Слово на Преображение Господа и Бога Спасителя нашего Иисуса Христа

The field makes us glad with its harvest, the vineyard with fruits to eat, and Scripture with life-giving teaching. But the harvest in the field occurs at one season, and at one season the grapes are gathered in the vineyard; Scripture, always read, always exudes life-giving teaching. The field at the end of the harvest is not what it was before; the vineyard loses its value by gleaning its grapes; in the Scriptures, reap the harvest daily, and the grains (ears of grain) in it do not become scarce for interpreters; Gather grapes daily, and the grapes of hope found in them will not be exhausted. So, let us draw closer to this field, let us enjoy what grows on these life-giving reins, let us reap from it the lessons of life, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said to His disciples: “There are none of those who stand here, who have not tasted death, who see the Son of Man coming” in His glory. “And after the sixth day Simon gave drink to Peter, and James, and John his brother, and he brought them up to a high mountain... and he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his robe, breathing, was white like light” (Matthew 16:28–17:1–2). About those same ones he said that they would not taste death until they saw the image of His coming, whom He took, led up to the mountain and showed to whom He would come on the last day in the glory of His Divinity and in the body of His humanity. He took them up the mountain to show them who the Son is and Whose Son is. For when he asked them: “Who do men say I am, the Son of Man?” - they answered him: “Some Elias, and some Jeremiah, or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:13-14). Therefore, he takes them up the mountain and shows them that He is not Elijah, but the God of Elijah, and also not Jeremiah, but who sanctified Jeremiah in his mother’s womb, and not one of the prophets, but the Lord of the prophets, who sent them. Shows them that He is the Creator of heaven and earth, that He is the Lord of the living and the dead, because He commanded the sky and brought down Elijah, gave a wave to the earth and raised Moses. He took them up the mountain to show them that He was the Son of God, born before the ages from the Father and in the last days incarnate from the Virgin, born to Him only in a way known to Him, seedless and ineffable, preserving virginity uncorrupted. For where God wants it, the order of nature is overcome. God, the Word, moved into the very womb of the Virgin, and the fire of His Divinity did not burn the members of the virgin’s body, but preserved them for a period of nine months. He moved into the very womb of the Virgin, not disdaining the rottenness of nature. And from it came God incarnate to save us. He took them up the mountain to show them the glory of the Divine and to let them know that He is the Redeemer of Israel, as He announced through the prophets, and so that they would not be offended by Him, seeing His free suffering, which He had to endure for us as human beings. For they knew Him as a man and did not understand that He was God. They knew Him as the son of Mary, as a man who lived with them in peace. And on the mountain he made them understand that He was the Son of God and God. They saw that He ate and drank, became tired and rested, dozed and fell asleep, became afraid and shed sweat; yet this was not befitting His Divine nature, but only His humanity. And therefore he takes them up the mountain so that the Father would proclaim Him as the Son and show them that He really is the Son of God and God. He took them up the mountain and showed them His Kingdom before His suffering, His power before His death, and His glory before His reproach, and His honor before His dishonor, so that when He was taken and crucified by the Jews, they would know that they were crucified not out of weakness, but voluntarily according to His good pleasure for the salvation of the world. He took them up the mountain and showed them the glory of His Divinity before the resurrection, so that when He rose from the dead in the glory of His Divine nature, they would know that He did not receive this glory for His work, not as needing glory, but that before the ages belonged to Him glory with the Father and with the Father, as He said, proceeding from free suffering: Father, “glorify Me... with the glory that I have.” Before you there was no peace” (John 17:5). And he showed this glory of His Divinity, invisible and hidden in humanity, to the apostles on the mountain. They saw His face shining like lightning, and His clothes white as light. The disciples saw two suns: one ordinary in the sky, and the other extraordinary; one is visible to them and illuminating the world in the firmament, the other is showing its face to them alone. He showed His garments as white as light, because from His whole body flowed the glory of His Divinity, and His light shone in all His members. Not like Moses, not only the appearance of His flesh shone with splendor, but the glory of His Divinity poured out of Him, His light rose from Him and concentrated in Him, did not pass from Him to anything else, leaving Him; He did not come to Him from the outside to decorate Him, and was not borrowed from Him. But He did not show them the entire abyss of His glory, but to what extent the apples of their eyes could contain. “And behold, Moses appeared to them, and Elijah spoke with Him” (Matthew 17:3). Their conversation with Him was as follows: they testified to Him with thanksgiving that by His coming the words of them and all the prophets were fulfilled. They worshiped Him for the salvation that He brought to the world, that is, to the human race, and for the fact that by His deed He fulfilled the mystery that they described. In that ascent to the mountain there was joy for the prophets and apostles. The prophets rejoiced when they saw His humanity, which they did not know; the apostles rejoiced when they saw the glory of His Divinity, which they did not understand. And having heard the voice of the Father testifying about the Son, they knew from it His incarnation, which was not clear to them. And together with the voice of the Father, they were assured of this by the revealed glory of His body, from the Divinity immutably and inextricably united with Him. And the testimony of the three was sealed by the voice of the Father, also by Moses and Elijah, who stood before Him as servants. And they looked at each other: the prophets - at the apostles, the apostles - at the prophets. They saw each other there, the beginning of the leaders of the Old Testament and the beginning of the leaders of the New Testament. Saint Moses saw the sanctified Simon. The steward of the Father saw the steward of the Son: one divided the sea so that the people could pass among the waves, the other set up a canopy to create the Church. The virgin of the Old Testament saw the virgin of the New Testament, Elijah - John, who ascended on a chariot of fire - fell on the Flame. So the mountain became the image of the Church, and Jesus united on it the two Testaments that the Church had accepted, and made us understand that He Himself was the Giver of both Testaments: one accepted His mysteries, and the other revealed the glory of His works. Peter said: “Lord, it is good for us to be here” (Matthew 17:4). What are you saying, Simon? If we stay here, who will fulfill the word of the prophets? Who will record the preachers' broadcasts? Who will perform the sacraments of the righteous? If we stay here, on whom will what was said be fulfilled: “I have plowed My hands and My nose” (Ps. 21:17)? To whom will this befit: “I have divided My garments for myself, and cast lots for My clothing” (Ps. 21:19)? To whom will this come true: “Give me gall for My food, and give Me drink for My thirst” (Ps. 69:22)? Who will confirm this: “there is freedom among the dead” (Ps. 87:6)? If we stay here, who will tear apart Adam’s handwriting? Who will pay his debt? Who will renew his robe of glory? If we stay here, how will everything be, what did I tell you? How will the Church be built? How will you receive the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven from Me? Who will you knit? Who will you allow? If we stay here, everything said by the prophets will remain unfulfilled. Peter also said: “Let us make here three canopies, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Matthew 17:4). Simon was sent to build the Church in the world, and now he creates a canopy on the mountain, because he still looks at Jesus as a human being and puts Him in a row with Moses and Elijah. And the Lord immediately showed him that he had no need for his canopy, because He created a cloudy canopy for his fathers in the desert for forty years. For they also say to them, “Behold the cloud of the light of their autumn” (Matthew 17:5). Do you see, Simon, a canopy built without difficulty, a canopy that blocks the heat and does not produce shadows, a canopy that is lightning fast and bright? As the disciples marveled, a voice was heard from the cloud from the Father saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). After the voice from the Father, Moses returned to his place, and Elijah returned to his region, and the apostles fell face down on the ground; Jesus became alone because that voice was fulfilled in Him alone. The prophets fled, the apostles fell to the ground; for it was not on them that the voice of the Father was fulfilled, testifying: “This is My Beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased: Hear ye Him.” The Father taught them that the dispensation of Moses was fulfilled and they should listen to the Son, because Moses, as a servant, spoke what was commanded and preached what was told to him. The prophets also spoke in the same way until the One who was set aside came (Gen. 49:10), that is, Jesus, who is the Son, and not a member of the household, the Lord, and not a slave, the Ruler, and not the subject, the Lawgiver, and not subject to the law. According to the Divine nature, “This is My Beloved Son.” What was not yet clear to the apostles, the Father revealed to them on the mountain. Jehovah proclaims Jehovah, the Father declares the Son. At this voice, the apostles fell face down on the ground, because this thunder was terrible, and at the sound of it the earth shook, and they fell to the ground. The voice showed them that the Father was near, and the Son called them with His voice and raised them up. Just as the voice of the Father cast them down, so the voice of the Son raised them up by the power of His Divinity, which dwelt in His very flesh and was invariably united with it, which is why the Divinity and the flesh abide in one hypostasis and in one Person, inseparably and unmerged. Not as Moses was magnificent in appearance, but as God shone with glory. Moses' face was covered with splendor, but Jesus throughout His whole body, like the sun with its rays, shone with the glory of His Divinity. And the Father cried out: “This is My Beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased: Hear ye Him,” he cried out about the Son, not separated from the glory of the Divine. For the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit are one nature, one power, one essence and one kingdom. And he spoke to one under a low name, but in terrible glory. And Mary called Him Son, because of his human body he was not separated from the glory of His Divinity. For one is God, who appeared in the world in a body. His glory proclaimed the Divine nature, which is from the Father, and His body proclaimed the human nature, which is from Mary; both natures came together and united in one hypostasis. The only one from the Father is the only begotten and from Mary. And whoever divides the natures in Him will be separated from His Kingdom, and whoever merges them will be deprived of His life. Whoever denies that Mary gave birth to God will not see the glory of His Divinity, and whoever denies that He bore sinless flesh will not receive the salvation and life given through His body. The works themselves testify, and His Divine powers teach the discerning, that He is the True God. And His suffering shows that He is a true man. And if the weak in understanding are not convinced, they will suffer punishment for this on His terrible day. If He was not flesh, then why was Mary brought into the environment (became famous)? And if He is not God, then whom does Gabriel call Lord? If he was not flesh, Who lay in the manger? And if not God, Whom did the descending Angels glorify? If he was not flesh, Who was wrapped in swaddling clothes? And if not God, Who did the shepherds worship? If he was not flesh, whom did Joseph circumcise? And if not God, in whose honor did the star walk across the sky? If he was not flesh, Whom did Mary feed with her milk? And if not God, to whom did the Magi bring gifts? If he was not flesh, Whom did Simeon carry in his arms? And if not God, to whom did he say: let me go in peace? If he was not flesh, whom did Joseph take when he fled to Egypt? And if not God, on whom was what was said fulfilled: “Out of Egypt I called my Son” (Hos. 11:1)? If he was not flesh, Whom did John baptize? And if not God, to whom did the Father speak from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17)? If he was not flesh, Who hungered and thirsted in the wilderness? And if not God, Whom did the descending Angels serve? If he was not flesh, Who was invited to the marriage in Cana of Galilee? And if not God, Who turned water into wine? If he was not flesh, in Whose hands was the loaves placed? And if not God, Who fed many thousands in the desert with five loaves and two fish, besides women and children? If he was not flesh, Who slept on the ship? And if not God, Who forbade the winds and the sea? If he was not flesh, with whom did Simeon the Pharisee eat? And if not God, Who forgave the sinner’s sins? If he were not flesh, Who sat by the well, weary from the journey? And if not God, Who gave the Samaritan woman living water and convicted her that she had five husbands? If He Was Not Flesh, Who Wore Human Clothes? And if not God, Who created powers and miracles? If He was not flesh, Who spat on the ground and created clay? And if not God, Who gave insight to the eyes through the clay? If he was not flesh, Who wept at the tomb of Lazarus? And if not God, Who commandingly forced the