Word on the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ

In the “Sermon on the Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” St. John of Damascus reveals the theological meaning of the Light of Tabor. The sermon consists of 20 chapters and begins with the affirmation of the Orthodox faith in One God, cognizable in Three Hypostases, and in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and perfect God and man, in whom two natures - Divine and human - are inextricably and inseparably united in one Hypostasis. St. John interprets in detail the event of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, emphasizing that the revealed glory of Christ was not something external or acquired, but the radiance of His eternal, pre-existent Divinity, inherent in His human nature through the hypostatic union. He contrasts the darkness of the Sinai Epiphany with the light of Tabor, symbolizing the transition from the shadow of the Old Testament to the fullness of the truth of the New. The presence of the prophets Moses and Elijah is interpreted as evidence of Christ as the Completer of the Law, as well as proof of His power over the living and the dead, foreshadowing the general resurrection. The voice of God the Father from the cloud affirms the Divine sonship of Christ, and the choice of the three apostles (Peter, James and John) explains their future ministry. The author also analyzes the symbolism of 6 and 8 days mentioned by the evangelists as an indication of the perfection of creation and the future age. St. John calls on his listeners to climb the “mountain of virtues,” the top of which is love, and through prayer and purity of heart to see the Kingdom of God within themselves. He warns against premature striving for heavenly blessings, emphasizing the need for suffering and bearing the Cross for the redemption and deification of all humanity. * Title of the essay in Greek: πρεσβυτέρου ᾿Ιωάννου τοῦ Δαμασκηνοῦ λόγος εἰς τὴν ὑπερένδοξον μεταμόρφωσιν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ. * Title of the essay in Latin: In transfigurationem Domini. (1) Come, let us triumph, God-loving assembly! Come, let’s celebrate together with the holiday-loving [mountain] Powers: after all, they came here to celebrate with us. Come, let us shout with our lips as with cymbals of good accord (Ps. 150:5). Come, let's jump in spirit. For for whom is the holiday and celebration? For whom is joy and rejoicing? For those who fear the Lord, who worship the Trinity, who honor with the Father the Son and the co-eternal Spirit, for those who confess with soul, mind, and lips one Divinity, inseparably cognizable in the Three Hypostases, for those who know and call Christ the Son of God and God, one Hypostasis, cognizable in two indivisible and unfused natures with their inherent natural properties. For us there is joy and all sorts of festive joy. For us, Christ established holidays: for it is not fitting for the wicked to rejoice (see Isaiah 48:22). Let us drive away the cloud of all sadness that darkens the mind and does not allow it to rise upward. Let us despise everything earthly; our fatherland is not on earth. Let us direct our minds to heaven, from where we await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). (2) Today there is an abyss of impregnable light. Today, an endless stream of Divine radiance illuminates the Apostles on Mount Tabor. Today, as the Lord of the Old and New Testaments, Jesus Christ is known - both the work and the name dear to me, truly the sweetest, most desirable and surpassing any idea of ​​​​sweetness. Today Moses, the head of the Old Testament, the Divine Lawgiver, appears on Mount Tabor before the legislator Christ as a servant before the Master and looks at His economy, which in ancient times was figuratively and mysteriously revealed to him - for this, I would say, is meant by the words: behind God (see Exodus 33:23), - and clearly sees the glory of the Divine, being himself hidden in a cleft of stone (see Exodus 33:22), as Scripture says. The stone is Christ, the incarnate God, the Word and the Lord, as the Divine Paul definitely explained to us, who said: The stone was Christ (1 Cor 10:4), who opened as it were some smallest cleft in His flesh and shone on those present with a light abundant and powerful for all vision. Today, the Supreme One in the New Testament, the one who most clearly proclaimed Christ the Son of God, saying: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), sees the head of the Old Testament standing before the Lawgiver of both, and loudly exclaiming: This is He that is (see Ex. 3:14), of whom I foretold: a Prophet like me, The Lord will raise you up (Deuteronomy 18:15) - as me, that is, as a man and leader of a new people, but also above me as the Lord both over me and over all creation, who has made both Testaments with me and with you - both the Old and the New. Today, to the virgin of the New Testament, the virgin of the Old Testament proclaims from the Virgin the Virgin of the Lord. So come, let us sing, obedient to the prophet David, let us sing to our God, let us sing praises to our King, let us sing, for God is the King of all the earth, let us sing wisely (see Ps 47:7-8). Let us sing with joyful lips, let us sing with an aware mind, feeling the taste of the words. After all, the larynx tastes food, and the mind parses words, says the wise one (cf. Job 12:11). Let us sing with the Spirit, who tests everything, even the inexpressible depths of God themselves (cf. 1 Cor 2:10), seeing in the Light of the Father, that is, in the Spirit who enlightens everything, the unapproachable Light (see 1 Tim 6:16), the Son of God. Now the invisible has become visible to human eyes: an earthly body shining with Divine radiance, a mortal body exuding the glory of the Divine. For both the Word became flesh (John 1:14), and the flesh became the Word, without being deprived of its nature. Oh, a miracle that surpasses all understanding! Glory was not added to the body from the outside, but from the inside, from the inexpressibly united hypostatically Divine Deity of God the Word with it. How does the immiscible become mixed and remain unmixed? How does the incompatible come together and preserve the properties inherent in each nature? All this is the result of a hypostatic union, when the united [natures] form a Single Hypostasis, so that in inseparable difference and unfused union, the unity of the Hypostasis is preserved, and the duality of natures is observed through the immutable incarnation of the Word and through the unchangeable deification of mortal flesh that transcends understanding. The human becomes belonging to God, and the Divine belonging to man through mutual exchange, unfused entry into each other and the ultimate hypostatic union; for One and the same is the one who existed from eternity [God] and who later became [man]. (3) Today human ears hear the unheard of: after all, He who is seen by man is testified as the Son of God - the Only Begotten, Beloved and Consubstantial. This testimony is not false, this announcement is true: for it is the Father who gave birth who speaks it. May David appear and play on the God-sounding lyre of the Spirit, may he now sing more clearly and distinctly those words that he spoke in ancient times, having seen much earlier with prophetic and pure eyes the future coming to us in the flesh of God the Word: Tabor and Hermon will rejoice in Your name (see Ps 89:13). And Hermon already rejoiced when he heard the name of sonship, assimilated from the Father to Christ at the time when he went to the Jordan to baptize, as a certain mediator of the Old and New Testaments, the Forerunner is the hidden treasure of the desert, sent to tell the world about the Light shining in the darkness, the Light unapproachable and not noticed by the blind [people]. Hermon rejoiced when the water of remission stood in the middle of the Jordan, purifying the world, and not being purified itself, when the Father testified with a voice thundering from heaven that the One being Baptized was His Beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove indicated to whom the naming refers (cf. Matthew 3:13-17). Now Tabor, the Divine and Holy Mountain, rejoices and rejoices; now the peak, whose glory and splendor are not inferior to its enormous height, rightfully rejoices, because it competes with the sky in the abundance of grace. On Whom in heaven the angels cannot direct their gaze, the chosen Apostles see Him on Tabor shining with the glory of His Kingdom. On this mountain the Resurrection of the dead is certified and Christ is shown as the Lord of the dead and the living, who from the dead allowed Moses to come to Himself and brought Elijah as a living witness, who in ancient times rose from the earth in a fiery chariot along an airy road. On this mountain, the supreme prophets again prophesy, announcing the death of the Lord on the cross. This mountain plays, has fun and jumps like lambs because it heard from the cloud, that is, from the Spirit, the same name of sonship, assimilated by the Father to Christ the Life-Giver. For this is the name above every name (Phil 2:9), in which Tabor and Hermon rejoice. This is My beloved Son (Matthew 17:5) - in these words is the joy of all creation, a special gift to people and their inalienable glorification. For He Who is Witnessed is a man, although not only a man. Oh, rejoicing given to us beyond [all measure] understanding! Oh, bliss that surpasses hope! Oh, gifts of God that conquer desire! Oh, mercies that do not yield to any measure of petition! O unenvious Giver, possessed of extraordinary generosity! Oh, giving, worthy of one who does not accept, but who gives! Oh, wonderful exchange! O Giver of strength and Receiver of weakness! O, Who reveals man as beginningless, while the Beginningless One begins through bodily birth! After all, if a person is deified through the incarnation of God and One and the same is God and man, then, consequently, He, being a man, is beginningless in His Divinity, and, being God, begins in His humanity. (4) In ancient times at Sinai, smoke, darkness, storm and awe-inspiring fire covered the top of the mountain (cf. Exodus 19:16 et seq.), preaching the inaccessibility of the Lawgiver, only vaguely showing what is behind Him (Exodus 33:23) and revealing the Greatest Artist from His own creations, but now everything is filled with light and splendor. The Lawgiver, the Artist and the Lord Himself came from the bosom of the Father, without leaving His abiding or living in the bosom of the Father, He condescended to the servants, putting on the form of a servant (cf. Phil 2:7) and becoming human by nature and in appearance, so that God, incontainable for people, revealing through Himself and in Himself the radiance of the Divine nature, became contained. Already before, God had placed man in communion with His grace, when He breathed into the newly created one from the earth the breath of life, gave him dominion [over the rest of creation], honored him with His image and likeness, and left him as an inhabitant of Eden and a cohabitant of the angels. But since we have darkened and blotted out the likeness of the image of God with the mire of passions, He, having compassion on us, honored us with a second communication, more reliable and more amazing in comparison with the