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On the Feast
of the Transfiguration of the Lord
“Shine forth Thou on us, who are sinners all, Thy light
ever-unending through the prayers of the Theotokos. O lig ht-giver,
glory to Thee.”
Sermon on the Transfiguration of the Lord
Protopriest Alexei MechevOn the Feast of the Transfiguration
Sermon on the Transfiguration of the Lord
Protopriest Alexei Mechev
“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John
his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart
and was transfigured before them” (Mt. 17:1,2) Many were
the Lord’s miraculous deeds, many significant events took
place, unusual manifestations of His Divinity: but not one was
as astounding as the glorious Transfiguration of the Lord.
In the dark of night on the summit of a mountain, the Lord prays
alone while his three disciples, exhausted, repose in deep slumber.
The Lord takes upon Himself, or rather, reveals from Himself
Divine glory. His Face emits the light of the Sun, His garments
shine with the purest white, and the two highest prophets of
the Old Testament, Elijah and Moses, are beside him, and the
very night itself brightens, and the mountain is bathed in unearthly,
miraculous light.
His wakened disciples are amazed, elated, and watch this never-before-seen
spectacle with trepidation. The questions then stand before
them: for whom and for what purpose was this glorious vision?
Not to the benefit of the people, of course, for the people
at the foot of the mountain were not witnesses to this miracle.
And not for the disciples themselves, for they were only able
to see this for a few short minutes. It must be, then, that
the Transfiguration was for the Lord Himself.
Let us ponder this. The end of His earthly journey was approaching
and more than once did He see all that He done, and questioned
the success He had achieved. What did the Lord see? Behind Him
were three years of untiring service to humanity: preaching,
miraculous healings, appeals to the people: and in response
he saw disbelief, slander from some, indifference from others,
the apparent devotion of groups of people, but even that was
only superficial and easily abandoned.
The future was even darker. In a short while, the powerful of
this world would rise up against Him, they would treacherously
follow His every step, then one of His own disciples would betray
Him, then the trial—biased and wicked—then torture
and suffering, and finally death on the cross, a humiliating
death.
With Divine foresight He gazed upon everything that lay ahead,
but as a man, He could not but feel the burden of His situation,
could not but weaken from exhaustion, could not but falter in
spirit, and need strengthening from above for the completion
of His great work—the salvation of the human race, sinful,
untrue, ungrateful. The Gospel clearly reveals this spiritual
state of the Lord before the hour of His suffering: “My
soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death,” He tells His disciples
(Mk 14:34).
When one of us, my friends, suffers with genuine grief, then
we understand these words, we feel the burning pain of one’s
entire existence that can draw forth such words; then we know--though
maybe not to the same extent--how the soul cries out, tortured,
hopeless, despondent. And He fell on His face in deep prayer
before His Heavenly Father and asked for the cup to pass from
Him!
How clear the events of the Transfiguration of the Lord now
become! He ascends a great mountain. He leaves behind, down
below, this world, for which He had come with such holy serenity,
for which He left the joys of Divinity, for which He so willingly
accepted the greatest mission of His Heavenly Father; He leaves
behind this world which metHim with such disbelief, which so
lightly bestowed upon Him kingly honors, yet would then cry
with such mockery, “Take him and crucify Him!”
He Transfigures Himself: This is no longer the meek, humble,
suffering Jesus He appeared to be only moments before: He is
seen Divine, from Him comes the light of the Sun, His face,
His clothing, all around Him is illuminated with Divine glory.
At this moment, it is believed.
He sees all the glory of the future Divine Kingdom on Earth:
passing beyond the terrible events of His final day of earthly
life. He sees the Holy Faith spreading throughout the world,
sees His disciples giving new life to the world; so recently
still disbelieving, He sees God’s saints doing great deeds
of the Lord, He sees the whole world illuminated like a mountain
with the light of Truth, of great moral transfiguration.
And at this triumphal moment, a voice is heard from above, calling
Him the Beloved Son and bidding the world to follow Him. O,
now the Lord will once again return to His work and will complete
it: let them rebel against Him, let them judge Him, let them
raise Him on a cross—He saw His Heavenly Father, glory
awaits Him, which He possesses from the beginning. He is destined
to defeat the world and to triumph in Heaven.
That is the meaning of this day of the Transfiguration of the
Lord. And for us, friends, there are many valuable lessons in
this divine event: The Lord climbs a great mountain. Do we not
learn that at times we, too, must abandon the fuss of daily
life and climb a mountain of solitude, thinking of God, praying?
Earthly life contains so many dark things, so many grievous
divisions among brothers, so much tempting evil, falsehood,
treachery.
Oh, to climb quickly that mountain, to solitude, to raise our
gaze towards Heaven, let us silence these passions, idle matters,
lies, let us forget this world, let us immerse ourselves in
quiet, inner prayer.
The Lord transfigured Himself. This means that peace took reign
in His spirit; hope, illumination and this rebirth of His spirit
was seen in His face, in His clothing, in the entire mountain.
Here, friends, is the strength of man: in his soul, awakened,
illumined, filled with grace! Look upon the righteous, upon
a good person: a believing, simple, earnest soul shines in him;
he is not bothered by grief, he is elevated by joy, he is bolstered
by hope, he believes in a glorious future.
But why did the great prophets Elijah and Moses join Him, speak
with Him? These are two representatives of the future glorious
Divine Kingdom on Earth. Moses—the great guide of the nation
of Israel to the promised land, Elijah, the exposer of lies,
wickedness and enmity, carried upon a fiery chariot to Heaven.
There will always be teachers of good and light on Earth, the
best souls will always shine to serve as examples and instructors
of the world, there will always be guides to the better world—the
the blessed life in Heaven. There is no need to doubt. Better
days will arrive, the land will shine with the light of truth,
our dark and feeble world will be transfigured into the Kingdom
of Heaven.
Let us pray today on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord
together with the Church, “Shine forth Thou on us, who
are sinners all, Thy light ever-unending through the prayers
of the Theotokos. O light-giver, glory to Thee!”
Amen.
6 August 1914 |
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