6 August 2023 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
THE COLLECT
O GOD, who on the mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thine only-begotten Son wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistering; Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may be permitted to behold the King in his beauty, who with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.
AND it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias.
Gospel of St. Luke :28-30
There is a blessed truth that illuminates the heart and soul of the Christian in the event of the Transfiguration. It is so full of great promises of the spirit, that it is overwhelming in its contemplation.
First of all, it was the full revelation of the only Begotten Son of God to the three disciples present – and to us. They literally witnessed the coming of the Kingdom of God in all its splendor. It revealed His heavenly beauty contrasted against His earthly form.
Secondly, the Transfiguration of Christ is a revelation of the glorified bodies of the saints in the Kingdom to come. “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
The Christian may behold the glorified Christ in all His wonder within the Temple of a humble and devout heart – the seat of the soul in which our Lord resides for all true believers.
The glorified Transfiguration of Jesus, along with Moses and Elijah, demonstrates the fulfillment of both the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). When the cloud once again descended on the three, there was only our Lord left alone of the three. This demonstrates the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament in Christ Himself.
The revelation was given to His “chosen witnesses.” The world cannot behold Him in its present condition; but the day will come when all the world will behold Him either in joy, or in terror and great remorse.
Which shall it be for you?
