Transfiguration of Jesus
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported by the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upon a mountain (the Mount of Transfiguration) (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36). Jesus became radiant, spoke with Moses and Elijah, and was called "Son" by God. It is one of the miracles of Jesus mentioned in the Gospels.[1][2][3]
This miracle is unique among others that appear in the Gospels, in that the miracle happens to Jesus himself.[4] Thomas Aquinas considered the Transfiguration "the greatest miracle" in that it complemented baptism and showed the perfection of life in Heaven.[5]
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[edit] The New Testament accounts
| “ | "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" – Mark 9:7 | ” |
The principal account is that in the Synoptic Gospels; Second Epistle of Peter and the Gospel of John may also briefly allude to the event (2 Peter 1:16-18, John 1:14). Peter describes himself as an eyewitness "of his sovereign majesty."
According to the Gospels, Peter, James, son of Zebedee and John the Apostle were with Jesus upon the mountain. The transfiguration put Jesus above Moses and Elijah, the two preeminent figures of Judaism. It also supports his identity as the Son of God. In keeping with the Messianic Secret, Jesus tells the witnesses not to tell others what they saw until he has risen on the third day after his death on the cross.
In the narrative, after the voice speaks, Elijah and Moses have disappeared, and Jesus and the three apostles head down the mountain, Jesus telling his apostles to keep the "vision" a secret until the "Son of Man" had risen from the dead. The apostles are described as questioning among themselves as to what Jesus meant by "risen from the dead" (Mark 9:9-10).
The apostles are also described as questioning Jesus about Elijah, and he as responding "Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come […]" (Mark 9:12-13). It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, as predicted in the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4), and the three apostles are described as interpreting Jesus' statement as a reference to John the Baptist (Matthew 17:13).
[edit] Location of the mountain
None of the accounts identifies the "high mountain" of the scene by name.
[edit] Mount Tabor
Since the 3rd century, some Christians have identified Mount Tabor as the site of the Transfiguration, including Origen.[6] Henry Alford (1808) casts doubt on Tabor due to the possible continuing Roman utilization of a fortress which Antiochus the Great built on Tabor in BC219, and which Josephus records was in use by the Romans in the Jewish War.[7] Others have countered that even if Tabor was fortified by Antiochus this does not rule out a transfiguration at the summit.[8]
[edit] Panium, Mount Hermon, Mount Nebo
John Lightfoot rejects Tabor as too far but "some mountain near Caesarea-Philippi" [9] The usual candidate in this case is Mount Panium, Paneas, or Banias a small hill situated at the source of the Jordan, near the foot of which, Caesarea Philippi was built.[10].
R. T. France (1987) notes that Mount Hermon is closest to Caesarea Philippi, mentioned in the previous chapter of Matthew.[11] Likewise Meyboom (1861) identified "Djebel-Ejeik."[12] but this may be a confusion with Jabal el Sheikh, the Arabic name for Mount Hermon.
Edward Greswell (1834) raised the possibility of either Tabor or Mount Nebo where Moses viewed the promised land.[13] H. A. Whittaker (1987) proposes that it was Nebo primarily on the basis of the Moses precedent and a parallelism in Jesus' words on descent from the mountain of transfiguration; "You will say to this mountain (i.e. of transfiguration), ‘Move from here to there,’ (i.e. the promised land) and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.[14]
[edit] Interpretation of the passage
[edit] Moses and Elijah symbolic of Law and the Prophets
Symbolic readings, as Martin Luther,[15]take Moses and Elijah to represent the Law and the Prophets respectively, and their recognition of and conversation with Jesus symbolize how Jesus fulfils "the law and the prophets" (Matthew 5:17-19, see also Expounding of the Law).
