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(Said in the Spaso-Bethans Monastery on August 6th; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, 1846 and in the collection of 1848) Come, you who love the teaching of truth: your love is now rewarded and satisfied by the most perfect teaching of the highest Truth. Come, those who are not attentive to the teaching, or who are dissatisfied with the imperfection and unworthiness of those who teach it; arouse your attention: now you can hear the Teacher, whose dignity is unparalleled, and, of course, his teaching should be just as excellent. From Tabor one hears a sermon not from a church teacher, not from an Apostle, not from a Prophet, not even from an Angel, but from God the Father himself. “Behold a voice from the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Church teachers distinguish between two types of saving teaching: dogmas and commandments. Dogma is a God-revealed truth that we must believe for our salvation. A commandment is a God-given command or rule that we must fulfill for our salvation. The heavenly Tabor Sermon also represents this very composition of the teaching. “This is My beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased”: this is the dogma! “Listen to him”: this is the commandment! There was a Divine sermon about the dogma even earlier, on the Jordan. And there was a voice from heaven saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). It was a sermon to the first preacher of the New Testament, John the Baptist; and he was almost the only one who understood her enough at that time. He himself began to preach what he had heard from heaven, when he said about Jesus: “He who comes from above is above all” (John 3:31), and also: “The Father loves the Son, and gave all things in His hand” (John 3:35): but John’s preaching soon ceased, with his freedom and life. Therefore, it was beneficial for the confirmation of faith and beneficial for our ignorance and lack of faith that the dogma of the Only Begotten Son of God was again preached from heaven on Tabor to the three foremost of the Apostles, as three, according to the law, sufficient witnesses prepared to be universal preachers of the faith. For, although at the same time they were commanded to “tell anyone the vision” of Taborsky, “until the Son of man will rise from the dead” (Matthew 17:9): but, having passed the limit of this prohibition, they had this vision as one of the unshakable supports of their testimony about the Divinity, power and Glory of Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Peter writes about this in his dying letter: “I told you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, witnesses of his former majesty. Receive honor and glory from God the Father, to the voice that came to Him like this from the magnificent glory: This is My beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased! And we heard this voice come down from heaven, being with Him on the holy mount” (2 Peter 1:16-18). With reverence and joy, let us think, brethren, about the holiness and firmness of faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and with unceasing gratitude to God who revealed and confirmed it. “For God so loved the world, as He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). And in order to prepare the world to receive Him, previously “in many parts and in many ways, God spoke to the father as a prophet” (Heb. 1:1), foretelling His appearance, and represented images of His future appearance in the forefathers and in “the law, which had the shadow of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1). When He really appeared in the world, but appeared in human nature: then miracles were used to reveal what was hidden under this veil, demonstrating Divine power. But just as miracles, while demonstrating the presence of Divine power, do not decisively demonstrate the Divine being in the person of the miracle worker, because they can also be performed by humans, according to the will and power of God: what else should have been done in order to reveal the true Son of God in the person of Jesus? Should He proclaim Himself? He did not hesitate to do this when, for example, he said: “I am one and the Father” (John 10:30); and His word was firm in itself, like the word of Truth itself, and was confirmed by His miracles. But since He also recognized that for human confirmation, one’s own testimony about Himself is not enough: “Even if I testify about Me, My testimony is not true” (John 5:31): do you see by what abundant measure this deficiency is filled? God the Father, Who, as the Apostle explains, “lives unapproachable in the light, which no one has seen, is from man, less can see” (1 Tim. 6:16), moved from His unknown height, bowed the heavens, clothed His unapproachable light in a bright cloud accessible to contemplation, reduced His infinite knowledge and revelation of the infinite in the likeness of a human voice, and Himself preached the Godhead, consubstantial with Himself, wears the slave form of Jesus, calling Him His “beloved Son,” for the “beloved” son in the sacred language means the “only begotten” son 667; and the Only Begotten Son can be no other than “Consubstantial” with His Father. Let us turn from dogma to commandment. In the Epiphany on the Jordan, only the dogma of the Son of God being Consubstantial with the Father was proclaimed: in the vision on Tabor, the commandment was added to this dogma: “Listen to him!” That is: you must both listen to the teaching of the incarnate Son of God, and also enter into active obedience to Him, and constantly remain in this obedience. On the Jordan, it was no longer necessary for John to proclaim the commandment of obedience, but for others it was still too early. For John it is no longer necessary: ​​since he had already fulfilled this commandment when he baptized Jesus out of obedience, overcoming his own conviction, according to which he himself wanted to be baptized by Him, and not to baptize Him. For others it is still too early: because on the Jordan Christ appeared only as His face, to which it was necessary to arouse attention and faith, and had not yet