WEBVTT 00:00:00.940 --> 00:00:03.160 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:06.860 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:15.099 That greeting, glory to Jesus Christ, is said 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:19.800 routinely before any sermon by many priests. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.219 But I think it is particularly appropriate today 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:29.879 to say that. Glory to Jesus Christ. Because the 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:33.920 two themes of today's feast day of the Transfiguration 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:38.820 are revealed in the Troparian and the Kentuckian. 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:45.439 The themes are, number one, the Transfiguration 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:52.520 of Jesus on Mount Tabor. The Transfiguration, 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:57.020 it's commonly interpreted by the scriptures and 00:00:57.020 --> 00:01:01.750 by the fathers. that the glory of Jesus' divinity 00:01:01.750 --> 00:01:07.569 was shown forth through his glorified humanity. 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:12.469 And the brightness was so great that the disciples, 00:01:12.650 --> 00:01:17.150 Peter, James, and John, fell on their faces in 00:01:17.150 --> 00:01:25.530 the presence of the divine glory. Before I say... 00:01:26.650 --> 00:01:31.709 Well, as a background to this feast, notice that 00:01:31.709 --> 00:01:37.810 very often when an encounter with God takes place, 00:01:38.069 --> 00:01:43.189 it takes place on the mountain. We see this most 00:01:43.189 --> 00:01:47.590 prominently in the Old Testament where Moses 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:51.390 received the tablets of the law, the commandments 00:01:51.390 --> 00:01:56.530 from God on Mount Sinai. And there again, the 00:01:56.530 --> 00:02:00.750 theme of the divine glory is so great that Moses 00:02:00.750 --> 00:02:08.949 could not behold it. But even before Moses, I'd 00:02:08.949 --> 00:02:11.789 call your attention to two other events. Number 00:02:11.789 --> 00:02:19.090 one, Noah, and when his ark landed on dry land, 00:02:19.389 --> 00:02:23.729 traditionally the ark rested on Mount Ararat. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.900 And the other evening, coincidentally, I was 00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:30.620 watching a special on the educational channel 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:36.000 about Armenia and the Armenian people. And as 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.379 Orthodox people, their church leads such an important 00:02:40.379 --> 00:02:44.080 part of their life, both Armenian Americans as 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:51.180 well as the Christians in Armenia. And the view 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:55.110 of Mount Ararat was positively... breathtaking. 00:02:55.509 --> 00:03:01.289 I've never seen it, only in pictures and on programs 00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:06.210 such as this. Another thing about mountains, 00:03:06.289 --> 00:03:08.430 so I think this is a little bit more hidden, 00:03:08.550 --> 00:03:16.629 is remember, let's see, Noah is in chapter 5 00:03:16.629 --> 00:03:22.490 through 9 of Genesis, and in chapter 11, we have 00:03:22.490 --> 00:03:25.939 the account of the building of the Tower of Babel. 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:34.599 And this is when the pagan Mesopotamians wanted 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:38.520 to construct a tower which would reach to heaven 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:44.360 to see God. Of course, a futile impossibility. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:50.819 And the story of God confusing the tongues is 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:57.469 a polemic against false pagan religions that 00:03:57.469 --> 00:04:00.310 wanted to come into communion with God through 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:04.169 that artificial way. And the Tuparian, of course, 00:04:04.210 --> 00:04:08.310 basically said, the Kentuckian, rather, for the 00:04:08.310 --> 00:04:11.629 Feast of Pentecost says this, when the Most High 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:14.789 came down, he confused the tongues and divided 00:04:14.789 --> 00:04:18.170 the nations. But then when he sent the Spirit 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:21.670 upon the disciples and human beings, generally, 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:27.300 he called all men to unity. So we have in the 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:32.360 Old Testament Mount Sinai, the reception of the 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:39.060 law, Mount Ararat, and New Testament, of course, 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:43.120 Mount Tabor, where today's event takes place. 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:48.459 And then when Jesus ascended into heaven on the 00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:53.759 Mount of Olives in the Garden of Eden, in the 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:57.120 Garden of Olives, where Jesus so traditionally 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:01.220 went to pray by himself and to be in communion 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:06.839 with the Father. Also, I wanted to mention, in 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:14.040 addition to that tower of Babel, that we visit 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:19.060 Mexico very often, and I'm fascinated by Mayan 00:05:19.060 --> 00:05:23.889 culture. And the Mayans have these temples built 00:05:23.889 --> 00:05:27.110 of stone where this is a form of their trying 00:05:27.110 --> 00:05:30.110 to commune with God. It looks very much like 00:05:30.110 --> 00:05:34.389 the Tower of Babel or the ruins of the Mesopotamian 00:05:34.389 --> 00:05:38.829 ziggurats, they're called. So that's a traditional 00:05:38.829 --> 00:05:44.310 human impulse to come into communion with God 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:53.759 on a mountain. Revelation of Jesus' glory, his 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:58.660 glorified and divinized human nature, is what 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:04.879 awaits us. This event is so important that all 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:09.019 of the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, 00:06:09.139 --> 00:06:13.680 and Luke, relate the account of the transfiguration, 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.300 and they're almost identical in what they say 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:22.060 about this event. And then, as so often happens, 00:06:22.259 --> 00:06:27.060 things that Matthew, Mark, and Luke mention are 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:32.420 not mentioned by St. John in his gospel. And 00:06:32.420 --> 00:06:36.339 you'd think offhand, first of all, wow, he was 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:39.040 one of the three, Peter, James, and John. Why 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.379 wouldn't he mention the transfiguration? Well, 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:47.139 a standard response is that John was aware. of 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:50.259 the contents of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:55.319 he didn't repeat all over again many times what 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:58.980 was in the three first Gospels, the Synoptic 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:02.920 Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. However, they 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:07.360 point to the prologue, the very beginning of 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:13.519 St. John's Gospel, where John says, the Word 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:18.350 was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld 00:07:18.350 --> 00:07:22.850 his glory, the glory as of the only begotten 00:07:22.850 --> 00:07:27.250 of the Father, full of grace and truth. So bingo, 00:07:27.290 --> 00:07:31.910 that seems to many people to be a very clear 00:07:31.910 --> 00:07:37.529 reference to Jesus' glory revealed at his transfiguration. 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:50.139 Four verses later says, no man has seen God at 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:55.560 any time, but only the only begotten Son in the 00:07:55.560 --> 00:08:00.680 bosom of the Father has declared him. So all 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:04.439 four Gospels, one way or another, either directly 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:09.160 or indirectly, speak about the transfiguration. 00:08:10.779 --> 00:08:15.040 Moses and Elijah are presented. in the icons, 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:19.579 because they were present at the Transfiguration. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:24.660 And then also, as undoubtedly you know, Moses 00:08:24.660 --> 00:08:28.779 and Elijah represent the two elements of the 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:33.200 Old Testament. The law, Moses, which he received 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:38.000 on Mount Sinai, and the prophets, Elijah. And 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.059 the law and the prophets point to Jesus. The 00:08:43.059 --> 00:08:47.740 whole Old Testament is Christ -centered and Christ 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:55.779 -focused on the coming of the Messiah. Moses 00:08:55.779 --> 00:08:59.139 and Elijah were there. The disciples were there. 00:09:02.019 --> 00:09:08.460 They saw his glory. Then the other theme is the 00:09:08.460 --> 00:09:13.820 preparation for the crucifixion. As it says in 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:20.220 the Tropar, that, let's see. Well, let me read 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:22.539 the Tropar and the Kentuckian to refresh your 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:24.639 memory, because really, the Troparian and the 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.379 Kentuckian just say it all. They say it all. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.840 Thou wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:36.500 God, revealing thy glory to thy disciples as 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:39.899 far as they could bear it. Let thine everlasting 00:09:39.899 --> 00:09:44.399 light shine upon us sinners through the prayers 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:48.559 of the Theotokos. Glory, O giver of light, glory 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:54.340 to thee. And the Kentuckian. Thou was transfigured 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:59.620 on the mountain, O Christ God, as thy disciples 00:09:59.620 --> 00:10:04.220 beheld thy glory as far as they could see it, 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:08.879 so that when they beheld thee crucified, they 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:11.919 would understand that thy suffering was voluntary 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:16.639 and would proclaim to the world that thou art 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.879 the radiance of the Father. And I think it's 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.299 not a liturgical coincidence. It was planned 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:29.399 appropriately that 40 days after Transfiguration, 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:33.539 we have the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy 00:10:33.539 --> 00:10:37.159 Cross. Again, 40 days is sort of that sacred 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:43.240 number. So today is a day for us and for the 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:48.620 church and for all human beings and all creation 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:53.340 to give glory to God because he has shown us 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:57.100 what we will become in the kingdom of heaven, 00:10:57.179 --> 00:11:02.360 in the transfigured universe where God is all 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:08.029 in all and we will behold his glory. God grant 00:11:08.029 --> 00:11:11.049 this to each and every one of us at the conclusion 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:15.029 of the age. Glory to Jesus Christ.