John Chrysostom, On the Transfiguration

In transfigurationem

On the Transfiguration.

61.721 The rising sun extends its own rays into all the world; and of the

Lord Christ the rising of his birth according to the flesh sent forth his disciples, as if certain rays, into all the inhabited world. For this reason also today, Peter and James and John, like luminaries, make this sacred company shine, the catchers of the unbelievers, and fishers of those formerly wandering into the knowledge of God, who instead of a reed used the cross, and instead of a line, by the threefold confession, drew up the rational fish from the depth of evil; who shared with the teacher in the ineffable mysteries, and became eyewitnesses and hearers of the unspeakable and unseen things. Peter, who on account of his faith was called a rock, and upon himself held up the building of the Church. For you are, he says, Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. But let us see, if you please, for what and what reason the chief of the apostles obtained this prize. The Savior once asked the disciples what opinion, then, they had concerning him. So when the others for the time were silent, this noble one, leaping forward, says, he did not say: You became, you were created; but, You are, according to the prophet who says, But you are the same, and your years will not fail; and on account of this confession he receives the keys of the heavens. For whatever, he says, you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.

O of a dignity paradoxical and surpassing nature! Walking upon the earth he sent forth laws to the heavenly powers, and they observed them. And below he dictated what seemed good, but from above God confirmed the decree of what was said. That Joseph was once called blessed, having been entrusted with the granaries of Pharaoh. How is Peter not to be emulated and thrice-blessed, being entrusted with the treasures of the very heavens? But not because he received the authority to bind do I so much call him blessed, nor because even the shadows of his garments projecting forth drove out diseases, nor am I amazed that he raised Tabitha from the dead; for these are for the most part the gifts of the Spirit who works in him; but I call that Peter blessed on account of the true confession, on which he was the first of all to embark: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he confesses what is apparent, You are the Christ; this is the message of co-existence with the Father. But let us see, if you please, also the particular advantages of the thrice-blessed John; not from those things in which he shared in inspired poverty with Peter; for he was with him who said, Silver and gold I have none, and by his silence he indicated his consent; but because, falling upon the Master's breast, he forged from there that sacred and loud-sounding trumpet, through which, what heaven did not say, what angels did not understand, what none of the other evangelists grasped, he alone with a bold and faithful tongue revealed. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. For what reason then, and for what 61.722 cause, being before the other evangelists, did he write the gospel last? It is necessary to investigate this as well. Matthew in the Hebrew language composed the evangelical wonders; Mark, having become a disciple of Peter, has written the things that happened through the Lord Christ, I mean the unmixed birth, the blameless life, the paradoxical signs, the Jewish envy, the saving passion, the life-giving death for us, the

In transfigurationem

Εἰς τὴν μεταμόρφωσιν.

61.721 Ἥλιος ἀνίσχων τὰς οἰκείας ἀκτῖνας εἰς πάντα κόσμον ἐκτείνει· καὶ τοῦ

∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ ἡ κατὰ σάρκα γενέθλιος ἀνατολὴ τοὺς αὐτῆς μαθητὰς, ὥσπερ τινὰς ἀκτῖνας, εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν ἐξέπεμψε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ σήμερον φωστήρων δίκην τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο λαμπρύνουσι σύστημα Πέτρος καὶ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης, οἱ τῶν ἀπίστων σαγηνευταὶ, καὶ τῶν πεπλανημένων πρῴην εἰς θεογνωσίαν ἁλιεῖς, οἱ ἀντὶ μὲν καλάμου τῷ σταυρῷ χρώμενοι, ἀντὶ δὲ ἱμονιᾶς τῇ τριπλόκῳ ὁμολογίᾳ τοὺς λογικοὺς ἀνασπῶντες ἰχθύας ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ τῆς κακίας· οἱ τῶν ἀνεκλαλήτων μυστηρίων τῷ διδασκάλῳ κοινωνοῦντες, καὶ τῶν ἀῤῥήτων καὶ ἀθεάτων πραγμάτων αὐτόπται καὶ αὐτήκοοι γενόμενοι. Πέτρος ὁ διὰ τὴν πίστιν πέτρα κληθεὶς, καὶ ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀνέχων τὴν οἰκοδομήν. Σὺ γὰρ εἶ, φησὶ, Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς. Ἀλλὰ ἴδωμεν, εἰ δοκεῖ, διὰ τίνα καὶ ποίαν αἰτίαν τούτου τετύχηκε τοῦ ἐπάθλου ὁ κορυφαῖος. Ἠρώτα ποτὲ τοὺς μαθητὰς ὁ Σωτὴρ τίνα ἄρα περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔχοιεν δόξαν. Τῶν οὖν ἄλλων τέως σιγώντων, προπηδήσας ὁ γενναῖος οὗτος, φησὶν, οὐκ εἶπε· Σὺ ἐγένου, σὺ ἐκτίσθης· ἀλλὰ, Σὺ εἶ, κατὰ τὸν προφήτην τὸν λέγοντα, Σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσι· καὶ διὰ ταύτην τὴν ὁμολογίαν λαμβάνει τῶν οὐρανῶν τὰς κλεῖς. Ὅσα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἂν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἔσται δεδεμένα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· καὶ ὅσα ἂν λύσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἔσται λελυμένα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.

Ὢ παραδόξου καὶ φύσιν ὑπερβαίνοντος ἀξιώματος! Ἐπὶ γῆς βαδίζων νόμους ταῖς οὐρανίοις ἐξέπεμπε δυνάμεσι, καὶ τούτους ἐκεῖναι ἐφύλαττον. Καὶ κάτω μὲν ἐκεῖνος τὰ δοκοῦντα ὑπηγόρευεν, ἄνωθεν δὲ Θεὸς τὴν ψῆφον τῶν λεγομένων ἐβεβαίου. Ἐμακαρίζετό ποτε Ἰωσὴφ ἐκεῖνος, τὰ σιτοδοχεῖα πιστευθεὶς τοῦ Φαραώ. Πῶς οὐ ζηλωτὸς καὶ τρισμακάριος ὁ Πέτρος, τοὺς θησαυροὺς πιστευόμενος αὐτῶν τῶν οὐρανῶν; Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὅτι τοῦ δεσμεύειν ἔλαβε τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοσοῦτον μακαρίζω, οὐδ' ὅτι καὶ σκιαὶ τῶν ἱματίων αὐτοῦ προκύπτουσαι νόσους ἤλαυνον, οὐδ' ὅτι τὴν Ταβιθὰ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνέστησεν ἐκπλήττομαι· ταῦτα γὰρ τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος Πνεύματός ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ πλείστου τὰ χαρίσματα· ἐγὼ δὲ Πέτρον μακαρίζω ἐκεῖνον τῆς ἀληθοῦς ἕνεκεν ὁμολογίας τῆς ἀπὸ πάντων τέως πρῶτον ἐπιβεβηκότα· Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος. Καὶ τὸ φαινόμενον ὁμολογεῖ, Σὺ εἰ ὁ Χριστός· τοῦτο τῆς μετὰ Πατρὸς συνυπάρξεως τὸ μήνυμα. Ἴδωμεν δὲ, εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ τοῦ τρισμακαρίου Ἰωάννου τὰ ἰδιάζοντα πλεονεκτήματα· οὐκ ἀφ' ὧν τῆς ἐνθέου πενίας ἐκοινώνει τῷ Πέτρῳ· συνῆν γὰρ τῷ λέγοντι, Ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον οὐχ ὑπάρχει μοι, καὶ τῇ σιωπῇ τὴν συγκατάθεσιν ἐμήνυσεν· ἀλλ' ὅτι εἰς τὰ στέρνα τὰ δεσποτικὰ πεσὼν, ἐκεῖθεν ἐχάλκευσε τὴν ἱερὰν ἐκείνην καὶ μεγαλόφωνον σάλπιγγα, δι' ἧς, ἃ μὴ εἶπεν οὐρανὸς, μὴ ἐνενόησαν ἄγγελοι, μὴ τῶν λοιπῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν τις κατέλαβε, μόνος τολμηρᾷ καὶ πιστῇ ἐφανέρωσε γλώσσῃ. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκα, καὶ διὰ ποίαν 61.722 αἰτίαν, πρότερος ὢν τῶν λοιπῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, ἔσχατος ἔγραψε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον; Ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τοῦτο ζητῆσαι. Ματθαῖος τῇ τῶν Ἑβραίων γλώσσῃ τὰ εὐαγγελικὰ συνέταξε θαύματα· Μάρκος, τοῦ Πέτρου μαθητὴς γενόμενος, τὰ διὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ συμβεβηκότα γεγράφηκε, λέγω δὴ τὴν ἄμικτον γέννησιν, τὴν ἄμεμπτον ἀναστροφὴν, τὰ παράδοξα σημεῖα, τὸν Ἰουδαϊκὸν φθόνον, τὸ σωτήριον πάθος, τὸν ζωοποιὸν ἡμῖν θάνατον, τὴν