revealed His teaching, which demanded obedience. At Tabor, the commandment of obedience was proclaimed, partly, perhaps, in accordance with the special need of witnesses to the Tabor vision. For before this, Peter, who was supreme in the faith, although the first of the Apostles confessed Jesus “Christ the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), did not show any readiness to overcome his own convictions by obedience to the word of Christ. When “Jesus began to tell His disciples that it was fitting for Him to go to Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from the elders and the bishops and the scribes, and to be killed, and to rise on the third day”: then “Peter began to rebuke Him, saying: You are merciful, O Lord; these things must not be yours” (Matthew 16:21–22). Although this open contradiction to the sacrament of faith was immediately stopped by the strict reproach of the Lord: however, perhaps Peter’s inner disposition required further healing. Probably, this healing was continued by Moses and Elijah, when, talking with Jesus on Tabor, “they spoke of His outcome, which He wanted to die in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31), that is, they talked with Him about His upcoming suffering and death on the cross. For them it was a conversation of contemplation and prayer, and for Peter it was a continuation of the teaching about the cross, which he dared to oppose. Probably, this healing was completed by the Most Heavenly Physician Himself by the power of His word. “Listen to him”; that is, repent of the teaching of the incarnate Son of God, even if it seemed contradictory to your natural wisdom, even if it made you aware of suffering and the cross, in the midst of your desire for bliss and glory. But be that as it may with the Apostle Peter and his two accomplices in the Tabor vision: it is true that both the dogma and the commandment preached at Tabor were preached not for them alone, but for all of us. The Divine Truth does not speak from heaven to earth for three people, but for the salvation of the entire human race. “The voice of the Lord is strong, the voice of the Lord is great” (Ps. 28:4). It is not limited by place, and is not stopped by time. With what authority and strength he thundered on Tabor for the three disciples of Christ: with the same authority and strength he now proceeds from the Gospel for all the disciples of Christ. And then, as he commands with all-punishing power, with all-powerful power he gives the ability to fulfill what is commanded. Let us understand, brethren, that by this very authority and power God the Father himself leads us into obedience to His beloved Son Jesus Christ. Will anyone dare not submit to this Divine power? Who would not desire to receive the gift of obedience from this saving power? “Listen to him!” How can you not listen always and in everything? Won't anyone listen? The incarnate Son of God says: “Believe in God, and believe in Me” (John 14:1). “Listen” to Him; and make this faith the initial driving force of your life! “Jesus began,” and still does not stop, “preaching and saying: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is drawing near” (Matthew 4:17). “Listen” to Him; and hasten through repentance to reach the kingdom of heaven that is near, before justice, which is also close, closes the doors of mercy! From a mountain not as high as Tabor, but all the more conveniently accessible to everyone, the Lord Jesus teaches the peoples, and for a diverse multitude of disciples he points out different paths to bliss, however, uniting into a single common path of salvation: “Blessed,” he says, “are the poor in spirit; the bliss of the weeping; blessedness of the meek; bliss for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessedness of mercy, purity of heart, peacemakers”; finally, “the blessedness of expelling righteousness for the sake of” and “For my sake” (Matthew 5:3–11), that is, faithful to the point of suffering and death. “Listen” to the Divine Guide; and, if at first glance it seems difficult to go through so many degrees of ascent to bliss, enter at least some of the indicated paths, closer, or corresponding to your current position, but be sure to enter and continue to walk without laziness. As long as you feel yourself in a state of sin: stick to the path of weeping, perhaps hard and uncomfortable at the beginning, but in the continuation, no doubt, pleasant, and continue further along the path of unceasing hunger for righteousness, not human, but God’s, given by Jesus Christ, “Who has given us wisdom from God, and righteousness, both sanctification and deliverance” (1 Cor. 1:30). Those who imagine themselves to be no small in something, hasten to the path of spiritual poverty and the knowledge of their insignificance. Tempted by your own or others' inclination towards anger and disagreement, strive with special effort towards the paths of meekness and peacefulness. Strive for purity of heart, no less than purity of external deeds: for the all-pure eye of God looks on the heart. Do not shun the way of the cross, hearing the Lord say: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). Do not contradict the word of your cross, as Peter in vain contradicted the word of the cross of Christ. Don't we find great pleasure if we can endure a difficult feat for a person we honor and love? From this, as we ascend from the small to the great, the surest conclusion is that if we willingly bear the cross for Christ, we will find bliss in the feat itself, before the bliss for the deed. Let us not deny taking up our cross, lest we crucify the flesh, mortifying its lusts; let us crucify ourselves to the world, not being seduced by its splendor and glory; Let us crucify our pride, striving always to act, speak, think and live for Christ, may Christ live in us! Christians! By all and constant obedience, “listen” to Christ the Lord, who “was” and will be “the cause of eternal salvation to those who listen to Him” (Heb. 5:9). Glory to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever! Amen. Life 22:2, 12, 16. Court. 11:34. Jer. 6:26. Amos. 8:10. Zach. 12:10 . You might be interested in: