Chapter 17

Chapter 17. — On the Transfiguration of Christ. On the Lunatic. On Those Who Demanded the Didrachma

¹ And after six days, Jesus takes Peter, and James, and John his brother. This is not contrary to what is said in Luke, that, And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, and so forth; for Luke counts both the first day and the last, on which they went up into the mountain, while Matthew counts only the days in between. And he took Peter as one who loved him exceedingly, and John as one who was beloved, and James as one who was himself also a zealot; and that he had zeal is clear from his both promising to drink the cup, and from Herod’s slaying him with the sword to please the Jews.

² And he brings them up into a high mountain apart, and he was transfigured before them. And his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. He brings them up into a high mountain, showing that unless one is lifted up, he does not become worthy of such visions. And [he leads them] apart, because Christ was wont to perform his more extraordinary miracles in secret, lest, being seen by the many as God, he should be thought to be a man only in appearance. And when you hear “transfiguration,” do not suppose that he then cast off the body, but that, the body remaining in its own form—for you hear of his face and his garments—he appeared more radiant, his divinity displaying a little of its own rays, and this only so far as [the disciples] were able to behold it. For this reason he above called the Transfiguration the kingdom of God, as having revealed to the disciples the unspeakable [greatness] of his authority, and as having shown that he is genuinely [begotten] of the Father, and as bearing the dignity of the second coming, through the ineffable splendor of the face of Jesus.

³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. What were they talking about? His departure, Luke says, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem—that is, the cross. And why did Moses and Elijah appear? That it might be shown that he is Lord both of the law and of the prophets, and of the living and the dead; for Elijah is a prophet, and is still alive, while Moses is a lawgiver, and has died. But also that it might appear that he is not opposed to the law, nor against God; for neither would Moses have spoken with one who opposed his own [precepts], nor would Elijah the zealot have endured him, were he against God. And further, that he might dispel the suspicion of those who said he was Elijah or one of the prophets. How did the disciples know that they were Moses and Elijah? Surely not from images, since to make images of men was then thought impious. It seems, then, that they recognized them from the words they were speaking; for perhaps Moses was saying, “You are he whose Passion I prefigured, when I slew the lamb and celebrated the Passover”; and Elijah, “You are he whose resurrection I prefigured in the widow’s son”—or some such things. Showing these men, then, to the disciples, he teaches them to imitate them: to be, after the manner of Moses, meek and able to lead the people; and after the manner of Elijah, zealous and unbending when there is need, and ready to face danger, just as these men were for the sake of the truth.

⁴ And Peter answered and said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Peter, wishing that Christ should not suffer, out of his great love says: “It is good to remain here, and not to go down and be killed. For even if someone should come here, we have both Moses and Elijah to work with us; for Moses overcame the Egyptians, and Elijah brought down fire from heaven; so that against the enemies who might come here, these men will be such [helpers].” He spoke these things out of much fear, as Luke says, not knowing what he said. For the strangeness astonished him; or because he truly did not know what he was saying, wishing Jesus to remain on the mountain and not to go down and suffer for us. And fearing lest he should seem presumptuous, he says, “If you will.”

⁵ While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him. You, O Peter, seek tabernacles made with hands; but the Father, setting around them another tabernacle not made with hands—the cloud—shows that, just as he himself appeared to the ancients in a cloud, being God, so too does his Son. And the cloud here is bright, not dark as in the old [covenant], because he wished not to terrify but to teach. And the voice came from the cloud, that it might be shown that it was from God. And the [phrase] “in whom I am well pleased” [stands] for “in whom I rest and take delight.” And he teaches that “you are to hear him, even if he wills to be crucified; do not oppose him.”

⁶ And when the disciples heard it, they fell upon their faces, and were exceedingly afraid; and Jesus came and touched them, and said: Rise, and be not afraid. And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, save Jesus only. Not bearing the brightness of the cloud, nor the voice, the disciples fell to the ground; and their eyes were also weighed down with sleep—and by “sleep” he means the great stupor that came from the sight. But lest the fear, lingering long, should cast out the memory of the things they had seen, he raises them up and emboldens them, and he alone is found, so that you might not suppose that the voice was about Moses or Elijah, but about himself; for it is he who is the Son of God.

⁷ And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no one until the Son of man be risen from the dead. Out of humility he charges them to tell no one; and at the same time, that those who heard such things might not be scandalized, seeing him afterward crucified. For they would have thought him a deceiver, who had performed the godlike [wonders] only in appearance. But learn this, that after six days—that is, after [passing beyond] the world that was created in six days—comes the vision of God; for unless you pass beyond the world and are lifted up on the mountain, you will not see the radiant things—neither the face of Jesus, by which I mean his divinity, nor the garments, by which I mean the flesh. And then you would also see Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus; for the law and the prophets and Jesus speak one thing and are in concord. But also, whenever you find someone interpreting the meaning of Scripture radiantly, know that this man beholds the face of Jesus radiantly; and if he also makes the words clear and brightens them, this man also sees the garments of Jesus as white; for the words are the garments of the meanings. But do not say, like Peter, It is good for us to be here; for one must always advance, and not remain at one single level of virtue and contemplation.

⁸ And his disciples asked him, saying: Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Deceiving the people, the scribes said that he was not the Christ; for if he were, Elijah would have come first—not knowing that there are two comings of Christ, of which the forerunner of the first is John, and of the second, Elijah. This very thing, then, Christ also interprets to the disciples; for listen.

⁹ And Jesus answered and said to them: Elijah indeed comes first, and shall restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished; so also shall the Son of man suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist. In saying, “Elijah indeed comes,” he shows that he had not yet come, but will come as forerunner of the second coming, and will restore to the faith of Christ all the Hebrews who shall be found obedient, restoring them as one restores to certain men a fallen paternal inheritance. But in saying that “Elijah has already come,” he means the forerunner John. And “they did to him whatever they wished,” having slain him; for through the very means by which they permitted Herod to slay him, being able to prevent it, they themselves slew him. Then, indeed, the disciples, becoming sharper, understood that he had called John “Elijah,” as having become forerunner of the first [coming], while that other [Elijah] shall be [forerunner] of the second coming.

¹⁰ And when they had come to the crowd, there came to him a man kneeling down to him, and saying: Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers grievously. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. This man appears to be exceedingly unbelieving, both from what Christ said to him, “O faithless generation,” and because he accuses the disciples. And it is not the moon that is the cause, but the demon watches for the moon when it is full, and then sets upon him, so that the works of God might be blasphemed as harmful. But understand also that every foolish man is altered like the moon, according to what is written—at one time appearing great through virtue, at another diminished and vanishing away. This man, then, is moonstruck and falls down, both into the fire of wrath and of desire, and into the water, the currents of a life full of cares, in which leviathan lurks—that is, he who reigns in the waters; for are not the cares of the rich like waves following one upon another?

¹¹ And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him. And Jesus answered and said: O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? bring him here to me; and Jesus rebuked him, and the demon went out of him, and the boy was healed from that hour. Do you see the man laying his own fault of unbelief upon the disciples, as though they had been too weak for the healing? The Lord, therefore, putting him to shame—since he accused the disciples—says: “O faithless generation”; that is, the fault is not so much one of their weakness as of your unbelief; for being great, it overcame their measured power. And in reproaching the man, he reproaches all in common as unbelieving, even the bystanders. And in saying, “How long shall I be with you?” he shows that he longs for the Passion upon the cross, or for his departure from them. For how long shall I dwell among the insolent and unbelieving? And Jesus rebuked him—whom? The lunatic; from this, then, it appears that he too, being himself unbelieving, became, through his unbelief, the cause of the demon’s [coming] upon himself.

¹² Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said: Why could we not cast it out? And Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For verily I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you; but this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. The apostles feared lest they had perhaps lost the grace given to them against the demons; therefore in private they ask, in anxiety. But the Lord, reproaching them as too imperfect, says that it is “because of your unbelief”; for if you had warm and fervent faith, even though it seemed small, you would have accomplished great things. Where the apostles removed mountains is nowhere written; nevertheless, it is likely that they did remove them, and that it was not written. For not all things were written; and besides, the occasion did not require it, and for this reason they did not remove them, but did other, greater things. See, then, what the Lord also said: You shall say to this mountain, Move, that is, “Whenever you say it, then it will move”; the apostles, then, did not say it, since neither the occasion called for it nor any necessity, and for this reason they did not move mountains; whereas, had they said it, they would have moved them. And this kind, the kind of demons, is cast out through prayer and fasting; for both the demon-possessed themselves must especially fast, and those who are about to heal them. And prayer is effective then, when it is made not with drunkenness but with fasting. Understand also that all faith is a grain of mustard seed, reckoned indeed to be of little worth because of the foolishness of the preaching; yet, if it lights upon good soil, it grows into a tree, in which the birds of heaven—the thoughts that soar on high—make their nests. Whoever, then, has all faith, that man is able to say to this mountain, “Move”—that is, to the demon; for he was pointing to the demon that had gone out.

¹³ And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said to them: The Son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and on the third day he shall be raised; and they were exceedingly grieved. He continually foretells the Passion, lest he should be thought to suffer unwillingly, and at the same time that he might train them, and that they might not be troubled by its unexpectedness when it came to pass. And to the grievous things he joins also the joyful, [namely] “He shall rise again.”

¹⁴ And when they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma came to Peter, and said: Does your teacher not pay the didrachma? He says: Yes. God, in place of the firstborn of the Hebrews, willed that the tribe of Levi should be consecrated to him. And the tribe of Levi, when numbered, was found to be twenty-two thousand; while the firstborn were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. In place of those firstborn who were over and above the tribe of Levi, God appointed that a didrachma be given to the priests. From then on, therefore, it became a custom that all the firstborn, without exception, should pay the didrachma, which is five shekels, that is, two hundred obols. Since, then, the Lord too was a firstborn, he also paid it; but perhaps out of reverence for Christ on account of his miracles, they do not question him, but Peter—or rather, craftily, as if to say something like this: “Has your teacher, who opposes the law, then deigned to pay the didrachma?”

¹⁵ And when he had entered into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying: What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tribute or tax? from their own sons, or from strangers? Peter says to him: From strangers. Jesus said to him: Then the sons are free. As God, although he had not heard, he knew what those men had discussed with Peter; therefore he also anticipates him, saying: “If the kings of the earth do not take tribute from their own sons, but from strangers, how shall the heavenly King take the didrachma from me, his Son?” For this, as I said above, was offered to the priests and to God. If, then, the sons of the kings here below are free—that is, paying nothing—how much more I!

¹⁶ But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you have opened its mouth, you shall find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and for you. “That we may not be reckoned arrogant and despisers of the law,” he says, “and so give offense, pay the tribute; for I give it not as one who owes it, but as one correcting their weakness.” For from this let us learn that we must not give offense where we are not harmed; for where we are harmed by a single deed, we must not have regard for those who are unreasonably scandalized. So then, that he might show that he is God and ruler of the sea, he sent Peter to bring the stater from the fish. And at the same time we also learn a certain mystery: for our nature is the fish, baptized in the deep of unbelief; but the apostolic word drew us up, and found in our mouth the stater, the oracles of the Lord and the confession of Christ; for he who confesses Christ, that man has the stater in his mouth—a stater drawing two drachmas. For Christ also has two natures, being God and man. This precious stater, then, was given for two: for Jews and Gentiles, and for the righteous and sinners. And whenever you see a lover of money, having nothing else in his mouth but gold and silver, know that this man is a fish, swimming in the sea of this life; but if some teacher like Peter is found, he hooks him, and casts out of his mouth the gold and the silver. Some, however, think the stater to be a fourth part of a [standard] coin.