israelites through the desert, which in turn was God's presence to Israel, with them.  When we recall that Jesus is also called Immanuel in the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14), meaning "God with us," it takes these repeated symbolic layers to a greater depth of meaning and understanding -- for all of these things are true at once, and meant to be understood in the fullness of these senses.  The bright light streaming from His person, His clothes, which became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them, are meant to tell us something, to reveal something to us.  As my study Bible notes, we are meant to recall that God is light (1 John 1:5; John 1:4-9), and therefore this transfiguration consisting of brilliant, unearthly light is meant to communicate to us Christ's divine reality and origin.  These work in a way akin to symbols in dreams and in visions; they communicate to us the deep things of God at levels of depth within ourselves corresponding not just to the intellect or emotions, but to our souls, for the reality of what we're given in Scripture is something stronger than what we know of our waking, surface life and memories -- they give us deeper and more transcendent meaning of realities that extend beyond what we can grasp easily in our conventional daily mindset.  They work similarly to poetry, with echoes of meaning, and perception that works in symbols and images, sometimes in ways we're not conscious of perceiving, but nonetheless remember and might later recall.  This is similar to the experiences of the disciples, who puzzle over Christ's sayings, but later recall after the Holy Spirit was given to them, and they begin to understand.  But, as my study Bible points out, these vivid images received by the disciples will stand them in good stead for the future, when the time of Christ's Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection comes.  Through this experience, they will be able to understand that He voluntarily goes where He goes, and knowledge of His divinity will remain with them.  The Transfiguration also gives us knowledge about the Kingdom, its eternal timelessness, its communion of saints viscerally present to us somehow, and its powerfully transfiguring holiness, which also work with us and in us in ways we don't see but can observe in its effects in our lives.  For this real meaning of Transfiguration, or Metamorphosis, is finally about Christ's effect upon us, the sacramental way we are to participate in His life, death, and Resurrection, the presence of the Kingdom with us and in our worship.  Let us come and receive His light (hymn from the Orthodox Matins of the Resurrection); and walk in the light while we have that light (John 12:35).  In this case, Christ's transfiguration reveals who He truly is, and only He can reveal to us who we truly are through His saving work.

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them

 

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

- Mark 9:2–13 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever 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 and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit 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 whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."   And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

 

  Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  The event described in today's reading is called the Transfiguration, after the fact that Christ was transfigured before Peter, James, and John.  Let us keep in mind that these three are Christ's "inner circle," those disciples of the strongest faith and to whom He is closest.  According to St. Augustine, after six days refers to the intervening days between the day that Peter made his confession that Jesus is the Christ (see yesterday's reading, above) and the day of the Transfiguration.  That would make this day the "eighth day"which is associated with the Resurrection.  

 

 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  This powerful description of light pervading Christ and even His clothes is the signal of the presence of God, the heavenly reality that is revealed here.  Because God is light (1 John 1:5), my study Bible notes, the presence of light -- the shining, exceedingly white clothing -- demonstrate that Jesus is God.  In some icons this light is shown as "beyond white" (such as no launderer on earth can whiten them), a blue-white, ineffable color, to indicate the spiritual origin of this divine, uncreated light.

 

 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. Elijah and Moses appearing together give us the understanding of the communion of saints (that great cloud of witnesses as St. Paul describes it in Hebrews 12:1) and the timelessness of the Kingdom of heaven, as all present were from different earthly time periods and yet speak to one another, and are immediately known and recognized by St. Peter.  My study Bible comments that Moses represents the law and all those who have died, while Elijah represents the prophets and -- as he did not experience death -- all those who are alive in Christ.  It notes that their presence shows that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah, who is indeed the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament.  Peter has an instant sense that the Kingdom is present, and suggests the building of tabernacles as was done at the Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Sukkot), which was the feast of the Coming Kingdom; these are symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom.

