Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Feast of the Holy Transfiguration
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
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Feast of the Holy Transfiguration
2 Peter 1:10-19 | Mt 17:1-19
There are only two people in the Old Testament who experienced God – literally – pass by them.
The first person is Moses. The Lord God said to Moses, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you before My Name – the Lord” (Ex. 33:19). And so, Moses went up Mount Sinai and God placed him in the cleft of a rock, and the Lord passed by Him in great power and might. Moses saw the Lord’s back, but he did not see the face of God. This may have been the greatest experience that had ever taken place in the entire life of Moses.
After forty years of wandering in the wilderness with the people of Israel, near the end of his life, Moses wrote his final book, the Book of Deuteronomy, which is a summary of the Law that was given by God through Moses. This book contains the prophecy about the Great Prophet that was to come. Moses writes, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me, from among you – you shall listen to Him” (Deut. 18:19). Note that at the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, God the Father repeats the same command to listen to the Prophet. God the Father says, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased – listen to Him” (Mt. 17:5).
When the time had come for Moses to depart from this world, He went up to Mount Nebo, from where he saw the promised land, and there he died. God buried him. And the soul of Moses descended into Hades, the abode of the dead, to the bosom of Abraham, where he joined his forefathers and the souls of all the righteous who awaited the coming of the promised Saviour.
The second person in the Old Testament to experience God pass by was the Prophet Elijah. The experience took place on Mount Sinai (Horeb). Elijah had fled from the land of Israel and he came to Mount Sinai to be alone. And while he was staying in a cave on the mountain, the Lord God passed by him. There was a great and mighty wind that passed by and rent the mountains. But God was not in the wind. Then, there was a great earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Then, there was a great fire that passed by, but God was not in the fire. And then, in the end, there was a gentle breeze that passed by, and a small voice – and God was present in the gentle breeze and the small voice as He passed by Elijah (1 Kings 19:11-13). We can also say that this may have been the great experience and moment in the entire life of Elijah.
When the time had come for Elijah to depart from this world, he came to the Jordan River near Jericho, to the very same place where Jesus would one day be baptized by John. And from that very same place, he was taken up into heaven by God, in a fiery chariot and in a great whirlwind (2 Kings 3:11-12). Elijah did not experience death, but was take up alive, so that one day, he would return again.
In the gospel reading we heard today, near the end of His public ministry, before His Passion, Jesus took three of His close disciples – Peter, John, and James – up a mountain, to spend some time alone in prayer. Jesus is the Great Prophet that Moses spoke of, the Prophet that was to come.
It was dark at night. Jesus was awake, deep in prayer, while the three apostles had fallen asleep. They would do the same in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus would again be immersed into prayer. Then suddenly, the were awakened to witness Jesus transfigured in His prayer. His glory as the Son of God, the light of His divinity, was revealed and made manifest. It shone through His face, His body, and even His clothing. And the two prophets, who during their lives on earth had seen God Himself pass by them, appeared – Moses and Elijah.
Moses came up from Hades, representing the underworld and all the souls of the righteous departed, who were waiting for the coming of their Lord and Saviour. Moses now appears before the Lord God, Jesus, and He sees the Lord God incarnate, face to face. Moses then speaks to Jesus about His departure from this world, His Passion, His death on the Cross, and His descent into Hades. At the moment of death, the soul of Jesus united to His Divinity, will descend into Hades with the brilliance of the sun. Moses will relay this message to those in Hades. Jesus, the Great Prophet and Saviour, is coming to them soon, and He will release them from their captivity to death and the dominion of Satan.
The Prophet Elijah also appears before Jesus transfigured. He represents all the angelic powers of heaven, the invisible world of bodiless spirits. Elijah also speaks to Jesus about His departure from this world, but not about His Death, but about His imminent Resurrection and Ascension. Jesus will rise from the dead, and transfigured in glory, He will ascend into heaven, leading a host of souls, the captives that He had released in Hades. The gates of Paradise, closed by the sin of Adam and Eve, will finally open to receive Jesus and the human race. And Jesus will be seated at the right hand of the Father in glory, as the King of Glory. Elijah also speaks to Jesus about His return in glory, which will take place at the end of this age, on the great Day of the Lord.
So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the faith lesson for us today? There are several lessons for us to consider and meditate upon.
First, in prayer, we are being slowly transfigured by the grace of God. When we pray, we feel better. The light of God’s Presence penetrated us. It purges our sins. It lifts us up and transforms us. We begin to shine with the light of God’s Presence and Divinity.
Second, one day, we will be completely transfigured with light, like Jesus. On the day of the general resurrection, our soul and body will be re-united and transfigured, filled with the light of God’s glory and presence. God will shine through us for all eternity. And we shall behold God face to face. “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
Third, with the eyes of faith, we see Jesus transfigured at every Divine Liturgy, in the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, in the Holy Gifts. And having received Holy Communion, we sing and exclaim:
“We have seen the true Light. We have received the heavenly Spirit. We have found the true faith. We worship the undivided Trinity for having saved us” (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom).
Today, in Holy Communion, our hearts become that ‘holy mountain’, where Jesus is present, transfigured in glory.
Fr. Peter Babej