Tuesday, August 6, 2024
2 Peter 1:10-19 | Mt 17:1-19
At the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, God revealed Himself as Trinity – one God in three Persons. We call this a Theophany, which means “manifestation of God.”
This Theophany or Manifestation of the Trinity, took place at the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. God the Son, Who became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, appeared to us as a man, Jesus, standing in the River Jordan. God the Holy Spirit appeared and manifested His Presence in the form of a doe, which hovered and alighted over Jesus. And then, God the Father, manifested Himself in the form of a voice, which proclaimed, “This is My Beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Near the end of Jesus’s public ministry, a second Theophany takes place, a second manifestation of God as Trinity. It takes place at the Transfiguration of Jesus on a mountain, in the presence of three disciples. Jesus takes three of His closest and most trustworthy apostles, Peter, John and James, up a mountain. And while in prayer on the mountain, Jesus is transformed – transfigured. His Divine Nature, His Divine Glory, His Divinity begins to shine through His human body. His face becomes radiant like the sun; His body and clothes also radiate light. Does He reveal His glory in its fullness? No. He reveals His glory only as much as they could behold. Any more would have become painful or even destructive. God the Holy Spirit then manifests His Presence in the form of a bright cloud, which appears and overshadows the entire mountain. God the Father manifests His Presence, once again, in the form of a voice, which proclaims exactly the same thing that was proclaimed at the Baptism of Jesus, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5).
Without any doubt, Jesus is revealed to be God, the Second Person of the Trinity, who shares one Divine Nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit. All three are One in Being.
During the vision, two of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament appear – Moses and Elijah. While they lived on earth, God revealed His Presence to them. He spoke to them many times, and they heard and knew His voice. But they never saw the face of God. On Mount Sinai, God place Moses in a cleft of a rock, and covered him with His hand. Then God passed by him. God took away His hand and Moses saw His back, but never saw the face of God (Exodus 34:21-23). On Mount Sinai, God revealed Himself to Elijah in a special way. While Elijah stood at the entrance of a cave, God passed by him. But God was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in a gentle breeze, a small voice. Elijah saw God pass by him, but he never saw His face.
Now, on the mountain, both Moses and Elijah appear before Jesus, and they see the face of God. They speak to God, face to face. To see the face of Jesus is to see the face of God the Father. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Today, standing in the holy place, we stand in the Presence of God, One in the Trinity. Every Divine Liturgy is a mountain experience, during which we behold Christ transfigured, and we experience the Presence and manifestation of the Trinity. As we leave the church today, we can say: We have seen the true light, the glory of God; we have seen the face of Christ, and we have seen the face of the Father; we spoke to God, face to face; the Holy Spirit overshadowed us and anointed us; we heard the voice of the Father proclaim, “You are beloved son… You are my beloved daughter”; and we received God into our heart in a most intimate and Holy Communion.
Fr. Peter Babej