Top Hamas Leader¹s Son Converts to Christianity

. Top Hamas Leader’s Son Converts to Christianity By Ethan Cole Christian Post Reporter Mon, Aug. 04 2008 The son of a top Hamas leader has converted to Christianity and prays someday his family will also accept Jesus Christ as their savior, an Israeli newspaper reported. Masab Yousef, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheik Hassan Yousef, revealed for the first time in an exclusive interview with Haaretz newspaper that he has left Islam and is now a Christian. Prior to the interview’s publication last Thursday, Yousef’s family did not know of his faith conversion even though he is in regular contact with them. “[T]his interview will open many people's eyes, it will shake Islam from the roots, and I'm not exaggerating,” Yousef, who now resides in the United States, said. “What other case do you know where a son of a Hamas leader, who was raised on the tenets of extremist Islam, comes out against it?” Yousef, who is now 30-years-old, was first exposed to Christianity eight years ago while in Jerusalem where out of curiosity he accepted an invitation to hear about Christianity. Afterwards, he became “enthusiastic” about what he heard and would secretly read the Bible every day. “A verse like ‘Love thine enemy’ had a great influence on me,” Yousef recalled. “At this stage I was still a Muslim and I thought that I would remain one. But every day I saw the terrible things done in the name of religion by those who considered themselves ‘great believers.’ “I studied Islam more thoroughly and found no answers there. I re-examined the Koran and the principals of the faith and found how it is mistaken and misleading.” But with Christianity, Yousef said he could understand God as revealed through Jesus Christ. He said he could talk about God and Jesus for days, but Muslims are not able to say anything about God. “I consider Islam a big lie,” said the son of one of Hamas’ founders. “The people who supposedly represent the religion admired Mohammed more than God, killed innocent people in the name of Islam, beat their wives and don’t have any idea what God is. “I have no doubt that they’ll go to hell. I have a message for them: There is only one way to Paradise – the way of Jesus who sacrificed himself on the cross for all of us.” Four years ago, Yousef decided to convert to Christianity but did not let his family know. He still helped his father with his political activities, and his father only knew his son had Christian friends. “I felt responsible. It was better for me to be there rather than a gang of fools who would poison his mind,” Yousef explained. “I tried to understand those people, their thoughts, in order to change them from inside by means of a strong person like my father, who admitted to me in the past that he does not support suicide attacks.” Yousef described his father as a moderate Hamas leader. But even before his encounter with Christianity, Yousef had already become disenchanted with Hamas and Islam while being imprisoned at the age of 18 years old for heading a youth Islamic movement at his high school. He described the Hamas leaders he met in prison as people with “no morals” and “no integrity,” although they hide their corruption better than Fatah party members. “Nobody knows them and how they operate as well as I do,” Yousef said, recalling how the family of Hamas members killed by Israel were forced to beg for financial assistance while the leadership “abandoned” them and “wasted” tens of thousands of dollars a month only on security for themselves. “Then (in prison) I understood that not everyone in Hamas is like my father. He's a nice, friendly man. But I discovered how evil his colleagues are,” Yousef said. “After my release I lost the faith I had in those who ostensibly represented Islam." Hamas is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Israel, and many Western countries. The group has publicly vowed to destroy Israel. Now Yousef, the eldest son of Sheikh Yousef, says he “admires” Israel. "You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas,” Yousef stated. “Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death." He denounced the “entire” Palestinian society as one that “sanctifies death and the suicide terrorist.” “In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheiks tell their students about the ‘heroism of the shaheeds (martyr).’” Yousef highlighted that Hamas was the first to use suicide bombers as weapons against civilians. "They (Hamas) are blind and ignorant. It's true, there are good and bad people everywhere, but Hamas supporters don't understand that they are led by a wicked and cruel group that brainwashes the children and gets them to believe that if they carry out a suicide attack they'll get to Paradise,” he said. The Muslim-turned-Christian says he does not think Islam will survive for more than 25 years because the truth about Islam will be exposed given the mass communication available in the modern age. For his part, Yousef says he hopes to “open the eyes” of Muslims and “reveal the truth” to them about Islam and Christianity with the goal to “take them out of the darkness and the prison of Islam.” “In that way they'll have an opportunity to correct their mistakes, to become better people and to bring a chance for peace in the Middle East,” he said. Yousef, who has taken the biblical name of Joseph, said he dreams of one day becoming a writer to tell his personal story and about the Middle East conflicts. “But at the moment, at least, my ambitions are only to find work, a place to live,” Yousef admits. “I have no money, I have no apartment,” said the son of the Hamas leader who left behind properties in Ramallah to find true freedom. “I was about to become one of those homeless people [in the United States],” he confessed, “but people from the church are helping me. I'm dependent on them." He also dreams that someday he can return to his homeland and his family will accept Jesus Christ. "I know that I'm endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he'll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity,” Yousef said. “Maybe one day I'll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God.”

