John of Bolnisi, Sermons

A discourse of the holy John of Bolnisi, bishop, concerning the time when our Lord changed his appearance on the holy mountain Tabor—a glorious and wondrous, ineffable and indescribable and incomprehensible thing, which the race of men beheld today. We see God upon the earth and we see man in the heavens; and we see God complete in all glory and man complete in all things, save sin. For if he were not complete God, by whom was that archangel sent to the virgin Mary for the Annunciation? And if he were not complete man, in whose virgin womb did he dwell? And if he were not complete God, before whom did the Forerunner from the womb bow in joy? And if he were not complete man, who was born in the cave of Bethlehem? And if he were not complete God, by whose annunciation of the angel were the shepherds sent to see and to worship, who saw him swaddled and lying in the manger, to whom they bowed, crying out together with the angels and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and goodwill among men"?

And if he were not fully man, on the eighth day would they have come to circumcise him, or on the fortieth day of their purification would they have brought him up to the temple of the Lord like a child? And if he were not fully God, who would have taken Simeon in his arms, as God, and he would have been released, as a servant from his Lord, and would have said: "Now, Lord, release your servant, according to your word, in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation," and likewise the prophet, as to God, would he have bowed and worshipped? And if he were not fully man, would Mary, his mother, and Joseph have taken him to Galilee like a child? — as the holy Gospel says: But the child Jesus grew and strengthened and was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him, and after the second year they brought him to Bethlehem, so that they might see him, and the Magi were also in Bethlehem. And if he were not fully God, would the Magi have come from the East with gifts, with knowledge of the star, who found him in Bethlehem, in that house (and no longer in the cave), as the holy Gospel says — "to whom they bowed and offered gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh"?

And if he were not fully man, for whom would Herod have sought to kill, on account of which he ordered the slaughter of children from two years old and younger, as was ascertained from the Magi concerning the time of the appearance of that star, because of which he fled to Egypt by the vision of an angel and remained there until the death of Herod, and as soon as Herod died, by the same vision of an angel he came out into the land of Israel? And if he were not fully God, for whom would John the Forerunner cry out and say: "A mightier one comes after me, of whose sandal straps I am not worthy to untie"? 13 And if he were not fully man, who was baptized by John in the Jordan? And if he were not fully God, upon whom did the Holy Spirit descend from heaven in a bodily form, like a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard from above—"This is my beloved son, in whom I was pleased"? And if he were not fully man, who was tempted in the wilderness for forty days by the devil; for forty days he ate no bread and drank no water. And if he were not fully God, who turned the water into wine at Cana of Galilee? And if he were not fully man, who sat upon the ass and traveled the road of the Samaritan?

And if we do not say everything concerning the abbreviation of time, for all the children and disciples of the holy church know his fleshly humility and divine majesty, and we do not cast down that human nature, but we exalt that divine incarnation of his, and we confess this even more, that he is the beginningless God, the creator of the ages, who spoke everything that happened to that Samaritan woman. And if he were not fully man, who led Peter, James, and John and brought them up to that high mountain? And if he were not fully God, who changed his form in glory on Mount Tabor, for his face shone like the sun, and his garment became white like snow; did Moses and Elijah come and announce to them that this is the Lord of the living and the dead? And if he were not fully man, to whom did Peter say: "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"? And if he were not fully God, of whom did a cloud of light immediately send forth, and the voice of the Father from heaven was heard: "This is my beloved son, in whom I was pleased, listen to him"?

But also the other miracles of Jesus, the great ones he performed, which are written in the holy Gospel: with five loaves he fed five thousand, and with seven loaves he fed four thousand; he rebuked the winds and the sea and they were stilled; with words he raised the dead and opened the eyes of the blind, made the deaf hear, and raised up a paralytic lying on a bier. As we said earlier, although we do not say everything in abbreviation, let us begin and speak concerning him for whose sake we are gathered, whom we seek, for whose sake this discourse is, on which we stand on this holy day—the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he shone forth in glory among his disciples, as the holy Gospel witnesses and says: "And after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John." Now let none among the hearers dare to say thus: Luke the Evangelist says—"And it was after these words, about eight days.

Truly indeed he speaks thus, but these two—Matthew and Mark—speak thus: "And after six days"; but if you know and understand, all three bear witness to the same, for Matthew the evangelist says: When Jesus came to those places of Caesarea Philippi, he began to question his disciples and said: "Whom do men think the Son of Man to be?" And they said: "Some say—John the Baptist is he"... and thereafter, as it is written. And after these words, as Matthew the evangelist says: "After six days he took Peter, James, and John." He did not say: "On the sixth day," but—"after six days." Thus he declares. If you wish to know and understand, take that first day on which the Savior questioned his disciples, and take six other days, and take again one day after six days, and these [all] are counted as eight days, as Luke the evangelist says—"And after these words, after about eight days, he took Peter, James, and John." For this reason indeed truly said Matthew the evangelist: "After six days." That first day he did not mention, but only said this: "And after six days"...

Oh, the harmony of these holy evangelists! Oh, the unanimity of these holy apostles! Oh, the blending, as with salt, of those disciples of the Savior! How they are of one word, as with one mouth! But let us hasten thither and go to that for which we are gathered, that which we seek, that which we speak: "And after six days he took Peter, James, and John." This Peter was the brother of Andrew, whom Jesus found in that boat first together with his brother, to whom he called, and they left everything and followed him. These disciples Jesus first found, before all others, and shortly after—James and John, the sons of Zebedee. These also he found in the boat with their father Zebedee and called to them, and they left everything and their father in the boat and followed him. This Peter, the head of all the apostles, and these sons of Zebedee, whom the Lord called sons of thunder, these he took from his own and kept them with him. He led them up a high mountain and changed before them into another form, and his face shone like the sun, and his garment became white, like snow. Why, or how?

For the face of him shone like the sun, for the divinity is more radiant than the sun and more blazing than that flame of fire. But the holy apostles were able to express and declare to us only this much, that on earth we know nothing more radiant than the sun. And his garment became like snow and like light more radiant than the light of lightning, and we know nothing more pure than snow, nor anything else. We have seen on earth, therefore the holy apostles declared this to us. When they saw all this, they were greatly amazed and terrified. Immediately, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, stood beside the Lord, and conversed with him. O great wonder, inexpressible and incomprehensible! O great mystery, for Moses rose from the dead and came; and Elijah came, having been, so to speak, taken up to heaven. And those apostles and disciples of Christ did not know whether this was Moses or this was Elijah. Nor did the Lord and Savior inform them which was Moses or which was Elijah. But they pondered in their hearts and bore witness to one another, saying: Who then are these who have suddenly appeared on this mountain?

At that time they saw that one of them had stone tablets, on which were written the words of the law, and they understood that this was Moses, the lawgiver of Israel. And they saw another, that he had come in a chariot of fire. They understood that this was Elijah, who was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. When they truly recognized that one was Moses and one was Elijah, then they understood that this was the Lord of the living and the dead. Then Peter, frightened and trembling, said to Jesus: "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make three tabernacles here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Lord, it is good for us to be here, for we have seen that you are the Lord of the living and the dead. Lord, it is good for us to be here because of the word which you announced to us before these days concerning your passion, that we should settle on this mountain for ourselves. Lord, it is good for us to be here, for we have seen Moses, who has the tablets of the law. We also see Elijah, who sits in the chariot of fire, and if you wish, let us make three tabernacles here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!

And while he was yet speaking this, behold, a cloud of light overshadowed them, and immediately a voice was heard from within the cloud, and it said: "This is my beloved son, with whom I was pleased. Hearken to him." And when the disciples heard this voice, they were afraid, they trembled, and they fell upon the face of the earth, and all strength departed from them, and they were unable even to lift their eyes upward, and they lay prostrate, like water that has been poured out. Then Jesus came to them, touched them with his hand, and began to comfort them, and said: "Arise! It is I; fear not!" But when they lifted their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone. They sought with their hearts, they pondered with their minds, they looked at one another, their kidneys were consumed, their eyes darted about longingly for Moses and for Elijah, they were amazed, they sought together eagerly, and they did not find that which they sought. They marvelled at their sudden disappearance. They were afraid and could not ask the King and Lord of the living and the dead, and they did not ask because of fear. They set out from that mountain of Tabor, and as they were descending, he taught them along the way and said: "Did I not, before these days, foretell to you concerning the passion?

And now I command and declare to you: do not speak of this vision until the Son of Man rises from the dead. Do not speak of this vision until you see me in Galilee and examine my hands and my side pierced by the spear and the lance. And again I say to you: do not speak of this vision until you see me ascended into heaven. But the holy apostles and disciples of Christ heard this from the mouth of the Savior and laid it up in their hearts, and after the resurrection of our Lord and his ascension into heaven, they scattered throughout the whole earth and turned the erring pagans, and preached to the world the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is due glory, honor, and worship together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.