And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death, till they see the kingdom of God come in power.

Having spoken of His glory and wishing to teach that He does not mention it in vain, the Lord then says that "there are some of those standing here," that is, Peter, James, and John, who will not die until I show them in My Transfiguration the glory with which I will appear at the time of Coming. For the Transfiguration is nothing but an omen of the Second Coming. Thus will He Himself shine forth at that time; so will the righteous shine.

And it came to pass, after six days, that Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and brought them up into a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them. His garments became shining, very white, like snow, as a bleacher cannot bleach on the ground.

The Evangelist Luke says that it was eight days later. However, he does not contradict Mark, but he completely agrees with him. His speech embraces both the day on which the Lord announced (His impending Transfiguration) and the day on which He led (the disciples to the mountain), while Mark speaks of only intermediate days. The Lord devours and leads up to the high mountain only three chief apostles – Peter, as one who confessed and loved. John, as beloved, and James, as a great preacher and theologian, who was so difficult for the Jews that Herod, wishing to please the Jews, killed him. He raises them up to a high mountain, so that the miracle may be all the more glorious. And he builds "especially" (in private) because he wanted to reveal the secret. The Transfiguration itself is understood not as a significant change in the appearance of Christ, but as the illumination of Him by an ineffable light, and its natural form remained the same as before.

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they conversed with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi! it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. For he did not know what to say; because they were afraid. And a cloud appeared overshadowing them, and out of the cloud came a voice, saying, This is my beloved Son; Listen to him. And suddenly looking around, they saw no one else with them, except Jesus alone.

For many reasons, Elijah and Moses are conversing with Christ. But it is enough to mention two. Thus, since the disciples rejoiced that some of the people took Him for Elijah, and others for one of the prophets, He reveals to them the greatest prophets, so that the disciples, at least, in this way would know the difference between slaves and the Lord. Here is the first reason. Second: since many considered Christ to be an adversary of God, who allegedly destroys the Sabbath and transgresses the law, He shows on the mountain such prophets, one of whom was a lawgiver, and the other a zealot; and such prophets would not have conversed with Him if He had destroyed the Law and did not do what they preached. And Peter was afraid to come down from the mountain (for he feared the Lord's crucifixion), and therefore he said, "It is good for us to be here," and not to go down among the Jews; for if thy enemies come hither, we have Moses, who smote the Egyptians, and Elijah, who brought down fire from heaven, and destroyed the fifty chiefs. What did the prophets talk to Him about? They spoke of the Crucifixion and His death. And what Peter said, he himself did not know what he was saying, because all of them (the disciples) were in fear of the ineffable light and glory of Christ. He did not want Jesus to come down from the mountain to the Crucifixion for the sake of our salvation, but wanted to remain always on the mountain. But let us also turn our minds to (mysterious) contemplation. At the end of this world, created in six days, Jesus will lead us, if we are His (true) disciples, "to the high mountain," that is, to heaven, and He will reveal Himself to us in the brightest form. Now He appears to us in an inglorious form, as the Crucified One and the Son of the woodworker, and then we will see His glory as the Only-begotten; if we also see the Law and the prophets conversing with Him, that is, what was spoken of Him by Moses and the prophets, then we will understand and find the perfect fulfillment of their prophecies. Then we will also hear the voice of the Father, for the Father will reveal to us the Son and declare: "This is My Son." How will He tell us this? When the cloud is overshadowed, that is, the Holy Spirit, for He is the source of life.

And when they came down from the mountain, he commanded no one to tell what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And they kept the word, asking one another what it meant to rise from the dead.

Why does Jesus command the disciples not to tell anyone about the Transfiguration? So that people, hearing about such glory of Christ, would not be offended later when they saw Him crucified. After the Resurrection from the dead, it will be convenient to speak about such a glorious event that took place before the Crucifixion of Christ. Thus, the apostles "kept this word (observing this event in secret), asking one another what it meant to rise from the dead," for they had not yet understood His words that He was to rise from the dead.

And they asked him, "How then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He answered and said to them, "True, Elijah must come first and arrange all things; and the Son of Man, as it is written of Him, must suffer much, and be humiliated. But I say to you, that Elijah also came, and they did to him as they wished, as it is written about him.