first. After all, He Himself, remaining in the superiority of His Divinity, takes into Himself the lower, in order to deify humanity in Himself, mixes the Prototype with the image and today reveals His beauty in this image. And His face shines like the sun - after all, it is hypostatically united with the immaterial light and therefore has become the sun of righteousness (cf. Mal 4:2), - and His clothes become white like light (see Matthew 17:2), - after all, they were glorified as a vestment, and not in connection, due to [some external] relationship, and not in a hypostatic union. A bright cloud overshadowed (Matthew 17:5), representing the radiance of the Spirit. For, as the divine Apostle said, the sea is the image of water, and the cloud is the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 10:1). Everything is full of light and the brightest radiance for those who are able to perceive the light and have not desecrated their souls with unclean conscience. (5) So, come and we will be jealous of the obedience of the disciples, we will readily follow the voice of Christ, we will shake off the accumulation of passions, we will unashamedly confess the Son of the Living God and, having been worthy to receive the promise, we will ascend the mountain of virtues, which is love, where we will become spectators of glory and listeners of ineffable verbs. Truly, as the Lord said, blessed are the eyes of those who see, who see, and the ears who hear, what many prophets and kings desired to see and hear and did not receive what they wanted (see Matthew 13:16–17). So, come, let us explain, as far as possible, the sayings of the Divine Scriptures and offer supper to the good diners, who direct all their will towards the Divine. Let us offer a supper that corresponds to aspiration - a supper of Divine words, seasoned with the grace of the Spirit, and not with the arrogant wisdom of Hellenic speeches; We are not initiated into their teaching, but into Him who gave clear speech to the tongue-tied for preaching, aided by grace. (6) In Caesarea Philippi, this is Panea, which was once among the famous cities and was called the city of Philip Caesar, and in the Divine Scripture is called Dan (in the place where it is said: David numbered the people from Dan to Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 24:2), - in this city the Lord, standing among the slaves, dried up the source of blood from the bleeding woman (Matthew 9:20-22), in this city He healed the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue (Matthew 9:23-25), in the same city He gathered, as it were, the first council of His disciples and - the Stone of Life - having built a throne on some stone, He asked His disciples, saying: Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am (Matthew 16:13). He questioned human ignorance not because he did not know, being omniscient, but because he wanted to dispel this ignorance, which lay like a kind of darkness in the eyes of the mind, with the light of knowledge. They said: some recognize John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets (see Matthew 16:14). After all, people saw a great abyss of miracles and therefore believed that He was probably one of the ancient prophets, raised from the dead and therefore worthy of such grace. This is obvious [from the following words]: Herod the tetrarch heard the rumor about Jesus and said to those serving with him: this is John the Baptist; he rose from the dead, and therefore miracles were done by him (Matthew 14:1-2). Striving to destroy such an opinion about Himself and to give to the ignorant the true confession as a gift, the most excellent of all gifts, what does He do, in whose hand all things are possible? As a man, He poses the question, but how does God secretly make wise the disciple who was called first and the first to follow Him, whom He predestined in His foreknowledge to be a worthy head of the Church. He inspires this disciple and through him pronounces the answer. But what is the question: Who do you take Me for? - To this Peter, kindled by fiery zeal and instructed by the Holy Spirit, said: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16). O blessed lips! Oh happy lips! O blessed soul! Oh, God-bearing mind, worthy of Divine enlightenment! Oh, the instrument through which the Heavenly Father spoke! Blessed indeed are you, Simon son of Jonah (Matthew 16:17). For, as He in Whom there is no lie said, it was not flesh, not blood, not human reasoning that revealed to you this divine and ineffable theology, but the Heavenly Father (see Matthew 16:17). After all, no one knows the Son except the Father who begat Him (Whom we Himself know only through the Son) (cf. Matt. 11:27) and the Holy Spirit, who searches the depths of God (see 1 Cor. 2:10). This is that firm and unshakable faith on which the Church is founded, like on the rock from which you deservedly received your nickname. The gates of hell rise up against it, the mouths of heretics, but will not prevail against it (cf. Matthew 16:18), they arm themselves, but will not destroy it. The arrows of infants have been and will be wounds for them (Ps. 63:8 Sept.). Their tongues will fail and will be against them. After all, he who rebels against the truth does evil to himself. Christ Himself purchased the Church for Himself with His Blood (see Acts 20:28), and He entrusts it to you as your most faithful servant. Keep her unshakable and undisturbed by your prayers. Our confidence is undeniable that it will never be overthrown, shaken or destroyed. After all, this was said by Christ, by whom the heavens were established, and the earth was established and remains firm, as the Holy Spirit