The Transfiguration of Jesus is an episode in the New Testament narrative in which Jesus
is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it,
and 2 Peter 1:16–18 refers to it. In these accounts, Jesus and three of his
apostles go to a mountain. On the mountain, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of
light. Then the prophets Moses and Elijah appear next to him and he speaks with them.
Jesus is then called "Son" by a voice in the sky, assumed to be God the Father, as in the
Baptism of Jesus. The Transfiguration is one of the miracles
of Jesus in the Gospels. This miracle is unique among others that appear in the Canonical
gospels, in that the miracle happens to Jesus himself. Thomas Aquinas considered the Transfiguration
"the greatest miracle" in that it complemented baptism and showed the perfection of life
in Heaven. The Transfiguration is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narrative
of the life of Jesus, the others being Baptism, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II introduced the Luminous Mysteries in the Rosary, which includes
the Transfiguration. In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration
is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human
nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself
as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.
New Testament accounts
In the Synoptic Gospels, the account of the transfiguration happens towards the middle
of the narrative. It is a key episode and almost immediately follows another important
element, the Confession of Peter: "you are the Christ". The Transfiguration narrative
acts as a further revelation of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God to some of his
disciples. In the Gospels, Jesus takes Peter, James,
son of Zebedee and John the Apostle with him and goes up to a mountain, which is not named.
Once on the mountain, Matthew states that Jesus "was transfigured before them; his face
shining as the sun, and his garments became white as the light." At that point the prophets
Elijah and Moses appear and Jesus begins to talk to them. Luke is specific in describing
Jesus in a state of glory, with Luke 9:32 referring to "they saw His glory".
Just as Elijah and Moses begin to depart from the scene, Peter begins to ask Jesus if the
disciples should make three tents for him and the two prophets. This has been interpreted
as Peter's attempt to keep the prophets there longer. But before Peter can finish, a bright
cloud appears, and a voice from the cloud states: "This is my beloved Son, with whom
I am well pleased; listen to him". The disciples then fall to the ground in fear, but Jesus
approaches and touches them, telling them not to be afraid. When the disciples look
up, they no longer see Elijah or Moses. When Jesus and the three apostles are going
back down the mountain, Jesus tells them to not tell anyone "the things they had seen"
until the "Son of Man" has risen from the dead. The apostles are described as questioning
among themselves as to what Jesus meant by "risen from the dead".
In addition to the principal account given in the Synoptic Gospels; in 2 Peter 1:16–18,
Apostle Peter describes himself as an eyewitness "of his sovereign majesty." The Gospel of
John may also briefly allude to the same episode in John 1:14.
Elsewhere in the New Testament, Apostle Paul's reference in 2 Corinthians 3:18 to the "transformation
of believers" via "beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord" became the theological
basis for considering the Transfiguration as the basis for processes which lead the
faithful to the knowledge of God. Although Matthew 17 lists the disciple John
as being present during the Transfiguration, the Gospel of John has no account of it. This
has resulted in debate among scholars, some suggesting doubts about the authorship of
the Gospel of John, others providing explanations for it. One explanation is that John wrote
his gospel not to overlap with the synoptic gospels, but to supplement it, and hence did
not include all of their narrative. This is not the only incident not present in the fourth
gospel, and the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper is another key example,
indicating that the inclusion of material in the fourth gospel was selective. The general
explanation is thus the gospel of John was written thematically, to suit his theological
purposes, and has a less narrative style than the synoptics.
Theology Significance
Christian theology assigns a great deal of significance to the Transfiguration, based
on multiple elements of the narrative. In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is
a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature
meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the
connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.
The Transfiguration not only supports the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, but the
statement "listen to him", identifies him as the messenger and mouth-piece of God. The
significance of this identification is enhanced by the presence of Elijah and Moses, for it
indicates to the apostles that Jesus is the voice of God "par excellence", and instead
of Elijah or Moses, he should be listened to, surpassing the laws of Moses by virtue
of his filial relationship with God. 2 Peter 1:16–18, echoes the same message: at the
Transfiguration God assigns to Jesus a special "honor and glory" and it is the turning point
at which God exalts Jesus above all other powers in creation, and positions him as ruler
and judge. The Transfiguration also echoes the teaching
by Jesus that God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living". Although Moses had died
and Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before, they now live in the presence of the
Son of God, implying that the same return to life can apply to all who face death and
have faith. Historical development
The theology of the Transfiguration received the attention of the Church Fathers since
the very early days. In the 2nd century, Saint Irenaeus was fascinated by the Transfiguration
and wrote: "the glory of God is a live human being and a truly human life is the vision
of God".
Origen's theology of the Transfiguration influenced the patristic tradition and became a basis
for theological writings by others. Among other issues, given the instruction to the
apostles to keep silent about what they had seen until the Resurrection, Origen commented
that the glorified states of the Transfiguration and the Resurrection must be related.
The Desert Fathers emphasized the light of the ascetic experience, and related it to
the light of the Transfiguration – a theme developed further by Evagrius Ponticus in
the 4th century. Around the same time Saint Gregory of Nyssa and later Pseudo-Dionysius
the Areopagite were developing a "theology of light" which then influenced Byzantine
meditative and mystical traditions such as the Tabor light and theoria. The iconography
of the Transfiguration continued to develop in this time period, and there is a sixth-century
symbolic representation in the apse of the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe and
a well known depiction at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt.
