Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord
By St. John Maximovitch
By St. John Maximovitch
When He created the world, God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). The image of God in man is manifested in his mental abilities, in his authority over nature, his power, and his ability to create. The likeness of God in him lies in his moral perfections, in his spiritual aspirations, in his ability to achieve holiness.
The image and likeness of God, in which our first parents were created, was fully reflected in them before the Fall. Sin violated both the former and the latter, although it did not completely deprive a person of them. The mind and everything else that was the image of God remained in man, but to develop them it is necessary to use great efforts, yet he achieves only a small measure of what the first parents completely received. There remains in man, to some extent, the desire to be in the likeness of God, although sometimes he falls beyond recognition.
In order to return to man his original closeness to God, the Son of God descended to earth and became incarnate. He took upon Himself the whole of human nature, and became like man in all things, except sin. He came to recreate our created beauty in the image of God. But if in the beginning God created man in His image and likeness, who had not yet existed, and man did not take any part in his own creation, then in order to recreate the first image, the participation of man himself is necessary. Man must strive for perfection in order to attain it by the grace and help of God.
The Lord showed the way to perfection by His teaching, and showed it by His example. This is the path of moral perfection, self-denial, and readiness to rid oneself of all that is sinful. Sin has deeply entered into human nature, as if merged with it. Every person is born with the germ of sin, and liberation from it is, as it were, a struggle with oneself. Therefore, this struggle is painful, but it is necessary for drawing closer to God. "Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and come after Me" (Matt. 16:24), said Christ. The cross that must be taken up is this struggle with one's weaknesses, vices and sin. Gradually freeing himself from them, man draws closer to God, in Whose image he was created.
Man himself does not have enough strength for this, but he is aided by the grace of God, given by God through the Church which was created by the incarnate Son of God. For this reason He became incarnate, in order to raise His fallen image again. On Tabor, Christ showed the beauty and glory of His Divinity, so that the apostles, and through them the whole universe, would know of Whom man is in the likeness of and what he approaches by rising spiritually. To the extent that a person is cleansed of sin and draws closer to God, the glory of God is more and more reflected in him. That is why the saints are called venerables. Like a mirror, the glory of God is reflected in their souls, filling it with radiance. When the earthly podvig is over, the degree of similarity that one has attained is finally imprinted. At the coming of the eternal Kingdom, all people will be resurrected, souls will be united with their bodies, and then "the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father," said Christ Himself through His lips (Matthew 13:43).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.