THE TRANSFIGURATION
Required Reading: The Gospel of Luke, chapter 9
THE CONTEXT OF THE
TRANSFIGURATION
Christ the
King has restored to Adam his royal robe and given him dominion once
again. Let us now make our way to Mount
Tabor and begin to search the depth[i]s
of the Transfiguration of the Christ, the “mystery of light par excellence.”[ii] As in the mysteries of the previous weeks, we
must place ourselves within the historical event before us. Also, it will be helpful to recall the
“images of Eden”
presented in week one. For, in the new
Adam unveiled on the pinnacle of Tabor, we shall see the old Adam restored in
Christ, transfigured as a son of God.
In order to view properly the
Transfiguration of Christ, we must also consider the events leading up to the
unveiling of Tabor. In chapter nine of
the Gospel of Luke, one theme seems to drive the developing story that
culminates in the Transfiguration: the kingdom of God.[iii] In fact, just prior to the Transfiguration,
Jesus draws from the mouth of Simon Peter his great confession.
Now it happened that
as he was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them,
"Who do the people say that I am?"
And they answered, "John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and
others, that one of the old prophets has risen." And he said to them, "But who do you say
that I am?" And Peter answered, "The Christ of God." But he charged and commanded them to tell
this to no one, saying, "The Son of
man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests
and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (Lk. 9:18-22).
EIGHT
DAYS LATER
With the confession that Jesus is “the
Christ of God,” Peter has recognized his Master as the anointed king of
God. It is eight days after this
confession that we find ourselves climbing the magnificent mountain of Tabor,
up the “steep, twisting path . . . through a thicket” of “oaks and pistachio
trees,” to the summit where a view opens upon the east to the Sea
of Galilee and the River Jordan.[iv] From this height let us gaze upon the account
of the Transfiguration through the eyes of Blessed Peter.[v]
Now about eight days after these
sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain
to pray. And as he was praying, the
appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling
white. And behold, two men talked with
him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which
he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were
heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the two men who
stood with him. And as the men were
parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are
here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for
Elijah"--not knowing what he said. As he said this, a cloud came and
overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
"This is my Son, my Chosen; * listen to
him!" And when the voice had
spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those
days anything of what they had seen. (Lk. 9:28-36)
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
In
His actions and in His person, Christ fulfills, not only the prophecies, but
also the events of the Old Testament, recapitulating them through the events of
His own life. Most biblical scholars[vi]
recognize in the Transfiguration the fulfillment of the greatest feast of the
Jewish liturgical calendar, the feast of Tabernacles.[vii] The book of Leviticus gives the first
prescription for this feast:
And the LORD said to
Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, On the fifteenth day of
this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation;
you shall do no laborious work. Seven
days you shall present offerings by fire to the LORD; on the eighth day you
shall hold a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it
is a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work. . . . On the fifteenth
day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land,
you shall keep the feast of the LORD seven days; on the first day shall be a
solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And you shall take on the first day the fruit
of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows
of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD seven
days in the year; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations; you
shall keep it in the seventh month. You
shall dwell in booths for seven days; all that are native in Israel shall dwell
in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel
dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD
your God." (Lv. 23:33-36, 39-44).
Cardinal Jean Danielou explains that the
characteristic rites of the feast consisted of “living for seven days in huts
made out of branches, libations of water. . . , the procession around the altar
waving the bouquet (lulab) made from three kinds of trees: willow, myrtle and
palm, and carrying a fruit of the lemon-tree (etrog).”[viii] In addition to these characteristics noted by
Danielou, Fr. Raymond Brown explains that during the feast “the court of the
women in the Temple
was lighted by immense torches.”[ix]
While, as we witnessed in the above quotation from
Leviticus, the feast was prescribed so that the generations of Israel will
remember that God brought them out of Egypt and protected them in their booths
(skenai) during their time in the desert, this feast also reminded the
prophets to keep looking toward the Messianic times when “the power of Yahweh
would manifest itself in a still greater way. . . . The Prophets represent the
life of the just man in the Messianic kingdom as a dwelling in tabernacles, or
tents, symbolized by the tents in which the Israelites dwelt in the desert.”[x] As was noted in week two, the imagery of the
Exodus itself was founded upon the creation account of Genesis, using images
that evoked the idea of a return to Paradise. Just as the Exodus, in which the people dwell
in tents, is linked to a return to Paradise where just men dwell in
tabernacles, so also, a number of the rites of the Feast of Tabernacles connect
it to the story of Paradise.
PARADISE RELIVED
The significance of the feast’s seven days needs no
comment in its connection with the creation account, but the rites that took
place on the seventh day of the feast are of particular importance and will be
considered below. The libation of water
on the altar and the ground “was the beginning of a river of Paradise
that was to bring life wherever it passed and was able to purify the water of
the sea. The river . . . was to give
birth to many trees of life.”[xi] The “giant candelabras,” made out of pure
“gold,” that “illuminated the temple courts with fire during the feast” recalls
the Holy of Holies that was in the midst of Eden
within which, according to Saint Ephrem, the Tree of Life shone forth as the
“sun of Paradise.”[xii] The etrog, carried in one hand, the lulab
waving in the other, was recognized by Methodius, a forth century bishop and
martyr, as the branches of the tree of
life.[xiii] The “leafy branches” that were used to
construct the tabernacles immediately evokes images of Eden where Adam would have lived surrounded
by such trees as the willow, myrtle, and palm.
Rabbinical literature emphasizes that in the eschatological age “the
just will dwell in Paradise in such tents.”[xiv] A similar hope is found in the prophet Isaiah
where the Lord promises that, in the future age when men are converted, “My
people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings” (Is.
32:18). “The Hope in the Feast of
Tabernacles will be realized, as the whole earth becomes a Garden (Is. 11:9;
Dan. 2:35).”[xv] Methodius summarizes these thoughts when he
says, “We shall celebrate the great feast of Tabernacles in the new creation
and without sadness, the fruits of the earth being all gathered in.”[xvi] “The feast was, obviously, a reminder of the
life of Eden . . . and looked forward to a day
when the world would be turned into Eden.”[xvii]
THE
MESSIANIC ENTHRONEMENT
There is an additional significance that, over time,
seems to have become attached to this feast and is particularly interesting to
our study: “the origin of the feast of tabernacles was the annual feast of
royal installation.”[xviii] In connection with this tradition, we find
the Messianic hope of the Jewish people in post-exilic Judaism. The prophet Zechariah expresses this hope:
“Then [in the messianic age] every one that survives of all the nations that
have come to Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King,
the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of booths” (Zech. 14:16). Likewise, when the Maccabean revolt had
accomplished its goal and the temple, the throne of God, had been retaken and
cleansed, the feast of Tabernacles was celebrated for eight days.[xix] On the seventh day of the feast, the lulab
and the etrog were taken in hand during the ablution of water upon the
altar, and Psalm 118 was intoned. Thus,
the verse in the psalm, “bind the festal procession branches up to the horns of
the altar,” most likely refers to this royal procession (vs. 27). Furthermore, the Psalm highlights the aspect
of royal enthronement in the verse calling the King (Heb. messiah) “He
who comes in the name of the Lord” (vs. 26).
Danielou explains that this verse “heralds his coming with the cry
Hosanna: ‘Save me’ (vs. 25).”[xx] Thus, these rites, performed on the seventh
day, called to mind not only images of Paradise,
but also the Messianic enthronement of God in the eschaton. This day, called “The Great Hosanna,”[xxi]
would be the day that ushered in the everlasting reign of the King of Israel,
the day through which man would enter into the eternal ‘rest’ of God.
THE
EIGHTH DAY OF THE FEAST
The eighth day of the feast will be the bridge
between the feast of Tabernacles and the Transfiguration account in the gospel
of Luke. After the seven days of
dwelling in booths, the next day, the eighth day, was “the great day.”[xxii] The key characteristic of this day is the
holy rest (Lev. 23:36,39), recalling the
Sabbath day of creation, the day of covenant between God and man. In our study of the Proclamation of the Kingdom,
we witnessed Christ restore the Sabbath by proclaiming the “Sabbath of Sabbaths
of Sabbaths,” the Jubilee year.[xxiii] In the Transfiguration account, the Sabbath
day becomes what God intended it to be, the “great day” of the dwelling of God
with men.
In the account of the Transfiguration in the Gospel
of Luke, the reference to the eighth day is assumed to be the eighth day after
Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ of God and Jesus’ sayings about the
kingdom.[xxiv] As Tim Gray notes, “In the Jewish liturgical
calendar, there is one feast that lasts eight days, the feast of Tabernacles.”[xxv] Thus, if the Transfiguration episode is to be
set within the context of the feast of Tabernacles, the whole of the event is
placed within the eighth day of the Feast, the “great day.” It is on this day, the day of rest, that the
Disciples follow their master up the path of Tabor to the site of the
Transfiguration for the worship of God.
