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Matthew 17:1. And when six days had passed, Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up to a high mountain alone, Matthew 17:2. and He was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. He takes them to a high mountain, showing that whoever does not rise is not worthy of such contemplations. Christ does this especially because He used to perform His greatest miracles in secret, so that, visible to many as God, He would not be considered by them as a man, like a ghost. When you hear about the transfiguration, do not think that He then rejected His body: His body remained in its form, for you hear about His face and about His clothes. He became lighter when His Divinity showed some of its rays, and this is as much as could be seen. That is why he earlier called the transfiguration the Kingdom of God, since it revealed the ineffable nature of His power and taught that He is the true Son of the Father, and showed the glory of His second coming by the ineffable illumination of the face of Jesus. Matthew 17:3. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. What were they talking about? “About the exodus,” says Luke, which He had to accomplish in Jerusalem, that is, about the cross. Why did Moses and Elijah become visible? To show that He is the Lord of the law and the prophets, living and dead, for Elijah was a prophet and never died, but Moses was a lawgiver and died. Moreover, and in order to show that Jesus Christ is not an opponent of the law and not an enemy of God. Otherwise, Moses would not have conversed with Him, just as He would not have conversed with the one who opposed Him, and Elijah, the zealot, would not have endured His presence if He had been the enemy of God. Also in order to destroy the suspicion of those who considered Him Elijah or one of the prophets. How did the disciples know that it was Moses and Elijah? Not from images, because making images of people was then considered illegal. Apparently they recognized them by the words they spoke. Moses may have said: You are the one whose suffering I depicted in advance by slaughtering the lamb and celebrating the Passover; Elijah: You are the one whose resurrection I depicted in advance by raising the widow’s son, and so on. By showing them to his disciples, the Lord teaches them to imitate them, that is, like Moses, to be meek and accessible to everyone, and like Elijah, to be zealous and unyielding when necessary, and like them, ready to expose themselves to dangers for the truth. Matthew 17:4. At this Peter said to Jesus: Lord! It’s good for us to be here; If you want, we will make three tabernacles here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Peter, out of much love for Christ, wanting Him not to suffer, says: “It is good to be here,” not to leave and not to be killed, for even if someone came here, we have Moses and Elijah as our helpers; Moses defeated the Egyptians, but Elijah brought down fire from heaven; they will be the same when the enemies come here. He spoke this out of great fear, as Luke notes, not knowing what he was saying. For the unusualness struck him, or he really did not know what he was saying, wanting Jesus to remain on the mountain and not leave, and not suffer for us. But, afraid of seeming capricious, he says: “if you want.” Matthew 17:5. While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice from the cloud said: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Listen to him. You, Peter, desire that there should be tabernacles made with hands; The Father, having surrounded Me with another tabernacle, a cloud not made with hands, shows that just as He, God, appeared to the ancients in the cloud, so did His Son. Here the cloud is light, and not dark, as in ancient times; because He did not want to frighten, but to teach. The voice came from the cloud to show that He was from God. The words “in which I am well pleased” - instead of the words: “in which I rest and which is pleasing to Me.” With the words: “Listen to Him,” he teaches: do not resist Him, even if He wanted to be crucified. Matthew 17:6. And when the disciples heard, they fell on their faces and were very afraid. Matthew 17:7. But Jesus came and touched them and said: Arise and do not be afraid. Matthew 17:8. Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus. Unable to bear the cloudy light and voice, the disciples fell on their faces. Their eyes were heavy with sleep. Sleep means fainting from a vision. So that fear, remaining for a long time, does not destroy the memory of what they saw, Jesus awakens them and encourages them, but it turns out to be only so that you do not think that the voice was about Moses and Elijah, and not about Him: for He is the Son. Matthew 17:9. And when they came down from the mountain, Jesus rebuked them, saying: Tell no one about this vision until the Son of Man rises from the dead. Out of humility, he commands not to tell anyone, and at the same time so that, having heard about this, they would not be tempted when they later see Him crucified. For they could take Him for a deceiver, who in a ghostly manner did what was proper to God. Please note that the contemplation of God occurred after six days, that is, after the world was created in six days. For if you do not go beyond the boundaries of the world and climb the mountain, you will not see the light: neither the face of Jesus, I mean His Divinity, nor the clothing of the flesh. You will then be able to see Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus, for the law, the prophets, and Jesus say the same thing and agree with each other. When you find someone who clearly interprets the thought of Scripture, then know that he clearly sees the face of Jesus; if he also explains the figures of speech, then he sees the white clothes of Jesus, for the expressions of thought are her clothes. But do not say like Peter: “It is good for us to be here,” because we must always succeed and not stop at one degree of virtue and contemplation, but move on to others. Matthew 17:10. And His disciples asked Him, “How come the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” Deceiving the people, the scribes said that He was not the Christ, for if He were such, then Elijah would have come in advance. They did not distinguish between the two comings of Christ: the first of them was the forerunner of John, the second of Elijah. This is what Christ explains to his disciples. Because listen! Matthew 17:11. Jesus answered and said to them: It is true that Elijah must come first and arrange everything; Matthew 17:12. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him as they wanted, and so the Son of Man will suffer from them. Matthew 17:13. Then the disciples realized that He was talking to them about John the Baptist. Saying: “truth, Elijah must come first,” shows that he has not yet come, but will come as the forerunner of the second coming, and will establish in faith in Christ all the Jews who turn out to be obedient, establishing them, as it were, in the paternal inheritance that they have long been deprived of. Saying: “Elijah has already come,” hints at John the Baptist. They did with him what they wanted, killing him, for, having allowed Herod to kill him, although they had the opportunity to prevent him, they themselves killed. Then the disciples, becoming more thoughtful, realized that the Lord called John Elijah, because he was the forerunner of the first, just as Elijah will be the forerunner of His second coming. Matthew 17:14. When they came to the people, a man came up to Him and, kneeling before Him, Matthew 17:15. said: Lord! have mercy on my son; On new moons he goes berserk and suffers greatly, for he often throws himself into fire, and often into water, This man, apparently, was very unbelieving, judging by the fact that Christ says to him: “Oh, faithless generation,” as well as by the fact that he accuses the disciples. The cause of his son's illness was not the moon, but the demon; he lay in wait for the full moon and then attacked the sick person so that God’s creation would be blasphemed as evil. You must understand that every madman changes, according to Scripture, like the moon, sometimes being great in virtue, sometimes small and insignificant. So, he becomes a sleepwalker and throws himself first into the fire of anger and passion, then into the water - into the waves of numerous everyday worries in which the leviathan - the devil, that is, the king over the waters - lives. Aren't waves the constant worry of the rich? Matthew 17:16. I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not heal him. Matthew 17:17. Jesus answered and said: O faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I tolerate you? bring him here to Me. Matthew 17:18. And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him; and the boy was healed at that hour. You see that this man places the sin of his unbelief on the disciples because they were not able to heal. And so, the Lord, shaming him for accusing the disciples, says: “Oh, unfaithful generation,” that is, the sin of their weakness is not as great as the sin of your unbelief, for it, being great, defeated their corresponding strength. By reproaching this person, the Lord reproaches all non-believers and those present. Saying: “as long as I am with you,” indicates that He strongly desires the suffering of the cross and removal from them. How long will I live with offenders and unbelievers? “And Jesus rebuked him.” To whom? Sleepwalker. From this it is clear that he, being an unbeliever, himself, thanks to his unbelief, gave the demon the opportunity to enter him. Matthew 17:19. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive him out?” Matthew 17:20. Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief; For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you; Matthew 17:21. this race is driven out only by prayer and fasting. The apostles were afraid that they had lost the power given to them over demons? Therefore, in private, worried, they asked. The Lord, reproaching them as still far from perfection, says: “because of your unbelief”; if you had warm, ardent faith, then it, even if it seemed small, would accomplish great things. Where the apostles moved mountains, nothing is written about this. But it is likely that they rearranged, although it is not written, since not everything is written down. Otherwise: circumstances did not require it, so the apostles did not rearrange, but did much more. Pay attention to what the Lord said: “Say to this mountain: move from here,” that is, when you say it, then it will move. But the apostles did not say this, because time did not demand and there was no need, and therefore they did not cross the mountains. Tell them, they would move on. “This same race,” that is, the race of demons, “is driven out only by prayer and fasting.” For those who are under the power of demons and those who intend to heal from them should especially fast. Prayer is true when it is combined not with drunkenness, but with fasting. Pay attention to the fact that every faith is a mustard seed. It is considered insignificant due to the violence of preaching, but if good earth happens, it develops into a tree on which the birds of the air build their nests, that is, thoughts soaring upward. Therefore, anyone who has warm faith can say to this mountain: move over, that is, to the demon. For the Lord showed the demon coming. Matthew 17:22. While they were in Galilee, Jesus said to them: The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, Matthew 17:23. and they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again. And they were very sad. He often tells them about suffering in advance, so that they don’t think that He is suffering against his will, and at the same time so that they get used to it and are not embarrassed by the unexpected event when it comes. However, the sad thing is also joined with the joyful thing, namely, that He will rise again. Matthew 17:24. When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of didrachms ***** approached Peter and said: Will your teacher give didrachms? Matthew 17:25. He says yes. God was pleased that instead of the firstborn of the Jews, the tribe of Levi should be dedicated to Him. The tribe of Levi was numbered twenty-two thousand, and the firstborn were twenty-two thousand and seventy-three. Instead of these firstborns, who were above the tribe of Levi, God determined to give the didrachm to the priests. This is where the custom arose for all first-born children to pay a didrachm, that is, five shekels or two hundred ovols. But since the Lord was the firstborn, He also paid this tax to the priests. Ashamed, perhaps, of Christ because of his miracles, they do not ask Him, but Peter, or rather do it with an insidious purpose, that is, as if saying: “Your teacher is an opponent of the law; will He really want to pay didrachms? And when he entered the house, Jesus warned him and said: What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take duties or taxes? from your own sons, or from strangers? Matthew 17:26. Peter says to Him; from strangers. Jesus said to him: So the sons are free; As God, although He did not hear, He knew what they were talking about with Peter. Therefore, he warned him, saying: if the kings of the earth do not take taxes from their sons, but from strangers, then how will the King of Heaven take the didrachma from Me, His Son? For this didrachm, as was said earlier, was intended for the church and the priests. So, if the sons of earthly kings are free, that is, they do not pay anything, then how much more am I. Matthew 17:27. but so that we don’t tempt them, go to the sea, throw a fishing rod and take the first fish that comes across, and when you open its mouth, you will find a statir ******; take it and give it to them for Me and for yourself. So that, he says, we are not considered proud and prone to contempt and so that we do not seduce them, give a tax, for I give it not because I have to give, but in order to correct their weakness. From this we learn that we should not serve as a temptation where there is no harm to us. Where there is harm to us from any action, there should not be concern for those who are foolishly tempted. To show that He is God and owns the sea, Christ sends Peter to get a statir from a fish, and at the same time we learn a certain sacrament. For our nature is also a fish, immersed in the depths of unbelief, but the apostolic word brought us out and found in our mouths the statir, that is, the words of the Lord and the confession of Christ. For whoever confesses Christ has in his mouth a statir consisting of two didrachms. And Christ, as God and as man, has two natures. So, this statir, Christ, was given over to death for people of two kinds - for pagans and Jews, for righteous people and sinners. If you see any money-lover who has nothing in his mouth except silver and gold, consider that he, too, is a fish that swims in the sea of ​​life. But if there were any teacher like Peter, he would catch him and extract gold and silver from his mouth. By statir, some mean a valuable stone that is found in Syria, while others mean a fourth share of gold. Two drachmas are a certain tribute to the church.