 

 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Here the Holy Trinity is present.  There is the transfiguration of Christ, the Father who speaks from heaven testifying that Jesus is the eternally-begotten divine Son, and the Holy Spirit is present in the form of the "bright cloud" (as Matthew 17:5 describes it) which overshadows with light the whole mountain.   This type of event is therefore called a Theophany, a manifestation or "showing forth" of God. 

 

 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."  As Moses and Elijah were present and recognizable to the disciples, now they are able to understand Jesus' words that Elijah has also come already as referring to John the Baptist.  My study Bible comments that their eyes have been opened to the fact that Malachi's prophecy (Malachi 4:5) refers to one who would come "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17), rather than to Elijah himself. 

 

The Transfiguration serves as a model for the life of the faithful, bringing us meaning in what it is to be touched by Christ, by His holy light, and to live in faith.  For in accordance with our faith, we take the Eucharist as instituted by Christ, in which Christ's human and divine natures are present for us, and become a part of us.  Therefore we might also become transfigured; that is, assisted via Christ and through the Holy Spirit to become the spiritual children of God, and to grow in likeness to Christ.  As St. Paul writes, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).  Through Christ's light and our faith, we also are meant to be transfigured into this image, and bear the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives.  Our growth and gradual transformation through these virtues becomes, then, a work of God in us and through our faith.  If we look at the disciples, we also see such growth and maturing, as well as their growth in wisdom and leadership in the Church.  Jesus' image of this transfiguring light permeating all around Himself serves as a reminder that the light of Christ is not something that is meant for Him alone, but that He came into this world to transfigure our human nature, so that we, in turn, might attain eternal life with Him.  At Christ's Ascension, His human nature as Jesus went with Him, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, just as His divine nature is.  Therefore, He went to make a place for us:  "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:3).  So this event of the Transfiguration, while it is a tremendous revelation of the presence of the Trinity, and of the true divine nature of Christ, also tells us about ourselves and our faith.  For nothing has happened in Christ's mission that was not meant specifically for us, and an act of God's love for us.  Certainly this experience would serve for Peter, James, and John as an unforgettable understanding of Christ and the Kingdom, and also one that would affirm their faith as they went forward into their lives as apostles and leaders of Christ's Church.  These experiences are here in the Gospels for us also, so that we understand better the nature of our faith, and the truth of Christ.  In Greek, the title for the Transfiguration is "Metamorphosis" (Μεταμορφωσις).  This gives us a taste of what our faith is all about, that we as human beings are meant for change and growth, and in following Christ and living His faith, this is what we accept, to change and grow in His image for us.  This is what saints are all about; it is the holiness that comes from devoting oneself to God, and deepening one's reliance upon God.  So let us look to the Transfiguration for the image of the holy light that sanctifies.  Origen comments on this dazzling light, brighter than white, more brilliant than the sun, whiter than gleaming snow, and its transfiguring power.  He says, "The best of human wisdom is bleached and purified by his coming."  So is Christ's effect on everything we might know, preparing all to be a part of His Kingdom.  We know Him in the Church as the Sun of Righteousness; let us become through Him the children of the light. 

 

 

 

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.

 

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 

 

On Saturday we read that, from that time of Peter's confession, 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 comments 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).  The phrase after six days indicates that there were six days between the time of Peter's confession and Christ's warning that He will suffer and die, and this day of the event on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Therefore this is the "eighth day" from Peter's confession and Christ's first warning of His Passion and Resurrection, a significant understanding for the revelation of the Transfiguration.

. . . and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  The first thing we're drawn to in this picture of the Transfiguration is the light that emanates from Christ.  It's a brilliance that we're drawn to in this language:  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  In 1 John 1:5 we're told that God is light, and in all the light expressed in the picture of this event we see a demonstration that Jesus is God.  My study Bible points out that in some icons this light is illustrated as beyond white -- a blue-white, ineffable color, which indicates its spiritual origin.  