four-day-old dead man to come out of the grave? If he was not flesh, Who sat on the lot? And if not God, to whom did the crowds of people come out to meet with glory? If he was not flesh, whom did the Jews take? And if not God, Who commanded the earth and cast them down on their faces? If he was not flesh, Who was smothered? And if not God, Who healed and restored in its place the ear cut by Peter? If he were not flesh, Who received spitting on his face? And if not God, Who breathed the Holy Spirit into the faces of the apostles? If he was not flesh, Who stood before Pilate on trial? And if not God, Who frightened Pilate’s wife in a dream? If he was not flesh, from whom did the soldiers strip off his clothes and divide them? And if not God, why was the sun darkened at the Cross? If he was not flesh, Who was crucified on the Cross? And if not God, Who shook the earth in its foundations? If he was not flesh, whose hands and feet were nailed? And if not God, why was the church curtain torn, stones scattered, coffins opened? If He was not flesh, Who cried: “My God, My God, Thou hast forsaken Me” (Matthew 27:46)? And if not God, Who said: “Father, let them go” (Luke 23:34)? If he was not flesh, Who was crucified on the Cross with the thieves? And if not God, Who said to the thief: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)? If he was not flesh, Who was given ocet (vinegar) and bile? And if not God, whose voice did hell hear and tremble? If he was not flesh, whose ribs were pierced by a spear and blood and water flowed? And if not God, Who smashed the gates of hell and broke the bonds, at whose command the imprisoned dead came out? If he was not flesh, Whom did the apostles see in the tomb? And if not God, how did he enter the closed doors? If he was not flesh, from whom did Thomas feel the wounds of the nails on his hands and the wounds from the spear in his ribs? And if not God, to whom did Thomas cry: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28)? If he was not flesh, Who ate on the Sea of ​​Tiberias? And if not God, by Whose command was the reservoir filled? If he was not flesh, Whom did the apostles and angels see ascending to heaven? And if not God, for whom the heavens were opened, to whom the Powers worshiped with trembling, to whom the Father spoke: “Sit at my right hand” (Heb. 1:13), as David also says: “the Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right hand” (Ps. 109:1). If not God and man, then our salvation is false, and the prophecies of the prophets are false. But the prophets remained in the truth, and their testimonies were not false. Whatever was commanded to them, the Holy Spirit spoke through them. That is why the immaculate John, who fell on the Flame to the Persians, in confirmation of the prophetic sayings, theologizing in the Gospel, taught us, saying: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word. Everything was by Him, and without Him nothing would have happened. And the Word became flesh and dwelt in us” (John 1:1, 3, 14). He who is from God, God the Word, from the Father the Only Begotten Son, Consubstantial with the Father, Who is from Being, the eternal Word, begotten of the Father without a Mother before all ages ineffable - This very One in the last days is born from a daughter of man, from the Virgin Mary without a father, God incarnate is born, bearing upon Himself the flesh borrowed from Her, becoming a man, which He was not, and remaining God, Which was to save the world. And He is Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father and the Only Begotten of the Mother. I confess the same One as Perfect God and perfect man, in two natures, hypostatically or personally united, cognizable inseparably, unmergedly and unchangeably, clothed in flesh, animated by a verbal and rational soul, and made servile to us in everything except one sin. One and the same is earthly and heavenly, temporary and eternal, subordinate and beginningless, flightless and subject to time, created and uncreated, suffering and immortal, God and man, perfect in both, One in two natures and one in two. One face of the Father, and one face of the Son, and one person of the Holy Spirit, one Godhead, one power, one Kingdom in three Persons. Thus we glorify the Holy Unity in Trinity and the Holy Trinity in Unity. After the Father cried from heaven: “This is My Beloved Son: Hear ye Him,” the Holy Universal Church of God accepted this. She baptizes about the Holy Trinity into eternal life, sanctifies Her with equality, confesses Her inseparably, inseparably, worships Her without sin, confesses and glorifies Her. To this Trinitarian Unit: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - befits glory, thanksgiving, honor, power, greatness, now and always and unto the ages of ages! Amen. You might be interested in: