Foretaste of Glory

Jesus transfigures only before them who show the nerve to ascend the mountain. His glory can be beheld by those who are ready to transcend the apparent enticements offered by the “six days” (Matt 17:1) of the world so as to reclaim our true yet lost glory reserved in the timelessness of the seventh day, the eternal Sabbath. Origen observes;

“𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.”

Paradise yearns for us and this yearning was made blatant in the transfiguration of Christ on the mountain revealing to his chosen disciples our primordial robe of glory which we transgressively traded for a robe of flesh. Paradise is envisioned as a mountain drawing reference from Ezekiel 28:13-14. This mountain can only be ascended through the Cross. As St. Ephrem puts it; “𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦.” 

The Passion inevitably precedes the glorification. Origen explains how Christ was lured by Satan through Peter to abandon His Passion on the Cross by the temptation of the booths. We seem to prefer God in booth than in flesh. An attempt to de-incarnate Christ always lurks around the corner. Rowan Williams remarks; 

“𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦. 𝘕𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴…𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳.”

Lastly transfiguration of Christ is intrinsically exegetical in nature. As St. Ephrem suggests not only does Christ affirm his Lordship over heaven and earth by ordering them to descend the assumed Elijah and raise the buried Moses respectively but also fulfils in Himself the Prophecy and Law which Elijah and Moses respectively represent; for after the prostration the disciples “saw no one except Jesus himself alone” (Matt 17: 8). Fascinatingly this mountain is a typological  representation of the Church. For St. Ephrem remarks;

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴.”

𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 !

~ 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐨 𝐅𝐫. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