 

 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."   Another sign of the Kingdom being extraordinarily present is the appearance of Moses and Elijah speaking with Christ.  Time is suspended, for although these all lived in different time periods, they are simultaneously here together and speak with one another.  Moreover, St. Peter clearly perceives their identities as well, so all are known to one another (1 Corinthians 13:12).  Moses and Elijah also represent the Law and the Prophets, gathered together in the presence of Christ.  My study Bible adds that Moses represents the Law and all those who have died.  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 the Messiah, the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament.   It is also an image of the communion of the saints, the reality of the kingdom of heaven, an affirmation of Christ's teaching that "all live to God" (Luke 20:38).  Peter's suggestion of making tabernacles is reminiscent of the feast of Sukkot, also called the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, commemorating the time Israel wandered in tents (or tabernacles, also called booths), following the bright cloud and pillar of fire toward the Promised Land. 

 

 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.  Again there is an image of light int he bright cloud that overshadowed Christ and the disciples, and that bright cloud is also reminiscent of the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness, a visible sign of God being extraordinarily present and reminder of temple worship.  Here, also, is the Holy Trinity, in the voice of the Father, testifying to God's beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit present in the dazzling light surrounding Christ, and the bright cloud overshadowing the whole mountain.  

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.  With their immediate apprehension of Moses and Elijah speaking with Christ, the disciples are now able to understand Jesus' words testifying that Elijah has come already, as referring to John the Baptist.  My study Bible says 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 to Elijah himself. 

In the power of the Transfiguration is revealed the divinity of Christ.  It is a strong affirmation of the confession of faith of St. Peter that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (found in Friday's reading), and it will also serve the disciples as an unforgettable image of Christ's divinity through the terrifying events that are to come at Christ's Passion.  As a Theophany it is a manifestation or appearance of God.  In Greek, this event of the Transfiguration is called Metamorphosis, indicating a change of form or appearance, as does the word "transfiguration."  So while this drastic, unforgettable change of appearance serves the disciples in a number of ways -- as revealing the true nature of Christ to them, and so much more that comes with Him and His divine nature -- so also we are called to be transfigured as well by Christ and by the divine power that works in Him and through our faith to reveal who we are in His image of us as well.  We watch through the Gospels and the life of the early Church through Acts and the Epistles the great change in the disciples, such as St. Peter, and we see the transfiguring power of faith in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit active in these men.  We learn of the early apostolic missions and even the transfiguration of the whole world through the work of establishing the early churches, and it speaks to us of the power of faith and God's work in the world and what it does.  So, indeed, the Transfiguration is a model about our faith in so many ways, and it teaches us so much.  Perhaps we should also think about how that model of Transfiguration is also at work within us and among us.  How has your life been changed through the practice of prayer and your own faith?  Do you find that your faith -- and Christ's transfiguring power -- has changed you?  How has your faith evolved in your life, and the work of the Holy Spirit worked in you and your own perceptions of life?  Do you see things in a different way than you used to?  For myself, I can particularly testify that over the course of decades my faith has truly changed many things in my outlook.  Much of what I write today would have been about things incomprehensible and inconceivable to me in the past, but the reality of the internal transfiguration of faith and Christ's work, and the mercy of the Holy Spirit -- even the communion of saints -- has worked in me to entirely transfigure my own outlook and way of seeing life.  This is been more despite me than any result of my own wishes or will; this has been the surprising journey of faith and the power of God.  If the Transfiguration has given us so much of the fullness of our faith and what it has to teach us, then one can only imagine what the transfiguring journey of faith means for us as communities, as individuals, and even for our world.  How can we know what our own true nature is until we can begin to see it through the eyes of the Creator who leads us and heals us?  Let us not forget that this also includes the communion of saints, and what their prayer with us has to offer.  These are just some of the things to think about when we come to the transfiguring light of Christ, and ponder why we are given these experiences of the disciples in our Scripture.  Metamorphosis is also a part of taking up one's own cross, even the suffering involved in letting go of the things God wants to change in us.  May we be blessed in God's light of illumination for us. 

 

 

 

He was transfigured before them

 

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

- Mark 9:2-13 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever 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 and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit 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 whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

 

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.   After six days would seem to indicate this is the seventh day; that is, the fullness of the time after Christ revealed not only His identity (as confessed by Peter on behalf of all of the disciples), but also after His revelation to them that He will suffer and be killed and rise again on the third day.   To go up on a high mountain is to prepare for a profound spiritual experience, and this is indeed a revelation of God.  That Christ was transfigured (Greek μεταμορφόω/metamorpho) in this revelation gives us a deep basis for an understanding of the fullness of Christianity itself.  Christ is transfigured to reveal His identity:  that His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them is a revelation of divine light.  In icons this often appears with a blue tinge, indicating a heavenly light beyond white, beyond the full spectrum of worldly light.  In Luke's Gospel, Elijah and Moses discuss Christ's decease (Luke 9:31) -- that is, literally in the Greek, His ἔξοδον/exodus or "departure."  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).  Elijah represents the Prophets -- and, since he did not experience death (see 2 Kings 2:11), all those who are alive in Christ.  Moses the Law and all those who have died.  We should recall here that Jesus referred to Himself as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets (see Matthew 5:17). 

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  Peter speaks from an understanding of the Feast of Tabernacles (in which tabernacles or tents were erected to commemorate the time when Israel wandered in the desert) as the feast of the coming Kingdom.  Moses and Elijah are immediately recognizable and  evidently known to Peter, and as such they represent the communion of saints who are always present with Christ.  My study Bible says that their presence 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.  

And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.   The brilliant light of Christ's clothes, the brightness of the cloud which overshadowed the whole mountain (Matthew 17:5) reveal the presence of the Spirit, while the Father's voice testifies to Christ as His beloved Son, and commands that they "Hear Him!"  These elements make the Transfiguration a theophany, a manifestation of God the Holy Trinity.

Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."   The disciples' question regarding Elijah's return refers to the prophecy in Malachi 4:5-6.  After witnessing the appearance of Moses and Elijah speaking with Christ in the Transfiguration, the disciples are now able to understand Jesus' words that "Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him" as a reference to John the Baptist (see Matthew 11:11-14, 17:12-13).

 

The Transfiguration plays an important role in understanding our lives as followers of Christ, and the ways in which faith and grace are at work in us.  It gives us a sense of the work of grace to help to reveal and transform.  Christ's Transfiguration revealed His identity, who He truly was and is.  So it is that we also see the Incarnation as having a transfiguring effect upon the world, and through the life and ministry of Christ -- and in particular through the Cross.  It's important to understand that the word in Greek, Metamorphosis, means transformation.  Effectively it is the power of Christ that transfigures everything.  This includes the power to remit sin, the power and grace that is at work in us to help to transfigure or transform us to the true image in which our Creator has made us, to reveal our own true identities through the transfiguring effect of our faith in Christ and the subsequent work of the Holy Spirit in us.  Christ transfigured the ultimate effect of evil -- death itself -- through the Cross.  The Orthodox chant on Easter:  "Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling death, and giving life to those in the tombs."  St. Paul calls death "the last enemy" (see 1 Corinthians 15:26-28).  He writes of this effect which transfigures even the evil of the world, quoting from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14:  "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 'O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?'" (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).  As the ancient world saw Christ, the Incarnation held this deepest meaning:  that God who became Man in turn transformed and healed everything, for only by assuming every single aspect of our humanity and engaging in the worldly life in which He voluntarily endured even suffering and death, could He heal all of the above.  This is what the Transfiguration reveals to us, and gives to us, and why the Cross is linked to it through glory.  When we go through our own difficulties with life in this world, with the effects of sin (our own or that of others) let us remember the Transfiguration -- the transfiguring power of Christ, and of the Cross.  For these apply in our own lives each day.