says: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established (see Ps 33:6). But we ask that the excitement subside, the storm cease, and that we be granted a serene and calm world. Beg about this from Christ, the immaculate Bridegroom of the Church, Who made you the keeper of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, gave you the power to bind and loosen, and Whom you, with your blasphemous lips, rightly called the Son of the Living God (cf. Matthew 16:16). Oh, divine and unspeakable deeds! He himself called Himself the Son of Man (cf. Matthew 8:20), Peter, or rather He who spoke in him, proclaimed Him the Son of God. One and the same is truly God and truly man. Christ did not call Himself the son of Peter, Paul, Joseph, or any other father, but the Son of Man. For he who had no father on earth had no mother in heaven. (7) Wishing to confirm His word with deeds and knowing what He has to do, the Omnipotent Wisdom of God and Power, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of knowledge (see Col. 2:3), says: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom (Matthew 16:28). If He said, as it were, about one thing: There is someone standing here, then we could assume that these words mean the same thing as what was said about John the Theologian: If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you (John 21:22), that is, that John would supposedly remain without tasting death until the Second Coming of Christ in power (as some very wise interpreters have already explained this place). But since the Word of God designated many who would see [the foretold], and in fact this followed, it does not give room to those who wish to understand the meaning of what was said in this way. There are some standing here, says Christ. Why some and not all? Are not all disciples and apostles? Did not all, being called, follow in the same way? Has not everyone received the same grace of healing? Why then did not everyone in this way merit this Divine contemplation? Isn’t the Lord impartial? Yes, all disciples, but not all are blinded by the disease of love of money. All students, but not all, clouded their visual acuity with the pus of envy. All are disciples, but not all are traitors. All Apostles, but not all, are struck by the loop of despair and correct evil with evil. All are lovers of Christ, only one is a lover of money - Judas Iscariot, who alone was not worthy of seeing the Divine, as it is said: Let the wicked be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord (Isaiah 26:10 Sept.). If he alone of all had been rejected, then, being envious and malicious, he would have been inflamed to even greater madness. It was absolutely necessary that those who would later be spectators of suffering should become witnesses of glory. Then the Lord takes the supreme Apostles as witnesses of His glory and Divinity: He takes three, pointing to the sacred sacrament of the Trinity, and because with two or three witnesses every word will be established (see 2 Cor 13:1). Thus, He deprives the traitor of the reason to complain about his betrayal, and reveals His Divinity to the Apostles. After all, Judas, seeing Andrew below, could not claim as a reason for justification that he was prompted to betray the fact that he did not receive contemplation [of the glory of God]. That is why Andrew and the rest of the host of the Apostles remained below, physically separated from the Lord by their residence, but united by bonds of love, with their bodies below, but with love and the aspirations of their souls following the Teacher upward. (8) And after six days (Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2), the divine Matthew and Mark preach the gospel, while the wise Luke says: It happened after these words in eight days (see Luke 9:28). Rightly and truly the heralds of truth declare both eight and six days. What they said is not a disagreement, but an agreement that comes from the One and the same Spirit. For they do not speak on their own, but the Spirit of God speaks in them, as it is said [by the Lord]: When the Comforter comes, He will teach you all things and remind you of all things (see John 14:26). So, those who said, after six days had passed, took away the outer ones, I mean the first and the last, and counted those in the middle, and the one who counted the eight days took into account both of them, because people are in the habit of counting in both ways. The number six is ​​taken as the first perfect number. After all, it is exactly composed of its parts: three makes up its half, two makes up a third, one makes up a sixth, and when these parts are brought together they form a perfect number. That is why those knowledgeable [in this area] called six the perfect number. Moreover, in six days God created the composition of everything visible with the Word. It is natural for those who have contemplated the Divine glory, which is above all, the only perfect and eternal one, to be perfect. For it is said: Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). The number eight contains in itself the image of the future century. The present life extends over seven centuries, and the eighth century denotes the future life, as the great theologian Gregory says, explaining the saying of Solomon: give part of seven (which refers to the present life) and even eight (which refers to the future) (Eccl. 11:2). Therefore, on the eighth day it was necessary to reveal to the perfect that which belongs to the eighth day. After all, as the truly divine and interpreter of the Divine Dionysius himself said, the Lord will be seen by His perfect servants just as the Apostles saw Him on Mount Tabor. So, the counting of