The Transfiguration of our Lord

"And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him." Matthew 17:2-3

 As the Church commemorates the feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration this Monday 6^th August, let us look to the deep significance this event holds to our faith and understand why the Church sets this important feast day in her Calendar.

There are several elements we can learn from the Transfiguration of the Lord that are important to understand and are central to our faith as Christians:

1.      Jesus is God

When Jesus was up on the mountain, His body was transfigured before His disciples. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:2). This light is one of the many ways in which Christ shows His divinity. God is light (1 John 1:5).

2.     Christ is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets

Moses represents the Law and all who have died, while Elijah represents the Prophets and all those who are alive as he did not die but was taken out of this world (2 Kings 2:11-12). Their presence on the mountain communing with Christ shows us that the law and the prophets of the Old Testament are fulfilled in Christ -  in His life, death and resurrection (Matthew5:17) and that “the dead will be raised by His voice, and the living who are left are renewed to immortality.” ¹(Mar Isho Dad of Merv)

Mar Isho’Dad explains further: “Again, He chose one from the Dead, and another from the Living, to teach that the Living and the Dead are brought to Him as to the judge of the quick and the dead.” ²

Throughout the Old Testament, we see the Prophet’s God inspired words clearly pointing forward to Christ as the Messiah and the fulfiller of the Law. And we see these culminate in Christ throughout the pages of the New Testament. Mar Aphrahat elaborates: “Again it is proper for us to argue that this Jesus was early promised from ancient times by means of the prophets and was called the Son of God. David has said, “You are my son, today I have begotten you” (Ps. 2:7). Again he has said, “In the glories of holiness from the womb I have begotten you (as) a child from of old” (Ps. 110:3). And Isaiah has said, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and his government will be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called wonder and counselor, the mighty God of ages and the prince of peace. And to the increase of his government and to his peace here is no end” (Isa. 9:5-6).”³

Clearly, our Lord Jesus Christ’s mission on earth was to fulfil in Himself what the Law could not. Christ states in the gospel of Matthew, “I did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil them” (Matthew 5:17). “He was first baptized to form a pattern to us, as He did also in all His acts. Again, He calls Baptism the end and fulfilment of all legal righteousness, which was completed by the mediation of servants; and by this He shewed humility, which is the foundation and door of all virtues, because I have fulfilled all the laws of Nature and of Scripture as no other man has…”  (Mar Isho’Dad of Merv) ⁴

3.     The saints are alive and in communion with us

The fact that Moses and Elijah were visible and recognizable to Christ of course, but especially to His disciples, confirms to us that the saints are indeed alive and are in communion with Christ and available to us (Hebrews 12:1). This is important for us to understand that when we pray to the saints, we are calling to them to beseech the Lord on our behalf. (Revelation 8:3-4).

4.     The Holy Trinity is manifested

We see Christ the Son is transfigured, (Matthew 17:2), God the Father speaks from heaven testifying that Jesus is His divine Son and makes His presence known through the cloud; just as God’s presence was made known to the Israelites through the cloud that lead them out of Egypt (Exodus 13:21-22) and lastly we see the Holy Spirit is present in the form of the awesome, glorious light that is surrounding Christ’s physical body which is shining on the mountain for all who are present to see. Saint Peter recalls his eye-witness account of Christ’s majestic glory before him on the mountain (2 Peter 1:16-18).

5.     Christ calls us to transfigure ourselves to His likeness for God’s glory

We should look to Christ’s physical transfiguration as he shone the magnificent glory of God as a great example of how we are to live our lives in light of understanding who Christ is,  what divine purpose He came to fulfil and how He fulfilled them and respond to these faithfully and thankfully (Romans 13:11-14).

We ourselves have also been transfigured into the image and likeness of Christ through baptism. We are buried into His death and brought to new life (Romans 6:4) with the promise of resurrection from the dead where our nature is seated in the heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6).  He commands this re-birth from all who believe in Him (John 3:5), who believe in His mission to save us through His atoning death for our sins, who believe in His glorious resurrection from the dead and in His purpose to reconcile us to God the Father (Ephesians 1:7).

In Christ, we have redemption and renewal. Therefore we are taught to also renew our hearts and minds so that we no longer conform to the ways and pattern of this world, but as renewed Children of God, offer our bodies as living sacrifices in thanksgiving to Him (Romans 12:1-2).

Today, it is becoming increasingly challenging to consistently live our lives in accordance to the example that Christ and His faithful saints demonstrated to us. This is the very reason that the Church has been instated by Christ through His Apostles to administer the Holy Sacraments which sanctify and renew us to abide in God’s grace and to continue to live in Him when we faithfully partake in them.

Let us look to Christ’s mighty transfiguration, thank Him that He is God almighty who came to save and renew us and work to transfigure our lives daily to shine God’s light in this dark world for His glory.

This week’s song: Majesty – Michael Janz

1.       Commentaries of Isho'Dad of Merv, by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, pp 68. Cambridge at the University Press, 1911.

2.      Commentaries of Isho'Dad of Merv, by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, pp 68. Cambridge at the University Press, 1911.

3.      Demonstration XVII on the Messiah, by Mar Aphrahat

4.      Commentaries of Isho'Dad of Merv, by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, pp 26. Cambridge at the University Press, 1911.