The mountain
of Tabor evokes many images of the Old
Testament, not the least of which is the mountain of Eden.[xxvi] Within the context of the Feast of
Tabernacles, it especially recalls the words of Esdras the prophet from the
book of the Law: “Go out to the mountain side, and bring in boughs of
olive, or of some favorite tree, branches of myrtle and palm, leafy boughs, to
make booths, as the law prescribes.”[xxvii]
THE ROBE
OF THE KING
Having climbed the mountain of Tabor
and standing amidst groves of trees, a garden of delight, the Lord of the
universe is revealed before our eyes.
Tim Gray poetically explains, “It starts with Jesus’ face, which begins
to glow with glory. Not only His face,
but ‘his raiment became dazzling white as well’ (Lk. 9:29).”[xxviii] Jesus has become the golden torch of the
Feast of Tabernacles, enlightening the whole world. It is here that the full intent of the event
of the Transfiguration is revealed: the revelation of the restoration of Adam.[xxix] The brilliance of the Transfigured Lord calls
to mind the robe of Glory. Saint Gregory
of Nyssa makes this exact connection between the Robe of Baptism and the Robe
of the Transfiguration when he says that the baptized are wearing “the tunic of
the Lord, shining like the sun, which clothed Him with purity and
incorruptibility when He went up on the Mount of the Transfiguration.”[xxx] The key here, unlike the Baptism in the Jordan, the Wedding at Cana,
and the Proclamation of the Kingdom, is not primarily a restoration of man but
rather a revelation of that restoration already accomplished. Saint Ephrem teaches that Christ led the disciples
up to the mount of Transfiguration “to show them that he is the Son of
God. . . . to show them the glory of the godhead . . . . And show
. . . that he is God. . . . and [show] them his kingship.”[xxxi] This is not the royal anointing that occured
in the Baptism, but rather the exposition of Christ’s true nature, his first public
enthronement. Harald Riesenfeld makes
the necessary connection between the white robe of the Transfigured Christ and
Adam: “The white robe is an allusion to the white robe of the High Priest.”[xxxii] According to N. T. Wright, the “robe” of the
high-priest was believed to be “the self-same garments which the creator had
made for Adam.”[xxxiii] Moreover, “the high priest ruling over
Israel
is like Adam ruling over all creation.”[xxxiv] David Chilton explains,
The High Priest was a
living symbol of man fully restored to fellowship with God in the Garden. His forehead was covered with a gold plate,
on which was engraved the phrase, Holy To The Lord (Ex. 28:36), as a symbol of
the removal of the Curse of Adam’s brow.
His breast plate was covered with gold and precious stones (Ex
28:15-30), and the hem of his robe was ringed with pomegranates and golden
bells (Ex. 28:33-35). As another symbol
of freedom from the curse, the robe was made out of linen (Ex. 28:6), for while
they were ministering, the priests were forbidden to wear any wool at all:
‘They shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while
they are ministering. . . . They shall not gird themselves with anything that
makes them sweat’ (Ezek. 44:17-18).[xxxv]
The forbidance of sweat in the holy place removes
the curse of Genesis 3:18-19, where sweat is the result of the fall of
man. Sirach lays out the context within
which to understand the Jewish vision of the High Priest, and, thereby, the
vision of Jesus Christ at his Transfiguration:
5
How glorious he was when the people gathered round him
as he came out of the inner
sanctuary!
6
Like the morning star among the clouds,
like the moon when it is full;
7
like the sun shining upon the temple of the Most High,
and like the rainbow gleaming in glorious
clouds;
8
like roses in the days of the first fruits,
like lilies by a spring of water,
like a green shoot on Lebanon on a summer day;
9
like fire and incense in the censer,
like a vessel of hammered gold
adorned with all kinds of precious stones;
10
like an olive tree putting forth its fruit,
and like a cypress towering in the clouds.
11
When he put on his glorious robe
and clothed himself with superb perfection
and went up to the holy altar,
he made the court of the sanctuary
glorious.
12
And when he received the portions
from the hands of the priests,
as he stood by the hearth of the altar
with a garland of brethren around him,
he was like a young cedar on Lebanon;
and they surrounded him like the
trunks of palm trees,
13 all the sons of Aaron in their splendor
with
the Lord's offering in their hands,
before the whole congregation of Israel.