days is done. (9) But why did He take Peter, James and John with Him? Peter [He took], wanting to show that the testimony of how true, testified by the Son, was confirmed by the testimony of the Father, and assuring him in His words that the Heavenly Father had revealed this testimony to him and that Peter, as chairman, would receive the reins of the entire Church. Jacob [He took], for he had to die for Christ before all the disciples, drink His cup and be baptized for Him with baptism (cf. Mark 10:39). John [He took] as the virgin and purest instrument of theology, so that he, beholding the timeless glory of the Son of God, would thunder (which is why he is called the son of thunder (see Mark 3:17)) the following words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). (10) Why does He lead the disciples to a high mountain? Divine Scripture symbolically calls virtues mountains. The crown and summit of all virtues is love, for in it lies perfection. If someone spoke in the tongues of men and angels, if someone had such faith that he could move mountains, if someone had all knowledge and knew all mysteries, and gave his body to be burned, but did not have love, then he would appear as a ringing brass or an inaudibly sounding cymbal, and he would be counted as nothing (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-3). So, it is necessary, leaving the earthly earth, stepping over the body of humiliation and ascending the highest and Divine tower of love, to contemplate the inaccessible to contemplation. For the one who has stood at the pinnacle of love, having in some way left himself, begins to see the Invisible and, having flown through the darkness of the bodily cloud that covers everything and finding himself in the pure sky of the soul, clearly sees the Sun of righteousness (Mal 4:2), although he cannot be completely satisfied with the vision. The Lord led the disciples to pray in private (Matthew 14:23): after all, silence is the mother of prayer, and prayer is the sight of Divine glory. When we enclose our feelings and remain in communion only with ourselves and God, when we free ourselves from the external vanity of the world and stand within ourselves, then we will clearly see the Kingdom of God within ourselves. After all, our God Jesus Christ said: The Kingdom of Heaven, which is the Kingdom of God, is within you (see Luke 17:21). However, the slaves and the Master prayed differently. Slaves approach the Master with fear and love for the sake of petition, and prayer helps their mind, nourishing and strengthening it, in approaching God and uniting with Him. But how will the Lord appear with a request? Is it not obvious that [He prayed] as having taken upon Himself our person, teaching us, showing us the way to ascend to God through prayer, instructing us how prayer becomes a host of Divine glory, and also revealing that He is not another God (but the Son, giving honor to the Parent as His principle and cause), giving the opportunity to the flesh to act in accordance with its nature, so that it can be strengthened by itself, learn and acquire knowledge of the highest and skill in it. Moreover, [Christ prayed], catching the tyrant, who was carefully watching whether He was God, as the power of miracles preached. Therefore, Christ everywhere mixes the human with the Divine, as if covering the hook of a fishing rod with some kind of bait. And thus the one who has ensnared man with the hope of the deity will himself deservedly be ensnared by the lure of the Savior’s flesh. Seeing Christ shining during prayer, [the evil one] remembered the face of the famous Moses. But Moses was glorified by glory added from without, but the Lord Jesus had the adornment of glory not acquired, but coming from the radiance of Divine glory innate to Him. (11) And what the prayer call was then, let the prophet David teach you about it, who clearly announced it in this way: He will call on Me: You are My Father, My God and the Advocate of My salvation (Ps. 89:27 Sept.). He says: The Father will call Me as God and the Eternal Son and Shone from the essence of the Parent. He [adds]: God and the Intercessor of salvation, [for he will call], as the One Incarnate and Incarnate, Renewing our nature in Himself, to the ancient beauty of the image of the One Who raises and bears in Himself the common face of humanity. Therefore it is also added: And I will make Him the Firstborn (Ps. 89:28 Sept.). He called Himself the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29), who, like us, became involved in flesh and blood (cf. Heb. 2:14); as God, He was always the Word and the Son, and did not become later; as of man, it can be said of Him that He became later, so that in Him the property of sonship would remain in force unchanged. When it is said that He became flesh (for the flesh became belonging to the Son of God through the hypostatic union), then He became such by being God and becoming man. (12) So, [Jesus], taking with Him to Mount Tabor those who stood out for the height of their virtues, was transfigured before them (Matthew 17:2). He who eternally remains equally glorified and radiant with the radiance of the Divine is transformed before the disciples. Born without beginning from the Father, He has in Himself the beginningless and natural radiance of the Divine, and not later did He ever assume existence and glory. For although He has His radiance of glory from the Father, it is without beginning and timeless; and after incarnation He remains in the same radiance, abiding in Divine lordship. Yes, and His flesh is glorified immediately along with its bringing from non-existence into being, and the glory of the Divine also becomes