Byzantine Fathers often relied on highly visual metaphors in their writings, indicating that
they may have been influenced by the established iconography. The extensive writings of Maximus
the Confessor may have been shaped by his contemplations on the katholikon at Saint
Catherine's Monastery – not a unique case of a theological idea appearing in icons long
before it appears in writings. In the 7th century, Saint Maximus the Confessor
said that the senses of the apostles were transfigured to enable them to perceive the
true glory of Christ. In the same vein, building on 2 Corinthians 3:18, by the end of the 13th
century the concept of "transfiguration of the believer" had stabilized and Saint Gregory
Palamas considered "true knowledge of God" to be a transfiguration of man by the Spirit
of God. The spiritual transfiguration of the believer then continued to remain a theme
for achieving a closer union with God. One of the generalizations of Christian belief
has been that the Eastern Church emphasizes the Transfiguration while the Western Church
focuses on the Crucifixion – however, in practice both branches continue to attach
significance to both events, although specific nuances continue to persist. An example of
such a nuance is the saintly signs of the Imitation of Christ. Unlike Catholic saints
such as Padre Pio or Francis Eastern Orthodox saints have never reported stigmata, but saints
such as Seraphim and Silouan have reported being transfigured by an inward light of grace.
Transfiguration and Resurrection
Origen's initial connection of the Transfiguration with the Resurrection continued to influence
theological thought long thereafter. This connection continued to develop both within
the theological and iconographic dimensions – which however, often influenced each other.
Between the 6th and 9th centuries the iconography of the transfiguration in the East influenced
the iconography of the resurrection, at times depicting various figures standing next to
a glorified Christ. This was not only a view within the Eastern
Church and in the West, most commentators in the Middle Ages considered the Transfiguration
a preview of the glorified body of Christ following his Resurrection. As an example,
in the 8th century, in his sermon on the Transfiguration, the Benedictine monk Ambrosius Autpertus directly
linked the Supper at Emmaus appearance in Luke 24:39 to the Transfiguration narrative
of Matthew 17:2, and stated that in both cases, Jesus "was changed to a different form, not
of nature, but of glory." The concept of the Transfiguration as a preview
and an anticipation of the Resurrection includes several theological components. On one hand
it cautions the disciples, and hence the reader, that the glory of the Transfiguration, and
the message of Jesus, can only be understood in the context of his death and resurrection,
and not simply on its own. When the Transfiguration is considered an
anticipation of the Resurrection, the presentation of a shining Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration
as the Son of God who should be listened to can be understood in the context of the statement
by Jesus in the Resurrection appearance in Matthew 28:16–20: "all authority hath been
given unto me in heaven and on earth". Presence of prophets
The presence of the prophets next to Jesus and the perceptions of the disciples have
been subject to theological debate. Origen was the first to comment that the presence
of Moses and Elijah represented the "Law and the Prophets", referring to the Torah and
the rest of the Hebrew Bible. Martin Luther, continued to see them as the Law and the Prophets
respectively, and their recognition of and conversation with Jesus as a symbol of how
Jesus fulfills "the law and the prophets". The real presence of Moses and Elijah on the
mount is rejected by those churches and individuals who believe in "soul sleep" until resurrection.
Several commentators have noted that Jesus describes the transfiguration using the Greek
word orama, according to Thayer more often used for a supernatural "vision" than for
real physical events, and concluded that Moses and Elijah were not truly there.
Location of the mountain
None of the accounts identifies the "high mountain" of the scene by name.
Since the 3rd century, some Christians have identified Mount Tabor as the site of the
Transfiguration, including Origen. Tabor has long been a place of Christian pilgrimage
and is the site of the Church of the Transfiguration. In 1808, Henry Alford cast 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.
Others have countered that even if Tabor was fortified by Antiochus this does not rule
out a transfiguration at the summit. Edward Greswell, however, writing in 1830, saw "no
good reason for questioning the ancient ecclesiastical tradition, which supposes it to have been
mount Tabor." John Lightfoot rejects Tabor as too far but
"some mountain near Caesarea-Philippi" 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. R. T. France notes that Mount Hermon is closest
to Caesarea Philippi, mentioned in the previous chapter of Matthew. Likewise Meyboom identified
"Djebel-Ejeik." but this may be a confusion with Jabal el Sheikh, the Arabic name for
Mount Hermon. H. A. Whittaker proposes that it was Mount
Nebo primarily on the basis that it was the location where Moses viewed the promised land
and a parallelism in Jesus' words on descent from the mountain of transfiguration; "You
will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing
will be impossible for you. Feast and commemorations
The Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated by various Christian denominations. The origins
of the feast are less than certain and may have derived from the dedication of three
basilicas on Mount Tabor. The feast was present in various forms by the 9th century, and in
the Western Church was made a universal feast on August 6 by Pope Callixtus III to commemorate
the Siege of Belgrade. 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 of the Gregorian Calendar falls on August
19. 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 the last Sunday in the Epiphany season 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.
In the Roman rite, the gospel pericope of the Transfiguration is read on the second
Sunday of Lent, whose liturgy emphasizes the role the Transfiguration had in comforting
the Twelve Apostles, giving them a powerful proof of his divinity, and a prelude to the
glory of the Resurrection on Easter and the eventual salvation of his followers in view
of the seeming contradiction of his Crucifixion and death. This theme is expounded in the
Preface for that day. Gallery of images
Paintings
Icons
Churches and monasteries
See also Chronology of Jesus
Confession of Peter Ministry of Jesus
Miracles of Jesus Life of Jesus in the New Testament
Parables of Jesus Son of man came to serve
Transfiguration of Jesus in Christian art References
External links "The Transfiguration of Our Lord", Butler's
Lives of the Saints "Transfiguration". Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 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