14
Finishing the service at the altars,
and arranging the offering to the Most
High, the Almighty,
15
he reached out his hand to the cup
and poured a libation of the blood of the
grape;
he poured it out at the foot of the altar,
a
pleasing odor to the Most High, the King of all. (Sirach 50:5-15)[xxxvi]
MOSES,
ELIJAH AND THE EXODUS OF JESUS
With the Christ of God changed in appearance from
the natural man to the supernatural Adam, Moses and Elijah immediately appear
at His side. Why Moses and why
Elijah? And why do they appear at this
moment? Tradition has consistently
interpreted this appearance as the revelation of the Law (Moses) and the
Prophets (Elijah), and the confirmation that Christ is the object of both. This interpretation must not be rejected,
having much to add to the revelation of Jesus as the ultimate revelation of
God.[xxxvii] Following the lead, however, of Pope Leo XIII
we are inspired to “push the inquiry” further, and led by His Holiness John
Paul II, we are encouraged to dive deep into the mystery of Christ.[xxxviii] The key to understanding the appearance of
Moses and Elijah, as Tim Gray explains in his book Mission of the Messiah,
is the “content of their conversation.”[xxxix] Christ spoke with the two Holy Prophets about
his “departure (Gk. exodus) which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Lk.
9:31). Uniting Elijah’s “reverse
baptism,”[xl] his
exodus out of the Holy Land, with Moses’
appearance and the conversation about Jesus’ upcoming exodus, brings the
revelation to life. Among the Old
Testament figures that understood an exodus out of slavery, there is none more
fitting than Moses; among the Old Testament figures that understood the need to
exit the Holy Land because of sin in order to
enter into the promised land of heaven, there is none more fitting than
Elijah. The two great Old Testament holy
men complement each other in their conversation regarding Christ’s own
exodus. At His crucifixion, Christ will
free Adam from the bondage of slavery to sin and escort him into the heavenly Paradise where he will once again be called a son of God.[xli]
Let us also peer through the eyes of Moses and
Elijah, for this experience was a revelation for them as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
explains, “Elijah, like Moses before him, hides ‘in the cleft of the rock’
until the mysterious presence of God has passed by. But only on the mountain of the
Transfiguration will Moses and Elijah behold the unveiled face of him whom they
sought; ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [shines] in the face of
Christ.”[xlii] In her special prayers for the feast of the
Transfiguration the Greek Church sings, “Thou hast caught up in ecstasy Moses
and Elijah and the chief of the disciples.”[xliii] ‘“Behold the Savior,’ cried Moses and Elijah
on Tabor, the Holy Mountian, and their words rang in the ears of the
disciples. ‘Lo, here is Christ whom we
in ancient times proclaimed as God.”[xliv]
THE HOLY
REST
With the transfigured Lord shining like lighting
before the eyes of the Apostles, the Gospel of Luke reveals the strangest verse
in the whole account: “Now Peter and those that were with him were heavy with
sleep but kept awake, and they saw his glory” (Lk. 9:28). This verse has been interpreted in two
distinct ways. Ferdinand Prat’s words
are a good example of the more modern interpretation: “fatigued by the journey
and the heat of a long summer day . . . they gradually grew drowsy, while a
short distance away their Master prolonged his prayer.”[xlv] In similar fashion, Fr. Josef Fitzmyer
hypothesizes that one possibility is that this is “Luke’s way of indicating
that it was night.”[xlvi] This type of interpretation is in contrast to
the common Patristic consideration.
Saint John Chrysostom explains that the phrase “heavy with sleep but
awake” points to “the deep stupor engendered in them by that vision. For as eyes are darkened by excessive
splendor, so at that time also did they feel.
For it was not, I suppose night, but day; and the exceeding greatness of
the light weighed down the infirmity of their eyes.”[xlvii] The idea of the sleep of divine ecstasy is
common in the tradition of Sacred Revelation.[xlviii] A good example of this is the book of Daniel,
where the Prophet sees “one in the likeness of the sons of men” (Dan.
10:16). In the vision, the “son of man,”
is “clothed in linen . . . [and His] loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. His body was like beryl, his face like the
appearance of lightening, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like
the gleam of burnished bronze” (Dan. 10: 5-6).
In this vision, Daniel recounts, “I was left alone and saw this great
vision, and no strength was left in me. . . . Then I heard the sound of his
words; and when I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep
sleep with my face to the ground” (Dan 10:8-9).
Archbishop Raya explains with precision:
Likewise, on the mount
of Transfiguration, Christ shone with such radiance . . . that the disciples
could not bear to gaze directly at him.
The intensity of the radiance of his divine presence swept them away and
the brilliance of his beauty absorbed all their attention. They could not endure to think of any other
thing, or see any other reality. They
were in ecstasy. . . . The notion of sleep as mentioned here is admirably
suited to express the disciples’ experience of ecstasy in the presence of
Christ. The immensity of his glory
attracted all the powers of their faculties, synchronized and harmonized them
into unity, and centered them on one unique object: Christ in glory. The disciples were completely oblivious of everything
else. There is no better expression than
the word sleep to describe such an intense concentration.[xlix]
Finally, Saint Gregory of Nyssa confirms this
interpretation by saying, “The vision of God lulls to unconsciousness every
bodily motion. The soul becomes able to
receive the vision in a divine wakefulness, which is a pure and naked intuition
of this loving presence.”[l]
The above explanation makes perfect sense when read
in light of the context of the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles, the
“great day.”(Jn. 7:37). On this day, one
thing is necessary, that Israel
obey the “solemn rest” (Lv. 23:39). It
is this day that reclaims the Sabbath rest of Eden from the grip of the Serpent, and it is
this day that confirms the covenant between God and man. It is at the Transfiguration that Adam,
restored in Christ, is revealed to the Apostles. The Greek Church recognizes this restoration
of Adam when it proclaims, “Thou hast put Adam on entire, O Christ, and
changing the nature grown dark in past times, Thou has filled it with glory and
made it godlike by alteration of thy form.”[li]
BUILDING
BOOTHES AND THE TABERNACLE OF GOD
In response to the ecstasy of seeing God unveiled,
Peter makes clear the occasion for their retreat upon the mountain: “Master it
is well that we are here;[lii]
let us make three booths (skenas) one for you and one for Moses
and one for Elijah” (Lk. 9:33). In light
of the “eight days” at the beginning of the account, Peter’s reference to
booths further confirms the interpretation of the Transfiguration as the
celebration of the feast of Tabernacles.
At the moment when Peter mentions ‘booths,’ a “cloud
came and overshadowed them” (Lk. 9:34).
Here a response to Peter’s proposal is found. Traditionally, the commentators have seen in
the words of Simon Peter a two-fold mistake.
First, Peter hopes to dwell here, in the Paradise
of the feast, where Christ is the light and man experiences the rest for which
he was made. This hope of Peter, though
ultimately correct, misses the end for which the glimpse of the Transfiguration
is a preparation. Peter sees Jesus as
the Christ, but he has forgotten Christ’s words: “The son of man must suffer
many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and
be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Lk. 9:22). Saint Ephrem the Syrian questions Peter
through the mouth of Christ, “Simon, what are you saying? . . . If we remain
here, who will tear up the record of Adam’s debt? And who will pay his debt in full? And who will restore to him the garment of
glory? If we remain here, how will all
that I have said to you come to pass?
How will the Church be built? How
will you take the keys of the kingdom of heaven from me? What will you bind? What will you loose? If we remain here, everything that was said
through the Prophets will come to nothing.”[liii] Peter, completely satisfied in his own
temporary rest, does not see the eschatological peace of the resurrection,
which itself is ushered in only through the crucifixion.
The second mistake Peter makes is in the desire to
make three separate booths, as though Jesus, Moses, and Elijah are equals.[liv] However, the revelation of the glory cloud
clarifies the point: Christ is the One Tabernacle in which the only true rest
is found. In the Messianic age, all will
dwell in the Holy of Holies, where the glory cloud of God is found.[lv]
THE
ENTHRONEMENT OF THE KING
Standing within the cloud on Tabor, in the Holy of
Holies where God dwells, the apostles are standing in Eden,
where they hear the words of the Father: “This is my beloved Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Lk. 9:35). These words recall two Old Testament
prophecies. First, in the book of
Isaiah, God unveils his Servant with these words, “Behold my servant, whom I
uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon
him” (Is. 42:1).[lvi] Second, the words “listen to him” recall the
prophet of Deuteronomy 18, of whom Moses prophesied, “him you shall heed”
(Dt. 18:15). In uniting these two
prophecies in the person of Christ, the Father has shown Jesus to be the fulfillment
of two figures that the Jews believed would be somehow mysteriously involved in
the coming of the Messianic Age.
Furthermore, the words of the Father on Tabor bring to fulfillment a
third prophecy: the installation of the new King. Thierry Maertens, O.S.B. recognizes that in
the Father’s words on Tabor: “we may find the messianic enthronement formula.”[lvii] This interpretation fits into the Messianic
hope regarding the Feast of Tabernacles mentioned above. With the words of the Father, Jesus is proclaimed
to the Apostles as the “Anointed One” who will introduce the eschatological
Feast of Tabernacles, the true day of rest, the “great day” of creation. No longer does Jesus have to ask the
Apostles, “But who do you say that I am?”
Rather, the Father Himself has confirmed publicly that Jesus is the
Chosen One, the son of David who is also the Son of God (Cf. 2 Sam. 7).
