Feast of Transfiguration : Koodara Perunaal | Aug 6th I The Theology of Transfiguration

Published by Jacob P Varghese on

Few Aspects – (Lk. 9: 28-36; Matt. 17: 1-9; Mk. 9: 2-10)

1. Why Feast of Transfiguration on August 6th

The Feast of Transfiguration occurred, forty days before His Crucifixion on the Holy Cross, before He was delivered to a death for our sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to three of His disciples, the Glory of His Divinity. This Feast was transferred to August because its full glory and joy could not be fittingly celebrated amid the sorrow and repentance of Great Lent. The sixth day of August was chosen as being forty days before the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th), when Christ’s Passion is again remembered.

The Feast of Transfiguration, attested by the Church as one of the ‘Great Feasts’ had an important place in the Church calendar already by the fourth century, as the homilies and sermons of such great Fathers as Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Ephraim the Syrian, and Saint Cyril of Alexandria attest; its origins go back to the first Christian centuries. In the fourth century, St Helena erected a Church on Mount Tabor, the traditional site of the Transfiguration, dedicated to the Feast.

2. Transfiguration of Jesus took place when He was praying.

Prayer is the best medium to communicate with God and receive revelation from God. Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced the birth of Savior when she was praying. The Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles when they were in prayer. St John received revelation while he was praying. On Mount Tabor ‘As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning…’ (Lk. 9: 26). Jesus Christ, by His transfiguration shows that prayer is the path by which we mount to God and makes the divine glory present. Where God’s glory is present, it is active and creative.

The Transfiguration is a revelation of that luminous spiritual power that emanates from our Living and Glorified Saviour, which is offered to each one of us who open our hearts and minds to Him in ardent prayer. The energy proceeding from His Person penetrates the depths of our spirit and achieves, day by day, that transformation which renders us increasingly acceptable to the Father for it makes us resemble His son more and more. Prayer transforms the inner man, and that change is evidenced in his outward expressions.

Apostles firmly believed that believers who bestowed their hopes in Christ and lived in and for Him would also be transformed to conform to His divinity, 2 Cor 3: 18. The same person who appeared in glory on Mt. Tabor to His chosen disciples is present here among us in His words, in the witness of the Father’s declaration comes to us on this altar and in the Eucharist.

3. Transfiguration – Significance of Bright Cloud

Cloud represents the presence of God. A bright cloud is an oxymoron! The Holy Spirit appears in a paradoxical form of a bright mist. Cloud stood guard as Israelites passed the desert (Ex 13: 21). God appeared in cloud on Mount Sinai to give ‘The Commandments’ to Israel (Ex 19: 18). Cloud stood above the mercy seat (Lev 16: 2). Cloud filled the temple during the Dedication of the Jerusalem Temple 10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple (1 kings 8: 10-11). Cloud appeared while Jesus ascended heaven (Acts 1: 9). Jesus Christ, it is assured, will come again in the cloud (Rev 1: 7).

The Holy Trinity manifested here though the presence of Holy Spirit is not mentioned as in the case of baptism. Cloud represents the presence of God. A bright cloud is an oxymoron! The Holy Spirit appears in a paradoxical form of a bright mist. Certainly, it was the moment of glorification of Christ similar only to His baptism, a manifestation of Holy Trinity.

4. Transfiguration – Uncreated Light

Uncreated Light is this spiritual light, which can illumine us during sincere prayer, when we converse with God our Creator and Lord, then our soul is illumined with that light for which we pray especially on the bright feast of our Lord’s Transfiguration. The hymn our Holy Church on this Feast day, recalls this wondrous event. ‘When Thou was transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God, Thou didst show Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. Let Thy everlasting light shine also upon us sinners through the intercessions Of the Theotokos. Giver of Light, glory to Thee’. This ‘Light of Tabor’ or ‘Taboric Light’; the ‘Divine Light’ on Mount Sinai or ‘the heavenly light identified with the light seen by Paul at his conversion, is the light revealed as the ‘Uncreated Light’ on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration of Jesus, anexperience is referred to as Theoria, which a man can only see when God reveals Himself to him.

Hallow found in the paintings of saints, though a sheer artistic imagination, imparts a strong message that we can also be transformed in the likeness of God. Moses’ face shone, when came down from Mount Sinai, Ex 34:35. “Those who are wise shall shine like brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever,” Dan 12: 3. No wonder, illustrious Church fathers were great prayer-warriors who still shine and guide us to perfection.

5. Transfiguration – Prefigures Lord’s Resurrection and His Second Coming

The Transfiguration a pre-figurement of our Lord’s Resurrection and His Second Coming, and of the transformed state in which Christians shall appear at the end of the world. In the foreshadowing of future glory, which is celebrated in this Feast, the Holy Church comforts her children by showing them that after the temporary sorrows and deprivations with which this earthly life is filled, the glory of eternal blessedness will shine forth; and in it even the body of the righteous will participate. It is worth meditating that the entire universe or creation shall undergo transformation at His Second Coming.

St John Chrysostom writes that Christ’s glory at the Last Day will be greater than that of the Transfiguration because it will also reveal the glory of the heavenly hosts, suffused with and bearing witness to the divine glory of Christ. It is, therefore, the manifestation of the full majesty of Christ’s heavenly status, that Chrysostom refers to here as ‘the very glory of the Father’, that heavenly glory which is also proper to the pre-eternal and consubstantial Word of God. Thus, Chrysostom is not suggesting here that the glory shown at the Transfiguration is inferior in any way to that of the Last Day, but that it is by comparison, when He revealed the majesty of His original beauty, though not completely.

6. Transfiguration – Moses and Elijah were found with Jesus.

Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah the great prophet stand there representing two important categories of people. Moses and Elijah were two great men, whom God had planned and prepared them to meet Him. These two great men of God, Moses and Elijah was found with Jesus.

Moses had two theophanies on Mount Sinai while he received the Ten Commandments (Ex.33: 11); also, at the “Burning Bush: (Ex. 3) and again when Moses was permitted to see His back, but could not see His face (Ex. 33: 18-23; 34:4-6; 29-35).

Elijah ascended Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai) 1 kings 17:1 and 18:16-39) and entered the very same cave into which the Lord God had put Moses when He covered him with His hand when His glory passed by (1 Kings.19:11-13). The ‘still small voice’ signals the actual presence of God.

Moses the Lawgiver, who had died and was buried by God and Elijah the great prophet, who did not die but was taken into heaven, in a whirlwind. Moses represents the law and those who have died. Elijah represents the prophets and since he did not experience death, he represents all those who are alive in Christ. Thus, they stand there representing two important categories of people namely – the departed and the living. Their presence shows that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah. We read that God had preserved and protected, these two great men, in their lives, in times of troubles and tribulations, from destruction and death. Moreover, these servants of God were the two, who had seen Him and lived, even though the Holy Bible says that “man cannot see God and live” (Ex 33: 10). Their presence symbolizes that both Law and prophets culminate in Christ or Christ is the fulfillment of Law and prophets and the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament (Matt. 5: 17-20).

A glimpse of the Great Intercession – Diptychs (Thubden) from the moments of transfiguration on the peak of the high Mountain of the Lord (Holy Church) where the Lord Jesus is between Moses and Elijah, along with his three disciples, foreshadowing the transformation and glorification of the Church, with His Second Coming. Their presence symbolizes that both Law and prophets culminate in Christ or Christ is the fulfilment of Law and prophets. He, Who could call upon the Law and the Prophets to be His witnesses since He was the fulfilment of both.

7. The Transfiguration is a sign of great hope of the Glory to come.

The presence of Moses and Elijah also manifests the communion of the saints. (Heb. 12: 1). Moses, the Law, and Elijah, the Prophets, who had seen and witnessed this great glory at the time of the Old covenant, both become two great witnesses of who saw Him in resplendent in His divine glory. They confessed that they have seen on the day of Transfiguration, the same Light and the same God. They recognized and adored Him, while for the second time God the Father proclaimed Him, His only begotten and beloved Son. “This is my beloved son, hear Him”. Jesus is not simply a prophet or messenger but the Son of God. He is God. Yet another proof of Jesus’ authenticity.

We could not bear seeing Him in His glory. So “He humbled Himself” (Phil. 2: 6-8). So, He became one like us. He became man, a slave. God has planned to save us. He is preparing us also to meet Him, in His great glory. The divinity of Christ was not visible in Him in any way “He was veiled in flesh”. Just as the transfiguration connects Jesus to the past, it also foreshadows his future glory in the Resurrection. We Christians, are called and the state that awaits us – to be transformed in the image of Him Who was transfigured on Mount Tabor.

But also, Elijah’s coming back has a deep eschatological meaning (both in the Hebrew and in the Christian Bibles) on its own, as his presence precedes that of the Messiah, and his ‘departure’ prefigures Jesus’: the book of the prophet Malachi (the last prophet in the Old Testament in the Christian Bible, the book that closes prophetic literature) says Elijah will be sent back to earth ‘before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes’. It has been traditionally assumed, then, that the presence of Elijah in the Transfiguration reinforces the fulfilling of Malachi’s prophecy that had already been fulfilled with the Baptist, as if sealing it.

8. At the Holy Eucharist we offer and receive the very same body of Christ that displayed the Light of Glory on Mount Tabor.

This light is imparted to us as we enter communion with the risen Lord in this sacrament so that we might walk in the paths that culminates in the kingdom of the Father. St. Paul understood this well and expressed it in memorable terms. For God who said, “Let light shine out of the darkness”, shines in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus (2 Cor. 4: 6). Christ dwells in the believer who worthily receives the Holy Eucharist and expels all His resisting foes: then Christ uncovers His glory and shows Himself to the believer. Little by little the rays of this Divine, Everlasting light spread in the heart and make it glow, purifying all its incentives, inclinations and desires and the believer becomes partaker of the Divine Nature’. So is man called to a spiritual transfiguration through the light of God’s word by means of the Sacraments, as Christians, we are called and the state that awaits us – to be transformed in the image of Him Who was transfigured on Mount Tabor.

The Transfiguration not only proclaims Christ divine sonship but foreshadows His future glory when He as the Messiah will usher in the long-waited kingdom. The bright cloud recalls temple worship and the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness, the visible sign of God being extraordinarily present. Peter sees this as a sign that the Kingdom, he asks to build booths (Matt. 17:4), as was done at that feast (Feast of Booths/Tents), to serve as symbols of God’s dwelling among the just in the kingdom. It was an occasion of harvest and rejoicing. We call it, Koodaraperunal. 

9. Feast of Transfiguration – Feast of Transformation

Feast of Transfiguration of Lord Jesus Christ can be better termed as Feast of Transformation. The Transfiguration is an event traditionally understood to commemorate the manifestation and the revelation of the Divine Glory of Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, would be better termed transformation instead of transfiguration. This unique event is expressed by a word that describes change of form (meta = change; morphe= form). Jesus’ transfiguration not only gave his disciples an awesome glimpse of His glory; it also gives us a glimpse of the transformation that we will experience at the Resurrection. Like Jesus on Mount Tabor, we too will be raised from our body and our bodies will be transfigured and glorified.

During our prayers, we can fix our eyes on Jesus and try to feel and know His touch. The faithful, will live forever with the Lord, so close that His divine nature will transform every part of who we are. This is the heart of our faith as Christians and the basis for our hope in Christ.

The same person who appeared in glory on Mt. Tabor to His chosen disciples is present here among us in His words, in the witness of the Father’s declaration comes to us on this altar and in the Eucharist.
May we receive Him with lively faith and the firm resolves to follow where this divine inner guide leads us until we too are transfigured into children of light.


3 Comments

Susan Jacob · August 5, 2021 at 11:04 pm

Thank you very much for the detailed study on The Transfiguration. It has helped me a lot to understand the mysteries and symbolism used, (like Moses representing Law and Elijah the Prophets), and other profound aspects of this event!

    Jacob P Varghese · August 6, 2021 at 10:11 pm

    Thank you very much. Hope and pray this web page will benefit the upcoming generation

Ajoy JG · August 6, 2023 at 8:27 am

Beautifully depicted interpretations on Feast of Transfiguration! Never had seen this wide range of ‘trembling’ views! Great to see all that that can turn golden to the present & future generations! Thank you, Jacob Varghese Sir!

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