the glory of the body, for One and the same Christ is both God and man, Consubstantial with the Father, co-natural and akin to us. However, although the holy body never remained unparticipated in the Divine glory, from the beginning of the hypostatic union it was completely enriched with the glory of the invisible Divinity, so that the same glory of the Word and the flesh, however, this glory, being hidden in the visible body, was invisible to those who are bound by the bonds of the flesh and cannot comprehend what even the angels cannot see. Therefore, Christ is transformed, not at all acquiring for Himself what He was not, and not changing into what He was not, but appears to His disciples as what He was, opening their eyes and making them sighted from the blind. This is the meaning of the words: and he was transformed before them. Remaining identical to Himself, He now became visible to the disciples even differently in comparison with how they saw Him before. (13) And His face shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2) - the face of Him who, with His great power, kindled the sun like a torch, Who created light, older than the sun, and only then created the sun as a luminary and a container of light. For He is the true Light, born in eternity from the true and immaterial Light, the hypostatic Word of the Father, the radiance of glory, the natural image of the hypostasis (see Heb 1:3) of God and the Father. And His face shone like the sun. -What are you saying, evangelist? How do you compare something that is essentially incomparable? How do you compare and contrast what is incomparable? Did the Lord really shine as a servant? Did the unbearable and unapproachable light shine like this sun, visible to everyone? “No,” [the Evangelist] could answer, “I do not compare or liken this only begotten and incomparable radiance of the Divine glory, but since I turn to those bound by the bonds of the flesh, I take as an example that which is the most beautiful and brilliant among bodies, although it is, of course, not quite similar, since the uncreated cannot be depicted in the created without damage. But just as the sun, being one, has two essences, namely, the light that appeared first, and the body that appeared later in the series of creation (and at the same time the light is united with the body completely and inseparably), and as light spreads throughout all the limits of the earth when the body remains in itself, so Christ, the beginningless and unapproachable Light from Light, having appeared in the body created in time, remains the One Sun of Truth (see Mal. 4:2), One Christ, inseparably cognizable in two natures. Although His holy body is limited - after all, being on Tabor, it did not extend beyond the mountain - but His Divinity is incontainable, being in everything and above all. And the body of Christ shines like the sun (after all, the radiance of light was the radiance of the body), since everything became common to the one incarnate God the Word: both that which belonged to the flesh and that which belonged to the indescribable Divinity; through one, the communion of the greatness of glory is known, through the other, the communion of passions. However, the Divine is victorious and imparts His radiance and glory to the body, while He Himself remains uninvolved in passions. So His face shone like the sun; not because it was no brighter than the sun, but because those who looked could perceive so much. After all, if the Lord had revealed all the brightness of His glory, wouldn’t they have been burned? His face shone like the sun. After all, what the sun is in the sensory world, God is in the mental world. His clothes became white as light (Matthew 17:2). Just as one is the sun (it is a source of light and cannot be seen clearly), and another is the light emanating from it to the earth (through the action of God’s wisdom and love for mankind, we see and perceive His light, so that we do not find ourselves completely uninvolved in the benefits [associated with it]), so His face shines more clearly, like the sun, and His clothes become white, like light, shining thanks to the transmission of Divine light to them. (14) After this, in order to indicate the One Master of the Old and New Testaments, in order to stop the lips of heretics, whose throat is an open tomb (see Ps 5:10; Rom 3:13), in order to establish faith in the resurrection of the dead and so that he who is testified by the Father is certified as the Lord of the living and the dead, Moses and Elijah appear before the Master who is in glory, and are seen by their fellow servants as speaking to Him. It was necessary that [the Apostles], having seen the glory and boldness of their fellow servants, but servants of God, not only be surprised at the Lord’s humane condescension, but also become inflamed with greater zeal and strengthened for exploits. After all, one who knows about the good fruits of labor very easily dares to perform exploits. The desire for profit motivates one not to spare the body. Just as warriors, fist fighters, farmers and merchants take up their labors with great readiness, boldly entrust themselves to the elements of the sea, do not take into account either animals or robbers, intending to achieve the desired benefit (and the greater the benefits they see those who have previously labored enjoying, the more they are encouraged to endure the labor), so the spiritual rulers' squires, fist fighters, farmers and merchants, those who do not strive for earthly benefits and strive for invisible blessings, when they see with their eyes what they hope for, and those who have previously worked hard - enjoying the abundance of hoped-for blessings, then with great zeal they will rush to the feat, not fighting with people, not striking the air, not bringing oxen plowing under the yoke and with their help, crisscrossing the earth with reins and not overcoming the waves of the depths of the sea, but making war against the principalities of darkness (cf. Eph 6:12), striking enemies with their wounds, through the deprivation of everything, gathering up treasures, opposing the rudder of the cross to the storms of the world and the spirits of wickedness that stir them up, driving them out by the power of the [Holy] Spirit, like ravenous and growling beasts, sowing into the hearts of men, as in certain furrows, the word of worship of God, and gathering for the Master a bountiful harvest. But let's return to our subject again. (15) Then Moses probably exclaimed: Hear, O spiritual Israel, what physical Israel could not hear: The Lord your God is one Lord (see Deut. 6:4). For there is one God, cognizable in three Persons, and one essence of the Divinity: the witnessing Father, the witnessing Son, the overshadowing Spirit. This is the One about whom the Father testifies, this is the One who is the life of men. Crazy people will see Him hanging on a tree and will not believe their Life. Here it was Elijah’s turn to say: Behold the One whom I once, by the action of the Spirit, saw in the breath of the quiet wind (see 1 Kings 19:12) incorporeal, for God, as He is by nature, has never been seen by anyone (John 1:18) and what anyone saw was seen in the Spirit. Behold the change of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 77:11). This is what the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man (see 1 Cor 2:9). So in the next century we will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17), in vain of Christ, shining with the light of the Divinity. (16) And what about Peter, who turned out to be a spectator of this Divine revelation? Being overwhelmed with spiritual delight, he said to the Lord: It is good for us to be here (Matthew 17:4). Will anyone exchange light for darkness? If this sun you see is so beautiful, so wonderful, so pleasant, so attractive in the glitter of its rays and the radiance of light, if the life here is so sweet and desirable that everyone holds on to it and does everything so as not to lose it, then how many times more desirable and sweet is that self-existent Light, which is the source of all light, how many times more precious and attractive is that self-existent The life from which all life in general is communicated and given life, and through which we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Neither by summing up all the sweetness of the world, nor by adding every desire, nor by using both words and reasoning, is it possible to show approximately the measure of their superiority. They defeat all comparison and there is no measure for them. For how can one measure what is indescribable and not comprehended by thought? This is light that has the trophy of victory over all of nature, this is life that has conquered the world. And how can there be no goodness without being separated from goodness? – Peter made such a fitting speech. But since everything is good in its time, and there is a time for every thing (see Eccl. 3:1), as Solomon said; and since that good [about which Peter spoke] should have belonged not only to those who were on Tabor, but should have been poured out and spread to all believers, so that the multitude would participate in the good deed, and this could be accomplished through the cross, suffering and death, it was not good for Him to remain on Tabor, Who was incarnated for this purpose in order to redeem His creation with His blood. If you had all remained on Tabor, then the promise given to you, Peter, would not have been fulfilled, you would not have become the keeper of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, paradise would not have been opened to the thief, the proud tyranny of death would not have been defeated, the palaces of hell would not have been devastated, salvation would not have been returned to Adam, Eve would not have been redeemed; Patriarchs, prophets and righteous people would not have been brought out of the depths of hell and nature would not have been clothed with incorruption. If Adam had not sought deification ahead of time, he would have achieved what he wanted. Do not seek [eternal] blessings ahead of time, Peter. The time will come when you will contemplate them in eternity. The Master has determined for you to be the builder not of tabernacles, but of the Universal Church. Your disciples, these sheep of yours, entrusted to you by the Good Shepherd, actually fulfilled your words, building for Christ and His servants Moses and Elijah the dwelling in which we celebrate today. However, Peter did not say all this with his own reasoning, but by the inspiration of the Spirit, who predicted the future, not knowing what he was saying (Luke 9:33), - indicates the divine Luke; and Mark adds the reason: they were in fear (see Mark 9:6). And while Simon was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them (Matthew 17:5), and the disciples were even more afraid, seeing the Savior and Lord Jesus, together with Moses and Elijah, present in the cloud. (17) In ancient times, the seer of God entered the Divine darkness (cf. Exodus 20:21), pointing out the similarity of the law with the shadow; for the law, we hear from Paul, had a shadow of future good things (see Heb 10:1), and not the truth itself. Israel then could not look at the glory, albeit transitory, of the face of Moses, but with an open face we see the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, being transformed from glory into greater glory as from the Spirit of the Lord (see 2 Cor 3:18). Therefore, the cloud overshadowed them not dark, but light; for the mystery, hidden from centuries and nations, is revealed, and the glory, unceasing and eternal, appears. As for Moses and Elijah, they appeared, revealing the face of the law and the prophets; After all, the one proclaimed by the law and the prophets is Jesus Christ, the Giver of Life. In addition, Moses represents the council of saints who have fallen asleep in ancient times, and Elijah represents the council of the living, for He who is transfigured on Tabor is the Lord of both the living and the dead. Today Moses entered the promised land - Jesus Himself, the Distributor of inheritances, brought him in - and what he previously saw in images, now he sees clearly; This is hinted at by the cloud being filled with light. (18) And a voice came from the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Listen to Him (see Matthew 17:5). The Father's voice came from the cloud, that is, from the Spirit. This is My Beloved Son, This one visible as a man, existing and visible, This one who recently became a man, This one who humbly communicates with you - His face has now shone. This is My Beloved Son, the Eternal One, the One from the One, the Only Begotten, timelessly, in eternity, who came from Me who gave birth, who is from Me, in Me and with Me always, and not having received existence later. From Me - as having Me as the cause, born from My essence and Hypostasis - therefore He is Consubstantial; in Me - as being born inseparably and without origin; with Me - as a self-perfect Hypostasis, and not a word pronounced out loud and scattered through the air - that is why the Beloved. For who is the Beloved Son if not the Only Begotten? In whom I am well pleased. By the good pleasure of the Father His Only Begotten Son and Word became incarnate, the good pleasure of the Father in the Only Begotten Son brought about the salvation of the entire universe, the good pleasure of the Father in the Only Begotten Son united everything. After all, if man is a small world, carrying within himself a combination of all nature, visible and invisible, being involved in both, then indeed by the good will of the Lord, Creator and Provider of all creation in His Only Begotten and Consubstantial Son, the union of Divinity and humanity was accomplished, and through humanity - of all creation, so that God may be all in all (1 Cor 15:28). This is My Son - the radiance of My glory and the image of My Hypostasis (Heb. 1:3), through whom I created the angels, by whom heaven and earth were founded, who upholds all things by the word of His power (see Heb. 1:3) and by the spirit of His mouth, that is, the Life-giving and Commanding Spirit. Listen to him. He who receives Him receives Me, Who sent Him, sent Him not as a Master, but as a Father. After all, as a man He is sent, but as God abides in Me, I also abide in Him. He who does not honor My Only Begotten and Beloved Son does not honor Me, the Father who sent him. Listen to Him - He has the words of eternal life (cf. John 6:68). This is the meaning of what is happening, such is the power of the sacrament. (19) What then? The Savior sent Moses and Elijah to their proper places, and Alone is already becoming visible to the Apostles. So they descend from the mountain, without telling anyone anything they saw or heard according to the commandment of the Lord. I’ll also tell you why and for what purpose. I think [the Lord commanded so], knowing how imperfect the disciples are, having not yet received the full communion of the Holy Spirit, so that sadness would not overwhelm their hearts and so that the traitor would not become enraged with envious malice. It’s time for us to finish our speech with the end of the subject for the word. (20) You will remember forever what was said, carry the beauty of this spectacle in your heart, listen to the Father’s voice: This is not a servant, not a messenger, not an angel, but My Beloved Son, listen to Him. Let us also listen to his words: Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Mk 12:30), do not kill and do not even be angry with your brother (cf. Mt 5:21–22). First make peace with your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:24). Do not commit adultery (Matthew 5:27) and do not even stare at someone else’s beauty. Do not break your oath, and do not even swear at all (see Matthew 5:33–34), but let your word be: yes, yes; no no; and anything beyond this is from the evil one (Matthew 5:37). Do not bear false witness (Matthew 19:18), do not steal, but give to anyone who asks you, and do not turn away from anyone who wants to borrow from you (Matthew 5:42), and do not hinder him who takes away what is yours (Luke 6:29). Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:44). Judge not, lest ye be judged (Matthew 7:1). Let go and be forgiven you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:45), that you may be perfect and merciful, just as your Father in heaven is, for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). Let us begin to fulfill these Divine instructions with all care, so that we too can enjoy His Divine beauty and be comforted by His sweetness, now, as far as possible for those burdened with earthly fatness of the body, then more clearly and purer, when the righteous shine like the sun, when, freed from bodily needs, they, incorruptible like the angels, will be with the Lord in the great and glorious Revelation from Heaven of the Lord and God Himself and Our Savior Jesus Christ, to whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: