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Matthew 17:2. “And He was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. " "Ch. 17, [v.] 2. And He was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. We also expect a transformation from a corruptible body to an incorruptible one, from dark to light. But this is only for the virtuous. Although the bodies of sinners will be incorruptible, they will suffer and will not be bright” [1, 77]. “Jesus Christ is the Whitener of our souls. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white (Wed: Isa. 1:18). Just as in human dwellings dust constantly settles on white linen clothing and dirty it, and it needs to be washed in water from time to time: so on the human soul, which should be whiter than snow (Ps. 50:9), the corrupting dust of sins constantly settles and it constantly needs to be washed with prayer with heartfelt contrition, the sacraments of repentance and communion, and deeds of mercy. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow (Ps. 50:9). I am, I am seven, and I atone for sins and iniquities (Wed: Isa. 43:25). The Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor shows how white the robe of our soul should be. The Savior’s clothing, it is said, became white as snow (Wed: Mark 9:3): this is a reflection of the spiritual purity and whiteness of the Savior; His face shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2): this is again the light of His Divinity, His God-united soul” [8, 175]. 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.” 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." “That the union of our souls with God in the next century will follow and that it will be for us a source of light, peace, joy, bliss - we partly know this experimentally and in this life: in prayer, when our soul is completely turned to God and united with Him, we feel beautiful, calm, light, joyful, like children resting at their mother’s breast, or, better to say: somehow inexpressibly good - it’s good for us to be here (Matthew 17:4). - So, strive unremittingly for future endless bliss, the beginnings of which you know from experience in this life. But pay attention: these are only the first fruits of the earth, imperfect, visible only in part, as if in a mirror and fortune telling (Cf.: 1 Cor. 13:12), - what will it be like for us when we truly, sincerely unite (Cf.: Heb. 2:14) with God, when images and shadows disappear and the Kingdom of pure truth and vision begins? - ABOUT! Until death we must strive for future bliss, for our future unity with God” [8, 645]. “Now we remember and celebrate the glorious Transfiguration of the most pure flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. This transfiguration took place in the presence of three earthly witnesses - the apostles Peter, James and John. Jesus Christ, as usual, went up the mountain to pray, like a man, to the Heavenly Father. While He was praying, His Divinity suddenly shone through His body: His face became as bright as the sun, and His clothes, from the inner light of the Divine and from the light of the body, became white as light - so white that no whitener could make them so white. Moses and Elijah, the great prophets of old, appeared; they spoke to the Lord. What were they talking about? – They talked about the suffering that the Savior of the human race had to endure for the sake of our salvation in Jerusalem. The speaker is His exodus, which He wanted to die in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). The Apostle Peter, seeing the Lord and the prophets in such glory, said to the Lord: Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you want, we will make three canopies (tents) here: one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah (Matthew 17:4). While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice was heard: This is My Beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased; Listen to him (Matthew 17:5). The voice was from God the Father” [9, 213]. "Brethren! The Lord Jesus Christ had to suffer for us and be so humiliated and humiliated that if His disciples had not been established before His suffering” [9, 215]. 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.” “6–7. And when the disciples heard, they fell on their faces and were very afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said: stand up and do not be afraid. Every time people hear the voice of the Lord or feel the presence of God, they are horrified. Yes, it is scary when the Master of the creation speaks to it” [1, 77]. “Hearing the divine voice, the disciples of the Lord fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. The Lord approached them, touched them and said: stand up and do not be afraid (Matthew 17:7). They lifted up their gaze: there was no one else but Jesus Christ. When they began to descend from the mountain, the Lord told them not to tell anyone about the vision until He rose from the dead” [9, 214]. Matthew 17:14. “When they came to the people, a man came up to Him and knelt 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.” "15 Art. and so on. God! have mercy on my son; He goes berserk on new moons and suffers greatly... I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not heal him. 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 17:15–17) It was regrettable for the Lord to hear from strangers that His disciples could not cast out a demon from a person. Once again He sees that those close to Him are still not sufficiently convinced of His Divine omnipotence! Now it's the same again. This, it seems, can explain His unkind response to the man who asked to heal his son. And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him; and the boy was healed at that hour. All the Lord had to do was forbid the demon so that he would not torment the boy, and the demon obeyed unquestioningly. And now in the name of the Lord demons are prohibited at the baptism of infants. From here the greatness and omnipotence of the Lord is strikingly revealed” [1, 77]. “Today the Gospel was read about Jesus Christ’s healing of a demon-possessed lunatic, and at the very end of the Gospel - the Lord’s prediction about His suffering and death in Jerusalem (See: Matthew 17:14–23). The Gospel shows how strong a person can be through faith in the Lord, namely, so strong that he can move mountains, and how weak, powerless and pitiful a non-believer is, for he is a miserable plaything of demons and the passions of his own and others; it also shows the great power of prayer and fasting when they go hand in hand, mutually reinforcing each other. With your mental eyes in this Gospel you see the unfortunate father, exhausted by the suffering of his unfortunate demon-possessed son, whom from childhood the evil spirit terribly tormented on new moons and often threw him into fire, then into water. The father asks the Lord for mercy to heal his son, adding that the disciples of the Lord, whom he asked for this, could not heal him. The Lord, having exposed and reproached people with His righteous word for unbelief and corruption, orders the demoniac to be brought to Himself and now with one prohibition heals him (See: Matt. 17:14–18). What kind of possessed lunatic is this? This is a person subject to the action of an evil spirit who tormented on new moons - with an insidious intent so that people would attribute this evil not to him, the evil spirit, but to God’s innocent creation - the moon, and thereby blaspheme the Creator of the moon. This is how Saint Chrysostom interprets it. Evil spirits, causing a variety of evil to people, want to hide their harmful actions from people, so that people do not hate them and turn away from them and their harmful deeds completely - and turn their slander on the beautiful and multi-useful creation of God - on the moon, the night star. But the evil spirit cannot hide with its destructive machinations! A God-enlightened person will now recognize his dirty tricks and, by the grace of God, will destroy them. The unbelievers are not careful; they are still caught in its net and suffer from it, like the indicated lunatic” [9, 219]. 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.” “Thoughts on the street, while walking, at the sight of the rising moon. “I please you through everything,” says the Lord: “I created you in My image and likeness; I have illuminated the sun, moon and stars for you; I created the earth for you with all its fruits; I have poured out the air for your breathing; I have given you fire to light and to warm you and to cook your food; He gave you a variety of foods and sweets, as well as a variety of drinks; I made you able to make many different fabrics for your clothing and gave you materials for it; I have given you gold, silver, copper and other metals from the depths of the earth for coin and for your wares; I have gathered you into well-ordered societies; I have given you a king after My heart, My anointed, My image on earth; I finally gave you My only begotten Son, I gave Him to death, with His will, for food and drink, I established the Church on earth under His leadership; What have you done and are doing for Me? How do you repay for all My goodness? - By forgetting Me, by ingratitude towards Me, by rejecting Me, by contempt for My laws! O wicked and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long can I bear with you? "[Matt. 17:17]. [5, vol. 1, 169]. Matthew 17:19. “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast 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 generation is driven out only by prayer and fasting.” "St. 19–21. The disciples privately ask the Lord: why couldn’t we drive him out? Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as big as a mustard seed (I don’t say more like a tree) and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you: this generation is driven out only by prayer and fasting. O divine power of faith! The Lord assures us that if we have even a little faith in the Lord as the omnipotent and all-good Creator of the visible and invisible world, then we can do extraordinary things through it, for example, move mountains from place to place. In fact, what is this worth to the omnipotence of God? If the earth, the weight of which is almost impossible to calculate due to the enormous amount of weight, is held in the empty space of the world, unsupported by anything, if countless worlds, most of which exceed the size of our earth, also rotate, like light balls, in the spaces of the sky by the force of attraction and repulsion, then will not some earthly mountain move from its place, according to the word of an intelligent creature, devoted to its Creator and believing in His infinite power, any mass of earthly matter? It is natural for the spirit to command material nature: it is infinitely higher, nobler and more powerful than it, at least that is how it was created and should be so. It is only because of our sins that material nature has come out from under our subordination, does not listen to us, and sometimes even becomes hostile against us. Let us regain our primitive dominion and, through living faith, become one with the Lord, the Creator of the world, then we will see what it means to be a believer, a saint, a godlike person: he becomes, as it were, a god. How great is the power of fasting and prayer! No wonder: during fasting the soul becomes dominant over the lusts of the body, generally subjugates it to itself, and the devil very often acts through the flesh; The faster, therefore, conquers both the flesh and the devil - which means that then he is close to God in his moral state and can do the powers of God most easily. If prayer is added to this, which brings down to us the blessing and help of heaven, then man can truly command not only material nature, but also fallen spirits. How did the Lord Himself defeat the devil? By fasting and prayer" [1, 78]. “This kind does not come out,” the Savior said about the demons that have entered people, “only through prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21; Mark 9:29). And indeed, this kind comes out of people through prayer. People who are not of this world know this from experience. Often after fervent prayer, in moments of peace of mind, in moments of freedom from temptation, they remember with horror the terrible torment that the demon inflicted on them. dark, and they rejoice, as if having been saved from hell, when he comes out of them by the power of prayer and the Angel of Peace overshadows them again with his holy and sacred wings” [2, 214]. “In the Gospel read today, there is a remarkable reproof from the Lord of His disciples of unbelief. Did the apostles really waver in their faith at first? Yes, and they were sometimes weak, before the Descent of the Holy Spirit on them - and sometimes they believed, sometimes they fell into unbelief and lack of faith; at least this must be said about nine, excluding the three so-called pillars of the faith: Peter, James and John. By faith they healed all sorts of diseases, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, and when grace left one of them for lack of faith and unbelief, then they could not cast out demons, as is mentioned in today’s Gospel. Therefore, through them, the Lord teaches us all to have undoubted faith and says: if you have faith the size of 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 17:20). Indeed, all true believers, all saints, performed many miracles by faith, and by faith made the impossible possible. Read the descriptions of their lives - and see for yourself how strong faith is! Meanwhile, the people of our century flaunt and boast of unbelief! Is this an enlightened age? How! We owe all the successes of enlightenment in all fields to our faith, which has shed abundant light into human minds and into all sciences, and we reject faith? Do children reject their mother, who gave birth to and raised them? Crazy and ungrateful! Brothers and sisters, cherish your faith! Guard your faith. Without faith there is no salvation; without faith a person will perish forever. Amen" [9, 223]. “That’s how many different types of possession, or mania, there are in people! Moreover, not all of them are here: for sinful madness has countless types, and the hydra of sin is many-headed. – How can we cure this moral illness, how can we save ourselves from this many-headed monster, so as not to become a victim of the cunning of crafty, evil, unclean and nasty demons? Only by humble faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who trampled down the power of the devil, by sincere, deep repentance, prayer and fasting. This generation does not come forth except through prayer and fasting, says the Lord (Matthew 17:21). For this purpose, by the way, fasts were established by the Holy Church, so that Christians would have weapons in them against the devil and his countless intrigues” [9, 314]. Matthew 17:24. “When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of didrachms approached Peter and said: Will your Teacher give didrachms?” "24 Art. In Capernaum, tax collectors come to Peter and say to him: Will your Teacher give didrachms? He answers: yes. Before Peter had time to tell the Lord about this, He said to him: What do you think, Simon, from whom do the kings of the earth accept tribute or taxes? From your own sons or from strangers? Peter says: from strangers. Jesus answers: So the sons are free? (And the Savior is the Son of the Heavenly Father.) But in order not to tempt them, go and throw a fishing rod into the sea and whatever fish you catch first. Take it; Having opened her mouth, you will find a statir in her: take it and give it to them for Me and for yourself. This is how the Lord of heaven and earth does it! As the Only Begotten Son of the Heavenly Father, the Lord and King of the whole world, He should not, in all justice, pay tribute to the kings of the earth for himself and for the apostles, as faithful children of the Heavenly Father; but in order not to force people who demanded taxes to speak unfavorably about Himself, He pays both very simply and very generously, as the sovereign Lord of the earth and the sea - borrowing payment not from people, but from the sea, from the mouth of the fish! Do you see His Divine sovereignty? Do you see omniscience? He sees a fish in the sea with a precious stone in its mouth, before the bait is cast, and far from the sea" [1, 79]. Matthew 17:26. “Peter said to Him: from strangers. Jesus said to him: So the sons are free; " “Do you pay sufficient attention to the state of your soul: is it healthy and, as long as it is alive, is its life strong, and if the temporary life here is prosperous, then is eternal life, eternal well-being secured in any way - for example, by faith - is there in your soul a living faith in God, in the Savior, in the Church - by good deeds, meekness, humility, kindness, love of truth and honesty, abstinence, chastity, patience, humility, hard work, etc.? Otherwise, all your work is vain: the soul does a lot, perhaps worthy of wonder, but it itself will perish. What good is it to a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? "[Matt. 17:26]. [5, vol. 2, 301]. You might be interested in: