“And so, we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We live in dark times, brethren. As our Lord says, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come” (Matt 24:6). Nation wars against nation. There are pandemics and deaths. There is gross social and financial inequality. Billionaires rule the planet through heavily lobbied, surveillance states. Thirty-five-year-olds can’t afford homes. Twenty-five-year-olds can’t afford apartments. Eighteen-year-olds can’t afford college. Babies are killed in their mothers’ wombs. The elderly are euthanized so as not to be a drag on the already over-burned healthcare system. Underage children are sold into sex slavery. These are dark, dark times. (pause.) Are these times darker than any other time in human history? (repeat.) People are still dying—thousands die daily—but we are also living longer than ever before. War will always be with us. Financial inequality has always been with us. A time is only as dark as the light against which it is contrasted. The darkness of the times is only so tolerable as the Light which guides us through.
The Apostles also lived in dark times. They were persecuted and martyred—remember? Do you recall what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians of his own sufferings?
“I have worked… hard… been in prison… been flogged, been exposed to death again and again. Fives time I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked” (2 Cor 11:23b-27).
Who among us has suffered like St. Paul? His darkness—his tribulation—makes our own darknesses feel very light indeed. The same report could be given by the other apostles, all of whom were martyred in one way or another, save St. John the Theologian, who was “only” exiled. Was there any time darker in all of history than the 1st century AD, the era in which the Son of God, the Savior of the world, was tortured, crucified, killed, and buried? Surely not.
In the midst of such terrible suffering—physical and spiritual—St. Peter offers his own flock words of great consolation; words which we heard tonight in his Second Epistle:
“And so, we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet 1:19).
What is the context of the Apostle’s consolation? What is the “prophetic word”? The experience of the Transfiguration of the Lord. St. Peter has seen very dark things: his master betrayed, beaten, crucified, mocked, slandered, hastily and unceremoniously buried. And St. Peter has seen wondrous, inexplicable, mysterious, glorious things: the blind made to see, the lame made to walk, demons exorcised, a resurrected Man, a transfigured Man; a glorified Man, radiant with the Uncreated Light of Tabor (cf. Matt 17:1-9).
“After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light” (Matt 17:1-2).
The darkness of our Lord’s suffering, and his disciples’ suffering, is very, very dark. But the glory of our Lord’s resurrection and his transfiguration, and the glory promised them that believe is even weightier! It outweighs the darkness! It makes the darkness pale in comparison! It makes the darkness nigh insignificant! St. Peter says elsewhere, in his First Epistle,
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you… . And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet 5:6, 10).
The experience of our Lord’s suffering is real, brethren. And the experience of his resurrection, and transfiguration, or glorification, is even more real. The suffering had a say. The resurrection is the final say. Our suffering too is real. But it is not the end. It is not the final say! The promises of the Father to the Son of God are promises which are also for us, God’s adopted children, and co-heirs with Christ (cf. Rom 8:17). This is the testimony of the saints, is it not? This is the witness of the saints! How many of our saints were tortured? How many of our saints experienced chronic illness, and starvation, and exposure to harsh elements, and slander—terrible slander and character assassination—and exile, and loneliness! And yet also, in their lives, especially in their dying moments, did not some of them radiate the Divine Light? Did not some of them testify to the glory of God and the triumph of the resurrection, even through their mortal bodies? This is not an ancient fable, hearsay! Our most contemporary saints also testify to this miracle, as when the Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, on his deathbed, forty-five minutes after his repose—his face was transformed into a radiant smile and shone with the uncreated light of the Transfiguration. In suffering—joy. Even in death—life.
Without the hope of Christ and his resurrection, our fear and anxiety are only painful and meaningless suffering. Without the hope of Christ and his resurrection, our loneliness seems unending. Without the hope of Christ and his resurrection, all sickness, all disease is just this: a death sentence. But with Christ, all these dark times become redemptive times. In the light of Christ’s resurrection, they become opportunities and channels for our salvation. Pain is not the end; sickness is not the end; loneliness is not the end; addiction is not the end; loss and grief is not the end; poverty is not the end. Christ is the end! Christ is our end! The glory of Christ in the Transfiguration is also our glory, our divinization, our theosis, our salvation! What does that mean, brethren? We cannot even begin to imagine. But we are comforted in our hope.
“And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain…” (Rev 21:4).
“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away [the] tears from all [their] faces” (Isa 25:8).
“[Then Jesus] was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light” (Matt 17:2).
“We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. [But] we know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, emphasis mine).
“And so, we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet 1:19).
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!