My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in our Transfigured Savior, Lord,and God Jesus Christ.
A GREATER INSIGHT ON THE TRANSFIGURATION
OF OUR SAVIOR, LOR, AND GOD JESUS CHRIST
The word ‘TRANSFIGURATION’ means change of form. In other words, at a certain moment, Christ revealed what He had been concealing, He MANIFESTED THE GLORY OF THE DIVINITY WITH WHICH His HUMAN NATURE WAS UNITED FROM THE MOMENT OF HIS CONCEPTION IN THE WOMB OF THE THEOTOKOS. Through His great love for mankind, Christ concealed what He ALWAYS HAD, in order that His Disciples should not “be burned” by reason of their unfitness, because they had not yet been prepared…
“… Saint John Chrysostom says that Christ did not show His whole Divinity, but A SMALL ENERGY OF IT. And He did this, on the one hand, TO GIVE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THE DIVINE GLORY OF THE KINGDOM IS LIKE, and on the other hand, OUT OF LOVE FOR MANKIND, LEST THEY EVEN LOSE THEIR LIFE ON SEEING THE FULL GLORY OF THE GODHEAD. Therefore the mystery of the Transfiguration is both A REVELATION (THEOPHANY) and an EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE AND HIS PHILANTHROPY…
“… Christ’s Transfiguration TOOK PLACE DURING THE DAY. The Disciples saw two suns, SANDORY and NOETIC. In of the troparia (hymns) Saint John of Damascus writes: “The visible sun was eclipsed by the rays of Thy Divinity when it saw Thee transfigured on Mount Tabor, O my Jesus.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian says that the Disciples on Tabor saw two suns “one in the sky as usual and one contrary to the usual.” Saint Gregory Palamas says that the sensible sun is seen by all who dwell on the earth, apart, of course, from anyone who is blind, while the intelligible sun of righteousness is seen by those WHO ARE WORTHY AND PREPARED… Therefore the intelligible and UNCREATED LIGHT is seen by all in whom God grants this experience, since God reveals Himself to those He wishes, and this revelation IS ACCORDING TO THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GRANTED IT…
“… The word for DIVINIITY ‘THEOTETA’ has many meanings and point to different theological truths… The word can be also derived from the word ‘TO SEE’. indicating that God SEES AND KNOWS ALL THINGS EVEN BEFORE THEIR BIRTH. It also indicates God’s FORESIGHT OR PROVIDENCE, being connected with seeing in the sense of of EVERSEEING. In addition it relates to deifying (theosis). All these etymological meanings point to the many energies of God. His PROVIDENCE, BRIGHTNESS and DEIFYING ENERGY, as well as to the impossibilit of participating in God’s essence or nature…
“… The Church and the Divine Eucharist can be called the Kingdom of God, IF THOSE WHO LIVE IN IT ATTAIN THE VISION OF THE UNCREATED GLORY OF GOD, WHICH IS THE REAL KINGDOM. If we speak of the Church and the Kingdom of God and do not link them with seeing God, the vision of the uncreated lights, we are making a theological error. Moreover, the Mysteries (Sacraments) of the Church manifest the Kingdom of God and guide man to it, precisely because they are very closely connected with the glorifying illuminating and deifying energy of God.
It is a teaching of the holy Fathers that Christ on Mt.Tabor showed men THE ARCHETYPAL BEAUTY OF THEIR IMAGE. Christ IS THE MODEL OF CREATION OF MAN, BECAUSE MAN WAS FORMED IN THE IMAGE OF THE LOGOS/WORD. By this we see the glory of the image and what a great honor it is that we are in the image of God. Our image is not low, but high, because the Glorified Christ IS THE PROTOTYPE OF OUR CREATION, but also BECAUSE HE IS OUR ARTIFICER AND CREATOR…
“… In the book of Exodus it says that God led the people of Israel on their journey from the land of Egypt to the promised land, lighting the night with the fire and covering them in the daytime with the cloud, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire” (Exodus13:21).
On Mt. Tabor as well we have both light and cloud. Christ is a Light, for His face shone like the sun, and the presence of the All-Holy Spirit is a cloud. No one should understand by this truth that the work of the Son is different from the work of the Holy Spirit, that the economy of the Son is independent of the economy of the Holy Spirit. It is well known that the creation and re-creation of man and the world is a common energy of the Trinitarian God. (Source: The Feasts of the Lord by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos)
_________________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 