FOS SUMMARY - “Spirit and the City”

The Transfiguration of Christ
by Dorothy Poli & Daniel Padovano

5 August 2008

FOS Summaries are recaps of discussions points, organized and presented conceptually, in a session's dialogue and Q&A among Fr. Frank and FOS participants.  The Summaries' authors further elaborate on certain ideas from a theme offered by Fr. Frank.  All Summaries are approved by Fr. Frank prior to e-mail distribution. Past summaries can be found on the Cathedral website at http://www.thecathedral.goarch.org/FOSSummary/. 

The icon
The icon shows the unveiling of the Divine Nature of Jesus that theretofore had been hidden from the world of men and women.  Fr. Frank asked us to reflect upon the icon of the Transfiguration; pointing out that the icon will reveal itself to the viewer.  Participants noted that they saw bright colors; gold and white.  The whit surrounding Jesus and the searing brilliance is His Divinity being revealed.  The manifestation of God is presented as light.

In the icon, Jesus is accompanied by Moses (the lawgiver) and Elijah (the prophet/preacher).  Below Jesus, Moses and Elijah are the three Apostles whom Jesus asked to ascend with Him up to Mt. Tabor.  The Apostles are in different poses, each one reacting in their own way to the awesome event of Jesus’ Transfiguration. They all are overwhelmed, frightened and blinded by the light.    St. Peter is on the right barely facing Jesus and on his knees and showing fear.  This represents and foreshadows his denial of Jesus three times. St. John is in the middle, reclined in a pensive pose, also on his knees and shielding his face from the light.  St. John is the thinker and great theologian and gospel writer.  St. James, who became the first bishop of Jerusalem, is on the (viewer’s) left.  He has his face covered and is upside down, a reminder of the upside down manner he requested for his martyred crucifixion.

The theology
According to Church Fathers, the true miracle of the Transfiguration is more God veiling His Divinity through His Incarnation than in the unveiling of His Divinity.  It was more awesome that Jesus, the uncontainable God, chose to contain Himself within the constraints of our humanity.  God was the same before the Transfiguration, now and always.

As the cloud that holds Moses, Jesus and Elijah descends, God’s voice calls out saying “This is my Son in Whom I am well-pleased.  Listen to Him”. At this point, Moses and Elijah, representing the rules and knowledge, disappear, leaving only Jesus, the God-Man.  St. John the Baptist had expressed the significance of this in saying: “I must decrease in order that He might increase”.  While the laws and teachings (represented by Moses and Elijah, respectively) have an important place, ultimately what is important is the Lawgiver, Jesus, as the One we ultimately need.  Love always trumps rules and knowledge.  In Jesus, there is the unity of the law and the prophets through the Cross, the ultimate symbol of sacrificial love.  We are called to live by this love with the laws and teachings, the purpose of which is to lead us to Jesus.

The living Word and the living Law is revealed and present among mankind.  Jesus does not want the booths that St. Peter wants to erect to commemorate and keep God there. Instead, Jesus wants to descend from Mt. Tabor and go to the people.  God lives among the people and does not want to be sequestered in a structure hidden from His people. As God told King David: “How can God be contained?”  Among the people is where the miracles and healings take place, thus inaugurating the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  Jesus reminds the Apostles (and us) that if they want to honor Him, then they must lovingly serve the people first; be brothers and sisters to each other first.

The spiritual lesson
God is always around us.  However, we fail to recognize His Presence.  When we don’t bask in the presence of His Unfathomable Love, this experience is manifested as pain and sadness.  We think God is distant because we are the ones separating ourselves from Him.

Humans tend to miss at times what is plainly visible before them when it is too familiar.  Other times the object is confusing to see and is absorbed or hidden by other things; and yet other times it is just plain ignored or denied by the viewer.

Applied to the Church, some of us may overlook many aspects of the Church, its prayers, icons, movements and architectural details that help us to find and see God.  Because we have seen or heard them so many times the experience becomes rote.  For some the Liturgy may be drudgery and for others it may be “other-worldly” according to one FOS participant and author.

Even though there are differing perceptions (as displayed by the Apostle’s reaction and poses in the icon), God Himself loves each of us nonetheless.  God does not compare us to one another according to the same measure for each person.  He treats us each uniquely according to how He created us and the circumstances of our lives.  It is dangerous when we do not realize this because we can become judges of others using our perceptions of an individual’s motives and intentions as truth.  We cannot know what is in the soul of others.  Only God knows.  We are not even in a position to judge another’s spirituality.