There was a rumor among the Jews that Elijah would come before the coming of Christ. However, the Pharisees did not interpret what was written about Elijah as they should, but maliciously changed (the meaning of the Scriptures), hiding the truth. For there are two comings of Christ: one is the first (which has already been), and the other is yet to come. The forerunner of the first was John, the forerunner of the second will be Elijah. But Christ calls John Elijah as a denouncer, zealot and desert dweller. Thus, the Lord refutes the opinion of the Pharisees, who thought that the forerunner of Christ's first coming should be Elijah. How does he refute it? He says, "Elijah must come first and arrange all things; and the Son of Man, as it is written of Him, must suffer much." This means this: when Elijah the Tishbite comes, he will pacify the disobedient Jews, lead them to faith, and thus become the forerunner of the second coming of Christ. And if the Tishbite, who was to arrange all things, had been the forerunner of the first coming, how is it written that the Son of Man must suffer? Thus, one of two things: either Elijah should not be the forerunner of the first coming, if the Scriptures tell the truth that Christ must suffer, or we will believe the words of the Pharisees that the forerunner of the first coming must be a Tishbite, and then there will be no truth in the Scriptures, which say that Christ will suffer; for Elijah must arrange all things, and then there will not be a single Jew who does not believe, but all will believe the preaching, whoever hears it from Elijah. Thus refuting the wrong opinion of the Pharisees, the Lord said that "Elijah (i.e. John) had already come, and they did with him as they wished," because they did not believe him, and he accepted the end by cutting off (the head), becoming a victim of amusement (Herod's).

And when he came to the disciples, he saw many people about them, and the scribes arguing with them. Immediately when all the people saw Him, they were amazed, and running up, they saluted Him. He asked the scribes; What are you arguing with them about? One of the people answered and said, "Teacher! I have brought my son to Thee, possessed of a dumb spirit: wherever he seizes him, he throws him to the ground, and he foams, and gnashes his teeth, and becomes numb. I told Thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.

And when Jesus came to the disciples, to the nine who had not gone up to the mountain with him, he found them in a contest with the Pharisees. For in the absence of Jesus, the Pharisees, having approached His disciples, tried to win them over to their side. Meanwhile, the people, as soon as they saw Him, immediately greeted Him. The people looked at Him and greeted Him, as if He had returned from afar. And according to some, His very appearance, having become more beautiful from the light of the Transfiguration, attracted people to Him with greetings. "One of the people said in response..." This man was weak in faith, as the Lord testifies, saying: "O unfaithful generation," and again, "all things are possible to him that believeth"; and he himself says: "Help my unbelief." He also stipulates the disciples (Jesus) as if they were all unbelievers. And he was not to accuse them in front of everyone, but in private.

Answering him, Jesus said, "O unfaithful generation! How long will I be with you? How long shall I endure you? Bring him to Me. And they brought him to Him. As soon as the demoniac saw Him, the spirit shook him; He fell to the ground and lay there, foaming. And Jesus asked his father, How long ago was this done to him? He said, "From childhood; and many times the spirit threw him into fire and water to destroy him; but if you can, have pity on us and help us. Jesus said to him, "If you can believe a little, all things are possible to him who believes." And immediately the father of the lad cried out with tears: "I believe, O Lord! help my unbelief. Jesus, seeing that the people were running together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, "Dumb and deaf spirit! I command you, come out of it and enter it no more. And he cried out and shook him violently, and went out; and he was made as dead, so that many said that he was dead. But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up; And he got up.

So the man, when he came to Jesus, blamed the disciples for not being able to heal his son; but Christ turns the accusation on himself and says, as it were: you have no faith, and therefore you yourself are guilty of not being healed by your son. However, Jesus' words do not refer only to this man, but He says this about all Jews in general, reproaching them for their unbelief. For many of those who were present could be tempted by this incident. And when Jesus says, "As long as I am with you," he is expressing that death was desired for Him, that is, as if He were saying, "It is a sorrow for Me to dwell with you unbelievers." However, He does not stop only at reproach, but also gives healing, revealing in the healing of the lad not arrogance, but much more – humility. For note that it is not to His own power, but to the faith of that man that He attributes healing, saying: "All things are possible to him that believeth." Moreover, He rebuked the spirit when He saw the people gathering to Him; again because He did not want to heal before the multitude of people, – to show His power and for His glory. And by the prohibition and the words: "Come out of it, and enter it no more" makes it clear that because of the unbelief of a person, the demon could again enter into him, if we were not forbidden by His prohibition. But He allowed the demon to break the lad, so that everyone would understand the demonic temptation and that the demon could have killed a person, if the hand of God had not protected them. Figuratively speaking, the demon plunges people into the fire of anger and lust and into the turbulent waves of worldly affairs. This demon is dumb and deaf – deaf, as one who does not want to hear the words of God; As one who is unable to teach others anything useful to the soul. But when Jesus, that is, the Word of the Gospel, takes a man by the hand, that is, directs his active powers, then he is freed from the demon. Notice also that God is willing to help us, but we ourselves refuse to do good works. For it is said: "Jesus lifted him up" – this is God's help, "and he arose," that is, in man himself there was aroused diligence for good works.