THE
UNVEILING OF ADAM
In the Transfiguration of Christ, the evangelist
Luke has shown to the world the revelation of Adam restored in Jesus. Tim Gray explains that upon Mount Tabor,
“Jesus reveals God the Father’s desire to transform humanity into the likeness
of divine glory. . . . The aim of the Transfiguration is not simply to give a
glimpse of Jesus’ divinity, but to give a glimpse of true humanity, a humanity
that reflects the image and likeness of God in glory.”[lviii]
Through the eyes of Peter we have seen the Christ of
God, transfigured into the Light of the World.
Through the eyes of James we have gazed upon the King, arrayed in splendor,
flanked by Moses and Elijah, the dwellers of Paradise. Through the eyes of John, we have slept in
the peace of the Transfigured One. Let
us experience the ecstasy of Tabor, the solemn rest of Eden.
Let us enter into the Tabernacle of God, the Holy of Holies, the Garden
of Genesis, and hear our Father proclaim that we have been restored to the
kingship for which our Master has prepared us.
“Today Christ on Mount
Tabor has changed the
darkened nature of Adam, and filling it with brightness He has made it
godlike.”[lix] Standing in the Eden of God amidst the
branches of the Feast of Tabernacles, wearing the royal robe of the son, the
clothing of the Gardener of Paradise, let us turn our gaze upon the Divine
Fruit, hanging from the Tree of Life.
Let us turn our eyes toward the eucharistic marriage banquet that awaits
the son of God, Adam restored.
[i]
The restoration of Adam is first realized in the Incarnate Word and
participated in by the rest of mankind through the sacrament of baptism.
[ii]
John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Maria, 21.
[iii]Joseph
A. Fitzmyer, Introduction, Translation, and Notes to The Gospel According to
Luke (I-IX), Anchor Bible, vol. 28 (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1981),
792. “To understand the importance of
this episopde, one has to take seriously the Lucan context in which it is
found. . . . For the episode is related to the disciples ‘seeing’ the kingdom.”
[iv]Bishop
Alexander, “The Transfiguration of Christ: Appearance of the Kingdom of God,”
Missionary Leaflet # E48, trans. Dimitry Baranow and Fr. German Ciuba (La
Canada, Cal.: Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission, 2001); available from
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/preob_e.htm; Internet; accessed
20 May 2003; and Ferdinand Prat, Jesus Christ: His Life, His Teaching, and
His Work, vol. 1, trans. John J. Heenan (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1950),
423.
[v]Paul
Hinnebusch confirms that this is the proper perspective that the reader must
have in his book, Jesus, The New Elijah, where he explains, “In writing
these things in the way that he did, it is Luke’s intention that we too, his
readers, ‘see what has taken place,’ so that our hearts too will be
converted. Luke intends to get his
readers fully involved in the mystery of Christ which he presents. . . . We
must not only see all this in faith. We
must become involved in it all, so that we can live and experience it with the
Lord.” Hinnebusch, Jesus, the New
Elijah, 131.
[vi]Fitzmyer,
Gospel According to Luke, 797.
“One cannot exclude an allusion to Lev. 23:36, the passage that tells
how the Feast of Booths should be celebrated and its indications of time.” See also Daniel Harrigton’s The Gospel
According to Matthew where he states, “Some see in this this time indicator
an allusion . . . to the feast of
Tabernacles” [Daniel Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, Sacra Pagina,
vol. 1 (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1998), 253]. See also Danielou, The Bible and the
Liturgy, 339: “It seems that we . . . see in this scene as explicit
allusion to the Feast of Tabernacles.”
[vii]Josephus,
Ant., 8.4,1 § 100, quoted in
Fitzmyer, Gospel According to Luke, 801: “the greatest and most sacred
feast among the Jews.”
[viii]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 333-334.
[ix]
Raymond E. Brown, S.S., The Gospel of St.
John; The Johannine Epistles (Collegeville,
Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1965), 44.
[x]Ibid.,
334.
[xi]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 343.
Following the bread of life discourse in the Gospel of John, we read
that the, “feast of Tabernacles was at hand” (Jn. 7:2). And “On the last day of
the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up
[in the Temple]
and proclaimed, “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has
said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living of water’” (Jn. 7:37-38). This reference to “rivers of living water,”
quoted by Christ on the “great day” of the feast is no doubt a reference to the
water poured upon the altar in the temple, symbolizing the river of life which
flowed through the Garden of Eden. Saint
Cyril of Alexandria states, “the source of water
for the feast of Tabernacles is the spiritual and heavenly Christ who waters
with the fountains on high those who receive him” [St. Cyril of Alexandria, De Ad.;
LXVIII, 1109 A, as quoted in Danielou, The Bible and the Liturgy,
343]. We also know from Saint
Paul that Christ was seen by the early Christians as the Rock which
followed Israel
in the desert and gave them water to sustain life (1 Cor. 10:4). Now, the rock which followed Israel in the desert was, according to
tradition, the same Rock that was the foundation stone of the Temple, the Rock of Moriah [Theirry Maertens,
O.S.B., A Feast in Honor of Yahweh, trans. Mother Kathryn Sullivan,
R.S.C.J. (Notre Dame, Ind.: Fides Publishers, Inc., 1965), 76]. This Rock of Moriah was also known as the Eben
Shetiyah, literally, “the rock of drinking,” apparently for the very reason
that it was seen as the rock from which Israel drank in the Desert. Therefore, by using Christ as our bridge
between the water which flowed from the rock in the desert and the water of the
feast of Tabernacles, we may rightly conclude that the water which was poured
over the altar stone which sits upon the rock of Moriah was believed to be the
water which flowed out of the very rock it was being poured out upon. This rock, as was explained in chapter one,
was also believed to be the center of the earth, the foundation stone upon
which Adam was formed in the Garden
of Paradise. Thus, we may conclude, that Christ, in
claiming to be the source of the water of the Feast of Tabernacles, as Saint
Cyril has confirmed, is actually claiming to be the foundation stone of
creation, that “foundation stone,” upon which the wise builder, God, has built
his house, the temple
of Paradise. This foundation stone, which is the center of
the mountain of Eden, must be factored into the Transfiguration narrative,
Christ is not only the shining one who stands in Eden like Adam before the
fall, He is Eden; Christ is the mystical Paradise which the Jews of the
Old Testament sought in the Feast of Tabernacles.
[xii]
Ephrem, Hymns on Paradise, 91.
[xiii]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 338.
[xiv]Ibid.,
335.
[xv]
Chilton, Paradise Restored, 46.
[xvi]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 335.
[xvii]
Chilton, Paradise Restored, 45.
[xviii]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 335.
[xix]2
Macc. 10:1-8.
[xx]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 336.
[xxi]Ibid.
[xxii]Ibid.,
340.
[xxiii]
Gray, Mission
of the Messiah, 32.
[xxiv]
This also could be interpreted as the eighth day of the feast by placing
Peter’s confession on the seventh day, the day of the Great Hosanna, when the
messiah would be proclaimed king.
[xxv]Ibid.,
95.
[xxvi] See
chapter one.
[xxvii]
Nehemiah 8:15. Translation taken from
the Knox Bible for the word “mountain” (2 Esdras 8:15).
[xxviii]Tim
Gray, Mission
of the Messiah, 94.
[xxix]At
the Transfiguration, “Jesus reveals God the Father’s desire to transform
humanity into the likeness of divine glory” (Tim Gray, Mission of the
Messiah, 96).
[xxx]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 50.
[xxxi]St.
Ephrem the Syrian, “Sermon on the Transfiguration of our Lord and God and
Saviour, Jesus Christ,” 4-5; available from http://www.anastasis.org.uk/on_the_transfiguration.htm;
Internet; accessed 20 May 2003. The
final use of the word “show” in the quotation is in the past tense in the
original text.
[xxxii]Danielou,
The Bible and the Liturgy, 52.
[xxxiii]
Ibid..
[xxxiv]Wright,
The New Testament and the People of God, 265.
[xxxv]
Chilton, Paradise Restored, 44.
[xxxvi]
The comparison of the High Priest with a young stout tree is full of
meaning. As was mentioned above, the
tree of life in Eden was recognized by Saint
Ephrem as the “sun of Paradise.” This “sun” was located in the inner most
sanctuary and was the source of life for the rest of the world. The High Priest standing in the midst of the
Holy of Holies, surround as he was by golden pomegranates, palm trees, lilies
and Cherubim, was like the tree of Paradise through which God communicated his
blessing to man. This interpretation,
when applied to Christ, who identifies himself as both the food of life and the
light of the world (Jn. 6:54, 8:12) explicitly links our Lord to the Holy of
Holies in Eden, the dwelling place of God.
At the Transfiguration, Christ becomes the light upon which the believer
may gaze and enter into the paradise of Eden.
[xxxvii]
C.f. Saint Augustine, “Moses and Elijah, that is, the Law and the Prophets.”