Moses gave the Law to the Church. The Law serves as a benchmark for the truth and like a mirror reminds us that that we fall short.  The purpose of the Law is to highlight to us our imperfection and dependency so that we realize that we need someone else to save us.  This awareness prevents arrogance and compels us to strive for God to heal us.  In fact, Moses died before he reached the Promised Land signifying that the law cannot save you; only the Law-Giver, God, is the One that saves.

Adult men and women as well as teenagers in particular, do not like rules. As adults and as the ones in control, we even tend to bend, reinterpret, or break them.  The Pharisees by bending the law thought they could obtain perfection.  As “policemen” of the Old Testament, the prophets corrected the Pharisees and their preaching led the people back to God.

The history
From the original Ten Commandments, the Pharisees as “religious attorneys” extrapolated six-hundred and thirteen rules. Jesus’ main complaint against the Pharisees was that by demanding that the Jews follow all the rules, life was too binding and oppressive, becoming nothing more than observing one command after another.  Life became a long journey of adhering to details.  There was fear of being considered an apostate or being talked down to or judged by self-righteous men; in that, having no room for spiritual growth and communication with God (other than observing this or that dicta).

The Pharisees (the party of religious attorneys in the Inter-Testamental period c.400 B.C. - 131 A.D.) tended to reinterpret / bend the Law (when deemed necessary) but not for everyone.  They saw the Law as a way to perfection, something not possible for humans. This is the basis for the latter Prophets’ and Jesus’ indictments of them as hypocrites.

The Apostles, in particular St. Peter, wanted to build three booths or sanctuaries (tent like structures) to commemorate the Transfiguration. Erecting booths would be reminiscent of the tent Israel used during the Exodus from Egypt.  Israel kept the Ark of the Covenant in a tent-covered tabernacle during the wandering in Sinai and even up to the time of King David. The booth, like the tented tabernacle, is similar to the kippah (used in a Jewish wedding ceremony), a cloth covering supported by four poles.

The Liturgy’s Old Testament roots
In the Exodus, the Levites carried the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant before Israel. In the Divine Liturgy, this tented tabernacle is represented by the Aer. The Aer, a cloth cowl worn by the priest during the Great Entrance procession recalls Israel’s Exodus journey. They were pilgrims journeying to the promised land of Canaan. In a similar way, we are pilgrims journeying through life to the promised land of heaven.

The point --Theosis – the ultimate goal of the soul
The Transfiguration is central to the Church’s belief in theosis, divinization, or becoming like God. This does not mean that we become God, but become like Him in a spiritualized way; we become more infused with His energy (not His essence). 

Theosis is comprised of three steps, Nepsis, Opsis, Enosis, one built upon the other.  Nepsis is akin to the repentance that precedes forgiveness, Opsis is an awakening that precedes regeneration or transformation, metamophorsis in Greek.

The first is Nepsis (laws of the Church), or cleaning the face.  This is like detoxification, a deep cleaning.  Removing the layers, we are able to see our face, ourselves as we really are, in the mirror, of the Law. The presence of the Law allows us to realize that no matter how much we do, it is not enough to cleanse us.  We will not change until we have to and we will not feel we have to until we have a mirror that tells us we do not measure up.  Our ego starts to be compromised.

The second step, Opsis (sermons or liturgies), or enlightenment, refers to our understanding of the Law.  It is an experience that brings us back to the reality of who we were created to be vs. who we are. At this stage, we are listening to the Prophets; the voice of an Awakening.  This is the educational and spiritual nourishment element of the Church.

The third step, Enosis (divine connection), or union with God. This is the unity of Jesus with the Law and the Prophets. Christ transfigures us and imbues us with wisdom.  We live not just for ourselves but for the other person.  We become “Christoforoi” or Christ-bearers and Jesus now works through us.

The three steps are present in the Divine Liturgy represented respectively by: the Great Litany (Nepsis which recalls the cleansing of baptism), the Gospel and Homily (Opsis) and Holy Communion (Enosis).   The Transfiguration pre-figures the gifts of communion transforming the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  The Liturgy is the process of theosis.

Fasting is a reminder and commemoration that God is not with us.  Repentance coupled with fasting is a reminder that we have separated ourselves from God. When we have repented and come back to God, then the fast can end.  Fasting is important as a spiritual discipline as a means to an end.

We approach God from a mystical view not scholastic or intellectual one.  God does not want an overemphasis on knowledge.  He wants a humble and contrite heart because this is the path to holiness which is what is necessary for union with Him.  

The Transfiguration is an opportunity for us to learn that we are unable to become holy on our own; only God can lead us to holiness.  It is Jesus Who ultimately allows us to be transfigured into the holy image and likeness of Himself as God, our Creator and Parent.