Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - July, 2005

Transfiguration of Lord Jesus Christ

Jose Kurian Puliyeril

From the time of Lord Jesus we the Christians as well as others call the instance in which our Lord had the change in the appearance and we commemorate this event as the festival of Transfiguration. I have a personal disagreement with the usage ‘Transfiguration’ as the literal meaning of the term ‘transfigure’ is “Alter form or appearance of / transform especially glorify, change so as to elevate or idealize”. Actually this type of glorification or elevation was not happening in our Lord’s case, where as He himself was revealing what was hidden from the human eyes, as normal human eyes cannot withstand with the real glory of God. From the very first day of the incarnation, our Lord being the full God transfigured his body and shape of God into the human body and shape. In other words Lord Jesus had lived on earth without exposing his own image and glory. He had accepted a changed body to live on earth. On the day of the so-called ‘Transfiguration’ our Lord appeared in His own glory and shining, and a certain percentage of the original glory was revealed to St. Peter, St. John and St. James. The three Apostles who enjoyed a special blessing to have a close fellowship with our Lord God, when others were not given chance. When our Lord rose the daughter of Jarius, these three only were permitted to enter the room where the miracle took place. Likewise these three are seen with our Lord in a close fellowship at several other occasions too. 

St. Matthew describes the incident of Transfiguration in his gospel chapter 17 Vs 2 and by St. Mark in his gospel chapter 9 Vs 2-3. St. Peter said unto Lord Jesus “it is good for us to be here; if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” (St. Matthew 17:4) This portion is teaching us a great lesson that in God’s glory only, one could see the saints as well as our departed dear ones who are in God. We are all having the habit of praying to God systematically and as taught by our forefathers. We believe that all our departed ones, as well as the saints including St. Mary Mother of God, all the Prophets, Apostles, Disciples of Lord Jesus Christ, Martyrs and the Holy Church fathers as well as our departed ones are with God. And when we pray we often seek the intercession of the saints and others. But often we forget the truth that we must try to see God in His perfect glory could only enjoy the fellowship of the heavenly group. Our homes are supposed to be the miniature forms of heaven. Each individual of each home could only determine whether their home is heaven or hell. We must spare a separate place in our home for the heavenly group and our God. 

We know that the Jews used to observe the feast of Tabernacle every year with its own rituals and ceremonies. It was the commemoration of Israelites’ sojourn in tents in the wilderness. The feast was celebrated in the month of October every year. The tradition says that the Jews used to erect tents in the courtyards of their dwellings during the feast days and used to remain in those tents to remember and honor their forefathers. St. Peter being a Jew by birth might have stayed in the tent during the festival season of so many past years. When St. Peter saw Moses he might have gone back to the pilgrimage of the Israelites from the bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses. This thought must have enabled him to think about erect the tabernacles, for Lord Jesus and His guests. (Moses and Elias) We must distinguish the tents, which were erected by the Jews during their festival seasons from time to time and the tents, which were to be erected in mount Tabor. In Mount Tabor St. Peter wanted to give shelter to our Lord and the saints who had left the world long - long ago. We all must also try to erect the tents for our Lord as well as the heavenly group with our Lord. This must take place in each and every dwelling of ours, whether it is in our homeland or overseas. 

If so our Lord will always come to us and touch us and will say “be not afraid”. (As we read in St. Matthew 17:7) Fear, that too without reason, or the worries are the main enemies of the modern man. To get a freedom from worries, or fear without reason we must accommodate Lord Jesus in our lives, as He has to be received. May God bless one and all.