A Sermon by Father Peter A. Chamberas
The holy Transfiguration of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ is commemorated in the Orthodox Church with great solemnity on August 6th as one of the major fixed Feast days of the year. On the day before, the faithful are introduced to the Transfiguration: “Come, let us all welcome the Transfiguration of Christ, and joyously celebrate the bright prefestival…” After the Feast day itself on the 6th, the celebration continues for a week, before coming to a close on the 13th with the apodosis. During this period the mystery and the gospel of the Transfiguration is celebrated and proclaimed to the faithful in public worship and in personal devotions.
The Transfiguration, as an event in the earthly life of Christ and His three disciples, who were with Him on Mount Tabor when He was transfigured, is described in the three Gospels of Matthew (17: 1-9), Mark (9:2-10) and Luke 9:28-36). It is also mentioned in 2Peter (1: 10-19), and alluded to indirectly in many other passages of the New Testament (e.g. Rom.12:1-2; Philip.3:2-31; 2Cor.3:7-18; Jn.l:14; 12:27-30; Acts 9:3f. etc.).
The extraordinary event of the Transfiguration of Christ and its solemn and joyful celebration in the Orthodox Church is particularly expressive of Orthodox Christianity in general and Orthodox piety in particular. From the 5th century, when it was first introduced in Jerusalem as a Feast day, the Transfiguration was enriched greatly through the centuries by the development of the liturgical arts of hymnography, of iconography and, especially, of the festal homilies of the Fathers. These expressions of the Orthodox spiritual tradition provide wonderful interpretations of the biblical texts describing this evangelical event in the life of Christ and in the life of the three disciples. They also emphasize how important the Transfiguration is for all the faithful.
When the biblical readings selected for this Feast are heard together with the beautiful hymns which retell and interpret the story of the Transfiguration; when the atmosphere of our Orthodox churches is also reflected in the piety of the faithful who gather here for worship; when these elements are harmoniously joined together, then, indeed, a spirit of transcendence is created, a sense of spiritual elevation is evoked, and an inner yearning rises up in our hearts to experience personally in our lives the light of God and to see Jesus, our Savior, transfigured in glory.
But the great mystery of the Transfiguration of the Savior, which we are celebrating, is not a subject that we can readily approach. A sense of sacred awe and fear overwhelms us when we begin to reflect on the divine mystery of the Transfiguration and ponder its profound yet joyous gospel message for us today.
Before we go on, let us listen again to the narrative of the Transfiguration as described in Matthew (17,1-9):
“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am pleased; listen to him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, ‘Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead.'”
The events which surround the Transfiguration are extraordinary and awesome indeed because they have to do with the manifestation of God and the experience of His divine presence by human beings. Indeed, the events unfold dynamically from earth toward heaven, but also from heaven toward earth. There is no break, no separation between the divine and the human, the natural and the supernatural, the historical and the eschatological, the earthly and the heavenly realities. And the connecting link which brings together and holds together these realities is precisely the person of Jesus Christ. This is especially true when we, like the three disciples on the mountain, are blessed to experience Jesus as the Christ, transfigured in the brilliant radiance of his divine and uncreated glory.
As an event in the earthly life of Jesus Christ and in the life of His disciples throughout the ages, the Transfiguration conveys and brings to us a joyous message, a great affirmation: God is accessible to personal experience; He shares His life with humanity; man can go up to the mountain of God and meet Him there as He descends from the infinite heights of heaven. And it is our loving Lord and Savior who leads us by the hand up to the mountain of God. This then is the significance of the facts in the three narratives which declare that the disciples first went up to a high mountain and spent the entire night in prayer with Christ. It was during this spiritual experience in prayer that the disciples saw Jesus transfigured in such glory and splendor that it was too much for them to bear. This is dramatically depicted in the beautiful icons of the Transfiguration which help us to interpret and to visualize the event. It was also in this experience that the disciples were empowered to see and hear the prophets of old – Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus about His crucifixion – and even to hear the heavenly voice of God the Father affirming His beloved Son Jesus.
Our Orthodox spiritual tradition attributes a very fundamental and indispensable function to the divine and uncreated light, to the heavenly glory which surrounded not only Jesus, but also the two prophets and the three disciples as well. This means that the three disciples were not passive recipients of a vision, but active participants of it. They were overshadowed by the bright cloud of God’s presence, by His Holy Spirit. They were also engulfed by the divine light which emanated from the transfigured Christ and were, therefore, able to see the light of God from within the light of God that had entered into their souls and bodies. The holy Fathers of the Church remind us that the Transfiguration of Christ implies and presupposes the spiritual rebirth and transfiguration of the human person as well by the grace of God. The eyes of the body and of the soul must be opened and enlightened by the grace of God before they can see Jesus transfigured in glory as the divine Son of God. Without this divine light all the apparent lights of this world are but a deep darkness.
~Website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA), http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/outreach/resources/sermons/2006/ser-transfiguration-08-06.
Fr. Peter Chamberas is a graduate of Holy Cross, class of 1961. He has also earned an STM degree from Boston University, a Licentiate and a Doctorate from the University of Athens. Prior to and during the early years of his ordination, Fr. Chamberas taught at St. Basil’s Academy, Hellenic College and Holy Cross School of Theology. Previously he has served St. George Cathedral in Manchester, NH for ten years, and, for seventeen years he served St. Nectarios Church in Boston, MA, a parish founded under his leadership in 1974.
In addition to his dissertation on The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, he has also written Baptism and Chrismation: Beginning Our Christian Life in the Orthodox Church, The Divine Liturgy Explained, and This Is a Great Mystery: A Commentary on the Sacrament of Marriage. His published translations include: The Essence of Orthodox Iconography by Constantine Kalokyris, A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel by St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain, The Mystery of Death by Nikolaos Vassiliades, and several books written by Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos. Presently, Fr Chamberas is translating and editing some additional writings of our saintly spiritual Father, Bishop Gerasimos of blessed memory, which were left in his care for this purpose.