[Saint Augustine, Sermons on New Testament Lessons, XXVIII, contained in
A Select Library of the Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Christian
Church, vol. vi (Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company), 347]. Certain biblical
scholars have also noted the similarities between this account and the account
of the Mosaic Sinai event. See Tim Gray,
Mission
of the Messiah.
[xxxviii]
Pope Leo XIII instructs his flock as follows: “He [later biblical commentators]
must not on that account [on account of the work of the Fathers of the Church]
consider that it is forbidden, when just cause exists, to push inquiry and
exposition beyond what the Fathers have done” [Leo XIII, Proventissimus Deus
(18 November, 1893), N.C.W.C. Translation: On the Study of Holy Scripture
(Boston: Pauline Books & Media, n.d.), par. 15].
[xxxix]Gray,
Mission
of the Messiah, 95.
[xl]See
Week I.
[xli]It is
this reality that is revealed in the promise of Christ to the good thief at the
crucifixion, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43).
Saint Ephrem the Syrian, singing his Hymns on Paradise,
says, “Adam had been naked and fair, but his diligent wife labored and made for
him a garment covered with stains. The
Garden, seeing him thus vile, drove him forth.
Through Mary Adam had another robe which adorned the thief; and when he
became resplendent at Christ’s promise, the Garden, looking on, embraced him in
Adam’s place” (St. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise, IV.6).
[xlii]CCC
2583.
[xliii]Festal
Menaion, 487.
[xliv]Festal
Menaion, 486-87.
[xlv]Ferdinand
Prat, S.J., Jesus Christ, His Life, His Teaching, and His Work, Vol. 1,
424.
[xlvi]Fitzmyer,
Gospel According to Luke, 801.
[xlvii]Saint
John Chrysostom, “Homily LVI: Matt. XVI. 28,” in Homilies on the Gospel of
Saint Matthew, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of
the Christian Church, ed. Philip Schaff, vol. 10 (Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Eerdmans, 1978), 347.
[xlviii]This
path of interpretation is confirmed by the Church at the Second Vatican Council
in the document Dei Verbum, where the fathers explain that among the
essential criteria for interpreting scripture is the “the content and the unity
of the whole Scripture” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, section 12).
[xlix]Joseph
Raya, Transfiguration of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Combermere,
Ontario: Madonna House Publications, 1992), 46-47.
[l]Gregory
of Nyssa, “On the Canticle of Canticles,” quoted in Raya, Transfiguration,
47.
[li]
Festal Menaion, 483.
[lii]Peter’s
exclamation may indeed be an expression of the ecstacy which he is
experiencing; Riesenfeld sees in this the eschatological anapausis. And Danielou, confirming Riesenfeld,
identifies these words as expressing the “rest of the life to come.” Danielou, The Bible and the Liturgy,
340.
[liii]St.
Ephrem the Syrian, “Transfiguration,” 10.
[liv]“Simon
was sent to build the Church in the world, and he is making tents on the
mountain; for he is still looking at Jesus in human terms” (Ibid., 11).
[lv]At
the time of the Babylonian exile the shekinah cloud departed from the Temple, never to return (Ez. 10). Now, upon Tabor, Christ is the center of the
glory cloud of God, he is the center of the Holy of Holies. If the tip of tabor, like the tip of Sinai
has become a “holy of holies,” then the Apostles stand in the midst of the
heavenly Jerusalem, the Temple of God,
the Garden of Eden.
[lvi]The
use of the Isaiah servant image within the context of Luke 9 is perfectly
fit. The desires of Peter are purified
in the words of the Father. It was only
a short while before the Tabor event that our Lord responded to Peter’s
proclamation of faith that Jesus was the “Christ of God,” with the words “The
Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elder’s and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised from the
dead” (Lk. 9:22). Now, the Father calls
our minds to the Servant prophecies of Isaiah, a Servant whose “appearance was
. . . marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of
men” (Is. 52:14), and who will be like a “lamb led to the slaughter.” By recalling the necessary suffering of the
Servant of YHWH the desires of Peter to remain on Tabor are reoriented. The “Christ of God,” must suffer and die, and
only then will the everlansting anapausis come to men. Only through the crucifixion of the Lamb will
the Light arise and the glory of the Lord shine forever upon His people (Is.
60:1-2).
[lvii]Thierry
Maertens, A Feast in Honor of Yahweh, trans. Kathryn Sullivan (Notre
Dame, Ind.: Fides Publishers, 1965), 82.
Maertens is most likely drawing upon the Messianic enthronement psalm
(2:6-7) as well as 2 Sam. 7:14.
[lviii]Gray,
Mission of the Messiah, 96-97 (emphasis added).
[lix]Festal
Menaion, 469.
