By Aristotle Papanikolaou, PhD
What happened on the day of our Lord’s Transfiguration? On this day, Jesus took with him three disciples, Peter, John and James, three of the better-known disciples. He took them to a ‘high’ mountain, the Bible tells us (Mt 17:1-9; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36). They are at the ‘high’ mountain, which is often a place of revelation in the Bible, and at this mountain Jesus is transfigured. St. Matthew tells us, ‘and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.’ St. Luke tells us that the ‘appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.’ St. Mark adds, ‘His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.’
What does this mean? It means two things. First, the presence of the ‘light’ on the ‘high’ mountain is a manifestation, a revelation that in Jesus of Nazareth dwells the fullness of the divine presence. We often ask ourselves, ‘how do we know God?’ or, ‘Where is God?’ The Transfiguration of the Lord is a confirmation for us that if we want to know who God is we look at Jesus; not simply his teachings, but his actions, his entire life, but most especially his crucifixion and resurrection. If we want to see God, we look at Jesus. Where is God? ‘Look at Jesus,’ the Bible tells us; he is the Christ, and he is so because he is God’s Son, he is God’s Word, in him God speaks. In him is mediated the fullness of God’s presence. Where is God? God is there, look at Jesus our Christ, and through Jesus, God is with us.
As Jesus is transfigured, the story continues that two people show up beside him. These two people are Moses and Elijah, two of the most important Old Testament prophets. They are there to confirm that this one, Jesus, is the one we were speaking about many years ago; he is the Christ of which we spoke, God’s Word, God’s Son, who will bring salvation to all. The story continues that after Moses and Elijah appeared, ‘a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” The fact that Jesus is the Son of God, that in him God speaks and is present, is confirmed by God, by God the Father. ‘This is my Son,’ if you want to know me, if you want to be with me, if you want me to be with you, then listen to him.
The story, in short, teaches us about what the Church has affirmed for centuries: the divinity of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the God-man, truly God and truly human. As Rowans Williams so eloquently puts it, ‘Jesus’ human life is shot through with God’s, he is carried on the tide of God’s eternal life, and borne towards us on that tide, bringing with him all the fullness of the creator’ (The Dwelling of the Light). This is a deep mystery, but let not the depth of the mystery obscure one thing, and that is if we want to see God, then we have to look at Jesus, if we want to learn about God, then we have to listen to Jesus, if want to be with God and God to be with us, then we have to be with Jesus and we have to allow Jesus to be with us.
There is one other thing which we learn from the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration. This other thing concerns us — it concerns our humanity. The story of the Transfiguration teaches us what we are called to be, the reason for our creation. We must never forget that in Jesus not only do we see God, but we see humanity, but not just any humanity, but humanity as it was meant to be. In Jesus we must see ourselves and what we are called to be. In short, we are called to be transfigured, to reflect the divine light through our very bodies.
~Adapted from Aristotle Papanikolaou, Transfiguring Practices, website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, “Pastoral Resources,” goarch.org.
