John of Damascus, Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord

was clothed. If Adam had not sought deification before its time, he would have attained his desire. Do not seek good things before their time, O Peter. The time will come when you will carry away this unceasing vision. The Master did not make you an arranger of tents, but of the universal Church. Your disciples, your sheep, which the good chief shepherd entrusted to you, have put your words into action, building a tabernacle for Christ, and for Moses and 96.572 Elijah his servants, in which we celebrate. Peter did not speak these things by reasoning, but by the inspiration of the Spirit who foretells the future. For not knowing what he was saying, says the most divine Luke. And Mark adds the reason: For, he says, they were terrified. As Simon was saying these things, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and the disciples were seized with a greater fear, seeing Jesus the Savior, with Moses and Elijah, within the cloud. ιζʹ. Of old, then, the seer of God entered the divine darkness, hinting at the shadowy nature of the law. For the law had a shadow of the good things to come, not the very truth, hear Paul writing. And then Israel was not able to gaze at the glory of the face of Moses which was being brought to an end; but we with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed from glory to a greater glory, as from the Lord, the Spirit. Hence also a cloud, not of darkness—for it did not threaten—but of light overshadowed them. For the mystery hidden from the ages and from the generations has been revealed, and a perpetual and everlasting glory is shown. Therefore indeed Moses with Elijah stood by, fulfilling the role of the law and the prophets. For He whom the law and the prophets proclaim, this is found to be Jesus the life-giver. And Moses represents the company of the saints who have long fallen asleep, and Elijah that of the living. For the transfigured Lord is of the living and the dead. Moses entered into the land of promise; for Jesus the inheritor brought him in; and what he had once seen in a type, is clearly illuminated today. For this the bright light of the cloud signifies. ιηʹ. And a voice came from the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him. The voice of the Father came from the cloud of the Spirit; This is my beloved Son; this is He who is, and is seen as a man, who yesterday became man, who humbly walks among us, whose face now shone; this is my beloved Son, the pre-eternal, the only-begotten from the Only One, who came forth from me, the begetter, timelessly and eternally, who is from me, and in me, and with me, always existing, and not subsequent in existence. From me, as from a paternal cause born from my own essence and hypostasis; therefore also consubstantial; in me, as being begotten inseparably and without departing; with me, as being a self-subsistent hypostasis, not an uttered word poured into the air; therefore also beloved. For what son is beloved as the only-begotten? In him I am well pleased. For by the good pleasure of the Father His Only-begotten and Word was made flesh; for by the good pleasure of the Father 96.573 in His only-begotten Son He wrought universal salvation; by the good pleasure of the Father in the only-begotten Son He constituted the union of all things. For if man is by nature a small cosmos, bearing in himself the bond of all substance both visible and invisible, being both this and that, truly the master, and creator, and ruler of all was well pleased in His only-begotten and consubstantial Son, for a union of divinity and humanity to be made, and through this, of all creation, so that God may be all in all. This is my Son, the radiance of my glory, the exact representation of my being, through whom I also made the angels, through whom the heaven was established, and the earth was made firm; who upholds all things by the word of his

περιβέβλητο. Εἰ Ἀδὰμ μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τὴν θέωσιν ἐπεζήτησεν, ἔτυχεν ἂν τῆς ἐφέσεως. Μὴ ζήτει πρὸ καιροῦ τὰ καλὰ, ὦ Πέτρε. Ἔσται ποτὲ, ὅταν ἄληκτον τὴν θέαν ταύτην κομίσαιο. Οὐ σκηνῶν ὁ ∆εσπότης, ἀλλ' Ἐκκλησίας παγκοσμίου κατέστησέ σε κοσμήτορα. Οἱ σοὶ μαθηταὶ, τὰ σὰ πρόβατα, ἅ σοι ὁ καλὸς ἀρχιποίμην ἐνεχείρισε, τοὺς σοὺς λόγους εἰς ἔργον προήγαγον, τῷ Χριστῷ σκηνὴν τεκτῃνάμενοι, Μωϋσῇ τε καὶ 96.572 Ἠλίᾳ τοῖς τούτου θεράπουσι, ἐν οἷς πανηγυρίζομεν. Οὐ λογισμῷ ταῦτα ὁ Πέτρος ἐφθέγγετο, ἐπιπνοίᾳ δὲ τοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα προθεσπίζοντος Πνεύματος. Μὴ εἰδὼς γὰρ ὃ λέγει, φησὶν ὁ Λουκᾶς ὁ θειότατος. Καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν δὲ ὁ Μάρκος προστίθησιν· Ἦσαν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἔκφοβοι. Ταῦτα φθεγγομένου τοῦ Σίμωνος, Ἰδοὺ νεφέλη φωτεινὴ ἐπεσκίασε, καὶ φόβῳ οἱ μαθηταὶ συνεσχέθησαν μείζονι, Ἰησοῦν τὸν Σωτῆρα, σὺν Μωϋσῇ καὶ Ἠλίᾳ, εἴσω τῆς νεφέλης γεγονότα θεώμενοι. ιζʹ. Πάλαι μὲν οὖν ὁ θεόπτης τὸν θεῖον γνόφον ὑπήρχετο, τὸ σκιῶδες τοῦ νόμου ὑπαινιττόμενος. Σκιὰν γὰρ εἶχεν ὁ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων, οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, Παύλου γράφοντος ἄκουσον. Καὶ τότε μὲν Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἀτενίζειν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ προσώπου Μωσέως τῇ καταργουμένῃ δεδύνητο· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Κυρίου κατοπτριζόμεθα, ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν μεταμορφούμενοι μείζονα, καθάπερ ἀπὸ Κυρίου Πνεύματος. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ νεφέλη, οὐ γνόφου· οὐ γὰρ ἀπείλει· ἀλλὰ φωτὸς ἐπεσκίασε. Τὸ κεκρυμμένον γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ τῶν γενεῶν μυστήριον ἐκκεκάλυπται, καὶ δόξα διηνεκὴς καὶ διαιωνίζουσα δείκνυται. ∆ιὸ δὴ καὶ Μωϋσῆς σὺν Ἠλίᾳ παρέστηκε, νόμου τε καὶ προφητῶν πληροῦντες τὸ πρόσωπον. Ὃν γὰρ ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κηρύττουσιν, οὗτος ὁ ζωοδότης Ἰησοῦς εὕρηται. Καὶ Μωϋσῆς μὲν τῶν πάλαι κεκοιμημένων ἁγίων, καὶ Ἠλίας τῶν ζώντων ἐξεικονίζει τὸ σύστημα. Ζώντων γὰρ καὶ θανόντων ὁ μεταμορφούμενος Κύριος. Εἰσῆλθε Μωϋσῆς εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας· Ἰησοῦς γὰρ αὐτὸν ὁ κληροδότης εἰσήγαγε· καὶ ἃ πάλαι τυπικῶς ἐθεάσατο, ἀριδήλως αὐγάζεται σήμερον. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ φωταυγὲς τῆς νεφέλης αἰνίττεται. ιηʹ. Καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τῆς νεφέλης λέγουσα Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾧ ηὐδόκησα, αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε. Φωνὴ Πατρὸς ἐκ νεφέλης τοῦ Πνεύματος γέγονεν· Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός· οὗτος ὁ ὢν, καὶ ὁρώμενος ἄνθρωπος, ὁ χθὲς γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ὁ ταπεινὸς ἡμῖν συναναστρεφόμενος, οὗ νῦν τὸ πρόσωπον ἔλαμψεν· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ὁ προαιώνιος, ὁ μόνος ἐκ μόνου μονογενὴς, ὁ ἀχρόνως καὶ ἀϊδίως προελθὼν ἐξ ἐμοῦ τοῦ γεννήτορος, ὁ ἐξ ἐμοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ, καὶ σὺν ἐμοὶ, ἀεὶ ὢν, καὶ οὐκ ἐφυστερίζων τὴν ὕπαρξιν. Ἐξ ἐμοῦ, ὡς ἐκ πατρικοῦ αἰτίου ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς γεννηθεὶς οὐσίας καὶ ὑποστάσεως· διὸ καὶ ὁμοούσιος· ἐν ἐμοὶ, ὡς ἀχωρίστως καὶ ἀνεκφοιτήτως γεννώμενος· σὺν ἐμοὶ, ὡς αὐτοτελὴς ὑπάρχων ὑπόστασις, οὐ προφορικὸς λόγος εἰς ἀέρα χεόμενος· διὸ καὶ ἀγαπητός. Τίς γὰρ υἱὸς ἀγαπητὸς, ὡς ὁ μονογενής; Ἐν τούτῳ ηὐδόκησα. Εὐδοκίᾳ γὰρ Πατρὸς ὁ Μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ καὶ Λόγος σεσάρκωται· εὐδοκίᾳ γὰρ Πατρὸς 96.573 ἐν τῷ μονογενεῖ αὐτοῦ Υἱῷ τὴν παγκόσμιον σωτηρίαν εἰργάσατο· εὐδοκία Πατρὸς ἐν τῷ μονογενεῖ Υἱῷ τὴν τῶν ἁπάντων συνάφειαν συνεκρότησεν. Εἰ γὰρ μικρὸς κόσμος ὁ ἄνθρωπος πέφυκε, φέρων ἐν ἑαυτῷ πάσης οὐσίας ὁρατῆς τε καὶ ἀοράτου τὸν σύνδεσμον, ὤν τε τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο, ἀληθῶς εὐδόκησεν ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων δεσπότης, καὶ κτιστὴς, καὶ πρύτανις ἐν τῷ μονογενεῖ καὶ ὁμοουσίῳ Υἱῷ αὐτοῦ, θεότητός τε καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος, καὶ διὰ ταύτης, τῆς κτίσεως ἁπάσης γενέσθαι συνάφειαν, ἵνα ᾖ ὁ Θεὸς τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου, τὸ τῆς ἐμῆς δόξης ἀπαύγασμα, ὁ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ἐμῆς ὑποστάσεως, δι' οὗ καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους πεποίημαι, δι' οὗ ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐστερέωται, καὶ ἡ γῆ ἥδρασται· ὁ φέρων τὰ σύμπαντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς