Homily Two on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (St. Luke of Simferopol)

The world discovered by the holy apostles that the Lord Jesus Christ shone with Divine gentle.

The world discovered that in addition to the sunshine of the solar, the fabric gentle, there may be one other gentle – Divine. But they didn’t know this earlier than, they didn’t take into consideration any Divine gentle.

And how we must always have recognized concerning the Divine gentle!

Material gentle, the sunshine of the solar offers materials life to all life on earth. Without it, no earthly life is feasible. He offers life to every thing. In this respect it’s immeasurably better than any synthetic gentle, even electrical, which doesn’t give life to something.

But the sunshine of the solar offers life to materials life, and in addition to it there may be everlasting life, the place life isn’t materials, however religious.

Just because the solar is the supply of bodily life, so is the supply of everlasting life within the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this Light, enlightening each particular person coming into the world, was seen by the holy chosen apostles on Mount Tabor.

About this gentle, about its bearer, the Lord Jesus, the Holy Apostle John the Theologian writes: “In Him was life, and the life was the sunshine of males” (John 1:4).

The gentle of Christ is true life. In these phrases gentle and life are recognized.

What type of life is known right here? Of course, not bodily life, moderately, everlasting life in communion with God.

And the supply of this everlasting life, this by no means fading gentle, is barely within the Lord Jesus Christ.

“And the sunshine shines within the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

In what darkness does the sunshine of Christ shine?

In the darkness of sin, within the outer darkness, which is so immeasurably a lot.

But this darkness, this religious darkness can by no means, by no means extinguish this everlasting Divine gentle, for “the sunshine shines within the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This is the sunshine that the Lord Jesus Christ confirmed on Mount Tabor – the sunshine of God, the sunshine that constitutes the true and unique essence of just one God, for this gentle is without doubt one of the most superb properties of God.

The Lord Jesus mentioned about Himself: “I’m the sunshine of the world” (John 8:12).

He is the sunshine of the entire world: His Divine gentle illuminates the entire world.

But we learn within the Gospel that Elijah and Moses, who appeared to the Lord Jesus Christ throughout His Transfiguration, additionally shone with Divine glory.

And Moses, a thousand years earlier than, had already shone with Divine gentle throughout his lifetime. When he descended from Mount Sinai, carrying the tablets of the Covenant, then his face shone with Divine gentle insufferable for human eyes, and he needed to cowl his face with a veil, for the eyes of the individuals of Israel couldn’t bear to have a look at this gentle.

What was this gentle? It was not an unique gentle that belonged to Moses himself – it’s a gentle borrowed from God, it’s a reflection of the Divine gentle.

You know that each one the planets don’t shine for us with their very own gentle, they’re darkish our bodies, not luminous, they shine with the sunshine of the solar mirrored on them. They take their gentle from the solar.

So all of the saints, and each nice prophets, members within the Transfiguration of the Lord, didn’t shine with their very own gentle, however with a lightweight borrowed from God. Even concerning the biggest of males, John the Forerunner of the Lord, within the Gospel of John it’s mentioned that he was not a lightweight, however was despatched to testify of the true gentle – the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is nice and superb to shine with the mirrored gentle of the Divine, however it’s shameful and unworthy to hunt the mirrored energy and greatness of the highly effective of this world, as courtiers and flatterers have been searching for this always.

There are many individuals who contemplate themselves enlightened, bearers of the sunshine of science and philosophy. The phrases of Christ are addressed to them: “Look, due to this fact, on the gentle that’s in you, whether or not there may be darkness” (Luke 11:35).

Oh, how it’s essential for them to ponder these phrases, to check their imaginary gentle with the Divine gentle of Christ, and to know the poverty of their souls.

But Matthew quotes these phrases in a different way: “So if the sunshine that’s in you is darkness, then what’s the darkness?” (Matthew 6:23).

Think about these phrases, I wish to clarify these phrases to you.

But they don’t seem to be simple to know, and I’ll begin from afar.

In distant India dwell non secular thinkers and ascetics who name themselves yogis.

They created a doctrine, although alien to us, however sensible.

They say that those that have acquired religious imaginative and prescient see individuals surrounded by rays of assorted colours: form and pure individuals are surrounded by lovely blue radiance, evil and merciless purple ones, silly and fully dedicated to base pursuits are immersed in darkish and black radiation.

Maybe they actually see it, however why am I telling you about it?

That on this educating of the yogis there’s a certain quantity of fact, it’s not removed from the nice and deep phrases of Christ: “ man out of the nice treasure of the center bringeth forth good issues: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil issues” (Matt. 12:35) .

With the goodness and light-weight of their souls, imperceptibly pouring into the outer darkness, the righteous illuminate this darkness.

They are like a person strolling at nighttime with a lantern: he illuminates the trail for himself and exhibits it to others.

And if the center of an individual is darkness, then the outer darkness can be impenetrable for him (“and what’s the darkness”).

Woe to him, woe to him whose palms are coated in blood, whom yogis see surrounded by purple radiation!

May such horrible grief not befall any of us!

May Christ hear and fulfill our petition: “May your eternal gentle shine upon us sinners, by the prayers of the Theotokos, Light Giver, glory to Thee.”

But this nice pleasure have to be earned by diligent success of all of the commandments of Christ.

We should turn into righteous, who will shine just like the solar within the kingdom of the Heavenly Father. Amen.