[edit] Moses and Elijah present as a vision only
The presence of Moses and Elijah on the mount presents a problem for those churches and individuals who believe in "soul sleep" (Christian mortalism) until resurrection. Several commentators have noted that Jesus describes the transfiguration using the Greek word orama (Matt.17:9), according to Thayer more often used for a supernatural "vision" than for real physical events,[16] and concluded that Moses and Elijah were not truly there.[17] Maximus the Confessor said that the senses of the apostles were likewise transfigured to enable them to perceive the true glory of Christ.[18]
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[edit] Feast and commemorations
In the Syriac Orthodox, Indian Orthodox, Revised Julian Calendars within Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches, the Feast of the Transfiguration is observed on 6 August. In those Orthodox churches which continue to follow the Julian Calendar, August 6 falls on August 19 of the Gregorian Calendar. Transfiguration is considered a major feast, numbered among the twelve Great Feasts in Orthodoxy. In all these churches, if the feast falls on a Sunday, its liturgy is not combined with the Sunday liturgy, but completely replaces it.
In some liturgical calendars (e.g. the Lutheran and United Methodist) the last Sunday in the Epiphany season (that immediately preceding Ash Wednesday) is also devoted to this event. In the Church of Sweden and the Church of Finland, however, the Feast is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Trinity, the eighth Sunday after Pentecost.
[edit] Eastern Orthodox practices
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Transfiguration falls during the Dormition Fast, but in recognition of the feast the fast is relaxed somewhat and the consumption of fish, wine and oil is allowed on this day.
In the Orthodox view the Transfiguration is not only a feast in honor of Jesus, but a feast of the Holy Trinity, for all three Persons of the Trinity are interpreted as being present at that moment: God the Father spoke from heaven; God the Son was the one being transfigured, and God the Holy Spirit was present in the form of a cloud. In this sense, the transfiguration is also considered the "Small Epiphany" (the "Great Epiphany" being the Baptism of Jesus, when the Holy Trinity appeared in a similar pattern).
The Transfiguration is ranked as one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox liturgical calendar, and is celebrated with an All-Night Vigil beginning on the eve of the Feast.
Grapes are traditionally brought to church to be blessed after the Divine Liturgy on the day of the Transfiguration. If grapes are not available in the area, apples or some other fruit may be brought. This begins the "Blessing of First Fruits" for the year.
The Transfiguration is the second of the "Three Feasts of the Saviour in August", the other two being the Procession of the Cross on August 1 and the Icon of Christ Not Made by Hand on August 16. The Transfiguration is preceded by a one-day Forefeast and is followed by an Afterfeast of eight days, ending the day before the Forefeast of the Dormition.
In Eastern Orthodox theology, the Tabor Light is the light revealed on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration of Jesus, identified with the light seen by Paul on the road to Damascus.
[edit] Ethiopian Orthodox
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church holds the ceremony of Buhe on the Feast of the Transfiguration.
[edit] Roman Catholic Church
In the Roman Catholic Church, the Transfiguration was once celebrated locally in various parts of the Catholic world on different days, including August 6, but was not universally recognized. In 1456, the Kingdom of Hungary repulsed an Ottoman invasion of the Balkans by breaking the Siege of Belgrade. News of the victory arrived in Rome on August 6.[19] Given the importance to international politics at that time of such battles between Christian and Muslim nations, in celebration of the victory Pope Callixtus III elevated the Transfiguration to a Feast day to be celebrated in the entire Roman rite.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II selected the Transfiguration as one of the five Luminous Mysteries of the rosary.
