Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Transfiguration

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, 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!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. (Matthew 17:1–8)

Do you wish to see the transfiguration of Jesus? Behold with me the Jesus of the Gospels. Let Him be simply apprehended. There He is beheld both “according to the flesh” and at the same time in His true divinity. He is beheld in the form of God according to our capacity for knowledge. This is how He was beheld by those who went up upon the lofty mountain to be apart with Him. Meanwhile those who do not go up the mountain can still behold His works and hear His words, which are uplifting. It is before those who go up that Jesus is transfigured, and not to those below. When He is transfigured, His face shines as the sun, that He may be manifested to the children of light, who have put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. They are no longer the children of darkness or night but have become the children of day. They walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, He will shine to them not simply as the sun but as He is demonstrated to be, the Sun of Righteousness.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew 12.37

A voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him. I am manifested through His preaching. I am glorified through His humility. So listen to Him without hesitation. He is the truth and the life. He is my strength and wisdom. “Listen to Him” whom the mysteries of the law foreshadowed, of whom the mouths of the prophets sang. “Listen to Him” who by His blood redeemed the world, who binds the devil and seizes His vessels, who breaks the debt of sin and the bondage of iniquity. “Listen to Him” who opens the way to heaven and by the pain of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent into His kingdom.

Leo the Great, Sermon 38.7

Patristic Wisdom for Christmas Eve

 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

And so, God the Son of God, equal to and of the same nature as the Father (from the Father and with the Father), Creator and Lord of the universe, wholly present everywhere and wholly surpassing all things, Himself chose this day in the passage of time (which moves according to his own arrangement) to be born for the salvation of the world from blessed Mary, who keeps her honor unsullied through all the stages of procreation. As her virginity was not violated in giving birth, so it had not been defiled in conception. As the Evangelist said, “To fulfill what was said by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Behold a virgin will conceive in her womb and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel, which means “God-with-us.” ’ ”… It is, therefore, with an unmistakable tenderness that so great a wealth of divine goodness has been poured out on us, dearly beloved. Not only has the usefulness of foregoing examples served for calling us to eternity, but the Truth himself has even “appeared” in a visible body. We ought, then, to celebrate this day of the Lord’s Birth with no listless and no worldly joy.

Leo the Great, Sermon 23.1, 5