A Meditation on the Transfiguration of Our Lord

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. For darkness bespeaks evil, and wickedness, and the workers of iniquity. Darkness is the absence of light, and evil is the absence of God. Thus it was that in the beginning, when all things were made, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, that the first word that God spoke was Let there be light. And as darkness cannot coexist with light, and as God is omnipotent, so it was that there was light. And so it was also that God separated the light from the darkness, and God saw the light that it was good. For God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

And so it was that when Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into an high mountain apart, that he, willing to reveal his majesty to them, was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

And here, on the Mount of Transfiguration, it was clear that he was no mere Moses, although Moses appeared with him on the holy mount. Moses had spoken with God face to face as a man speaks unto his friend, but he did not see God’s glory as he had requested. For he had prayed, saying, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. But all that God showed him that day was his backside, as he put him in a cleft of the rock and covered him with his hand as he passed by, saying, I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

But not so here, on this day. Here, at last, Moses’ request was granted, and he did see God’s glory. For here he stood with Jesus, and Jesus was transfigured; and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. O Moses, behold: Here is the glory of God, on the Mount of Transfiguration!

And as it was with Moses, so it was also with Elijah, on the same Mount Sinai as Moses had stood, the Lord passed by Elijah, but his glory was not seen then either, for God was not in the great and strong wind that tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks, nor was he in the earthquake that followed, nor in the fire that followed the earthquake. And then there came to Elijah a still small voice, that said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? As if he would say, here you will not see my glory. Not yet, Elijah.

Not until this day. Here, Elijah, here is my glory: not in wind, nor in earthquake, nor in fire. Here, in the transfigured face of Jesus. O Elijah, behold: Here is the glory of God, on the Mount of Transfiguration!

And Peter, James, and John are here too, beholding this glory, which is the glory of Jesus, that they may testify that they have seen it. And their testimony is sure and certain, for they were witnesses of it; eyewitnesses, that is, of his majesty, for they were with him on the holy mountain. They saw him glorified, with their own eyes.

And so let us talk no more so very proudly, saying such foolish things as is sometimes falsely said, that everyone is his witness; nor let us suppose that our own personal testimony of Jesus is somehow worthy of repeating. For by the witness of these Apostles he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. Leave off, I say, the folly of modern day ‘witnessing’ of Jesus, and confess, rather, the testimony of these Apostles. Let the pure light of the Apostolic witness shine forth. Ponder instead in your heart their witness to you, and if you would speak about the Lord Jesus, speak of their witness. For this is the witness that is written, which the Apostle declares:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

For what Peter, James, and John saw was greater than what the children of Israel saw when Moses came down from Mount Sinai. When he came down from Sinai he did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been with God on that mountain. But this mountain was greater, and this shining of divine majesty likewise greater. The shining of Moses’ skin had been reflected light, reflected from the source of Another, from God. But this light emanated from Jesus himself, from his own flesh: God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God is he, the Word made flesh.

And there is no other God than this Man, which we do well to ponder, especially as he comes down from the mount, and continues on his way, veiling his majesty yet again as he humbles himself and becomes obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. But we know that he has been exalted, and raised from the dead, and given a name which is above every name; we know this because he had strictly charged these apostles Peter, James, and John, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And therefore, since they have indeed told the vision, and testified, therefore he is risen from the dead, because now they have testified. What did they see with their eyes? What have they looked upon? They beheld the transfigured flesh of Jesus Christ. They beheld the true glory of God as the glory of Man. See on the mountain: Man is transfigured there. And the voice from the cloud confirms this, as here is repeated the very same words as had been said at his Baptism, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This Man. Here in the flesh is the glory of God.

And so we may rejoice evermore, we who receive not only this witness, but also this flesh, the very Body of this Man, when we attend the Holy Mystery of the Altar. What we receive there is the very flesh that was transfigured, the very Body that was glorified, the very Man that is God. Do you see the nature of this communion? In the Body of Jesus, heaven and earth are slammed and fused together into one substance, and that substance is human flesh.

And so also must we, believing, likewise prepare to cross over into glory. Let us live our lives in the flesh as men who are expecting what must come to us, the glory of a renewed mankind, being ourselves transfigured and shining like the sun, as it is written, Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake to everlasting life, and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. And again, as Jesus himself declared, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Well do we pray, in the historic Collect for the Transfiguration,

O God, who in the glorious transfiguration of Thine only-begotten Son hast confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers, and who, in the voice that came from the bright cloud, didst in a wonderful manner foreshow the adoption of sons, mercifully vouchsafe to make us coheirs with the King of His glory and bring us to the enjoyment of the same; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.