[edit] Protestant and Anglican
After the Reformation the Feast of the Transfiguration was abandoned in Germany, but continued to be observed in Sweden. Because of its recent introduction, the Feast of the Transfiguration was not retained on the calendar of the Church of England. The American Book of Common Prayer of 1892 introduced it to Episcopal use, and from there it has been taken into most modern Anglican calendars.[20]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Clowes, John, 1817, The Miracles of Jesus Christ published by J. Gleave, Manchester, UK page 167
- ^ Henry Rutter, Evangelical harmony Keating and Brown, London 1803. page 450
- ^ Lockyer, Herbert, 1988 All the Miracles of the Bible ISBN 0310281016 page 213
- ^ Karl Barth Church dogmatics ISBN 0567050890 page 478
- ^ Nicholas M. Healy, 2003 Thomas Aquinas: theologian of the Christian life ISBN page 100
- ^ Meistermann, Barnabas (1912), "Transfiguration", The Catholic Encyclopedia, XV, New York: Robert Appleton Company, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15019a.htm, retrieved 2007-08-15, citing Origen's Comm. in Ps. 88, 13
- ^ The New Testament for English Readers: pt.1. The three first gospels Page 123 "It was probably not Tabor, according to the legend ; for on the top of Tabor then most likely stood a fortified town"
- ^ Johannes Jacobus van Oosterzee Theological and homiletical commentary on the Gospel of St-Luke: Volume 1 - Page 318 "The only really formidable difficulty is that adduced by De Wette, from Robinson, that, at this period, the summit of Tabor was occupied by a fortress. But even if Antiochus the Great fortified this mountain BC 219, this by no means proves that a fortress existed in the time of Christ ; while if, as Josephus tells us, it was fortified against the Romans, this must certainly have happened forty years later."
- ^ The whole works of the Rev. John Lightfoot Volume 1
- ^ see Lamy's Harmony
- ^ France, Richard. Tyndale Commentary Matthew 1987 IVP
- ^ Louis Suson Pedro Meyboom (1817-74), Protestant theologian and pastor at Amsterdam. An adherent of the so-called "modern" school in theology, he wrote many books, including Het Leven van Jezus (7 vols., 1853-61).
- ^ Dissertations upon the principles and arrangement of a harmon Page 485 "Yet we may conjecture it was probably some neighbouring mountain, as Tabor, where our Lord was transfigured, or Nebo, on which Moses had the view of the promised land revealed to him. Either of these was within a moderate distance"
- ^ Whittaker Studies in the Gospels Biblia, Cannock
- ^ Church Postil 45 "When he was transfigured on the mount, Math. 17, 3, Moses and Elijah stood by him; that means, the law and the prophets as his two witnesses, which are signs pointing to him."
- ^ Thayer orama Acts 12:9 "Peter thought he was seeing a "vision"" etc.
- ^ Thomas S Warren II Dead Men Talking: What Dying Teaches Us about Living 2005 p85 "The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–13) At first glance, this passage may seem to indicate that Moses and Elijah are alive even though Moses was ... The same Greek word, (Grk. orama), is used to describe the action in each scene (Matt. ..."
- ^ Rossi, Vincent. "Orthodoxy & Creation: The Transfiguration of Creation". The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration. http://www.orth-transfiguration.org/library/orthodoxy/transfiguration/. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
- ^ Kitchin, Rev. William P. H., Ph.D. (April 1916). "Priests as Soldiers". The American Ecclesiastical Review; a monthly publication for the clergy (Philadelphia: The Dolphin Press) 54 (4): 431. http://books.google.com/books?id=JdXNAAAAMAAJ.
- ^ Philip H. Pfatteicher New Book of Festivals and Commemorations: A Proposed Common Calendar of Saints 2008 p378
[edit] Gallery of images
[edit] Paintings
 Giovanni Bellini, c. 1490 |
 Pietro Perugino, c. 1500 |
 Raphael, c. 1520 |
 Cristofano Gherardi, 1555 |
[edit] Icons
 Andrey Ivanov, 1807 |
 Novgorod school, 15th century, |
 Theophanes the Greek, 15th century |
.jpg){kind=spacer} Icon in Yaroslavl, Russia, 1516 |
[edit] Churches and monasteries
 Bell tower of the Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Tabor |
 Basilica of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor |
 Basilica of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor |
 The Franciscan cemetery on Mount Tabor |
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Transfiguration |
- "The Transfiguration of Our Lord", Butler's Lives of the Saints
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Transfiguration
- The Mountain of the Transfiguration by Michele Piccirillo
- Pope Benedict XVI on Transfiguration of Jesus
- The Holy Transfiguration of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ Orthodox icon and synaxarion
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Transfiguration of Jesus
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| Preceded by Peter's Confession of Christ Ministry of Jesus |
New Testament Events |
Succeeded by Parable of the Unmerciful Servant Parables of Jesus |