The Good Tree

St. Matthew 12:30-37 (8/9) Gospel of Saturday of the Eighth Week after Pentecost

The Good Tree: St. Matthew 12:30-37, especially vs. 37: "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." This passage from St. Matthew was occasioned by an encounter between a tragically disabled man and our Lord Jesus Christ (Mt. 12:22). The man survived in a society that lacked public assistance. He was not able to speak about his pain, but was simply consigned to beggary and
vulnerability. Added to all his physical impairments, he was also a habitation of demons. The Gospel account tells of a complete transformation in the man; for our compassionate Lord swept away the entire weight of blindness, silence, alienation, and inner turmoil, so that the man "both spoke and saw" (vs. 22).

The truly surprising twist of events in connection with this healing was the Pharisees' reaction to the Lord Jesus: "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons" (vs. 24). We
may ask who was living in blindness, alienation, and inner turmoil? This bitter response of the Pharisees led to the Lord Jesus' teaching in today's reading; for, although His response to the Pharisees was barbed, His words contain a wonderful gift. He provides the way to root out bitterness and hatred from our hearts, discover if we are "gathering or scattering abroad" with Him (vs. 30), and nourish ourselves from "the
Good Tree".

Our Lord begins with a proclamation of forgiveness. Sins, even blasphemy, can be forgiven; yes, even the slurs that the Pharisees aimed at Him were forgivable (vs. 31). God is "...faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn.1:9). However, forgiveness from God comes with conditions to be met: forgive others, confess our own sins to the Lord, make every effort to turn from whatever we said or did, and struggle to live in a manner worthy of our calling in Christ.

Such repentance begins with a decision, one that our Lord describes in a metaphor or parable having to do with trees. A fundamental life-decision necessarily must precede even confession to God. In the words of the metaphor, one must decide whether Christ Himself is "a good tree or a bad tree" (vs. 33).

Pious behavior aside (and piety was something the Pharisees doggedly pursued), earnest Christians must decide what they believe about Him they call Lord. In short: does Christ reveal the basic truth about
life, or is He just another man who had admirable ideals? Will we form our hearts on Him, live by His teaching, or adopt other guidelines for living? If you decide that He is "the good tree which gives good fruit
to eternal life," then you will repent and feed from the Tree of Life. You will confess to the God proven faithful to forgive.

To take the Lord Jesus seriously means uniting to the Church, a uniting measured by our inner response to the Holy Spirit. If we belittle, ignore, reject, or live contrary to the Divine Spirit, even if we affirms that Christ is "the good tree," we are apostates at heart. Life in the Spirit, then, is effectively, useless. To live such a
contradiction actually blasphemes the Holy Spirit. Persist in such a rejection, and one loses the gift of Divine forgiveness (vss. 31,32).

Those who choose "the Good Tree" must be watchful, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (vs. 34). Monitor what you say. What comes out of you? "good treasure or idle words" (vss.
35,36)? The Lord knows all about "slips of the tongue." He reminds us that we shall give an account even for our inner thoughts behind our words (vss. 36,37). Either we condemn ourselves or save our souls by living from the fruit of the Good Tree.

Grant forgiveness, O Lord; send also strength. Convert me, that I might live in sanctity, according to Thy holy will. Sanctify my heart as a dwelling place free of demons.

Why We Stand In Church?

One of the first things that surprises a newcomer to a traditional Orthodox Church is the absence of pews or rows of chairs. The nave seems so empty. What do people do? They STAND! How odd! Did you know that all Orthodox Christians, east and west, always stood until the 16th century Protestant Reformation? Protestantism replaced the altar as the focus of sacramental life, with the pulpit as a focus of intellectual life. Instead of the offering of bread and wine, there was the offering of a lecture, a sermon. The congregation listens and, for the first time in history of Christianity, they sat down. The Church was transformed into a classroom, a lecture hall, with benches and lecterns. This radical change in architecture manifested a deeper shift in Western Christianity's idea of God and how we worship Him. In Orthodox terms, worship has always been a liturgical invocation of personal, Trinitarian presence. In Christ through the Holy Spirit we enter the life of the Trinity. God is accessible to the whole man, body, mind and spirit. On the other hand Western worship has become an academic and intellectual discussion, largely dependent on a moral exhortation. In this situation worship becomes an affair of the mind or the intellect. This is not worship because it deals only with the mind. Western churches that do have liturgy followed the general Protestant example of having pews. In these cases liturgy became not only an intellectual activity of the mind but also a spectator activity of the church goer. Active participation in worship becomes impossible as people become confined to rigid and limited space. Liturgy with all its rites becomes about God and is no longer of God. When this happens Liturgy, according a prominent Western Roman Catholic Liturgical theologian, "shifts toward being some form of education done in a doxological context for ideological ends, then significant mutations begin to occur. Concepts become more precise, the assembly more passive, ministries more learned, sermons more erudite, AND PEWS FIXED." (ON LITURGICAL THEOLOGY, by Aidan Kavanagh) Orthodox Liturgy is called divine because it is of God and not about Him. It is the experience of God with us,giving Himself to us through word, hymn, action, rite, etc. All of which are of God because they are inspired by the Holy Spirit. In order for us to participate in this divine action, Orthodox do not merely stand in church.. There is a continuing dynamism, and movement on the part of the congregation. This is often quite distracting to westerners because liturgy or going to church for them has become an educative process that excludes movement. In Orthodox divine services the believer, the total person, worships using all their senses. In other words the total person is involved not only their mind. Orthodox worship is natural, spontaneous, and genuine. There is movement about the temple before and during the Liturgy. People do deep bows and prostrations. At certain points the entire congregation moves forward. during a censing of the temple the people move to the center of the church. During the entrances the priest moves among the people. There is no rigidity here, no confinement, no sterility, only the freedom to involve our whole person in worship. Of course all this can become an idol and done for the incorrect reasons. Here in America, Orthodox Christians had an inferiority complex and had to imitate and fit in with their Protestant and Roman neighbors. We appeared foreign and tried to imitate their worship patterns. As a result pews became fixed, organs, choir robes etc. appeared on the Orthodox scene. There are definite reasons why they did not exist in Orthodox Worship, just as they did not exist in Biblical worship of the Old Testament. Biblical worship, Old and New Testament of God and not about Him. It is God given. The real issue is not sitting and sanding. Orthodox Churches always provided places for the elderly, the sick, the infirm and pregnant and nursing mothers a place to sit. At times the congregation is directed to sit outside of non-Eucharistic services for psalmody, scripture readings, and for the sermon. For the reading of the Gospel one always stands. For the healthy standing was always the norm. Standing is the norm because Orthodox Worship is LITURGY. Liturgy means a common work of a group of people gathered together for a common purpose. One when one is involved in a specific work, or even a game such as baseball or basketball, it is impossible to be involved to work at the game and be sitting or even confined to a certain area. One needs the freedom to move around. In worship, if it is really liturgical and done liturgically, one needs this freedom to work or to liturgize. It is hard work and sitting in rigidly fixed pew that confine and do not permit one to work at Liturgy. Our common goal involves work and in this work we ascend to the Father in Christ through the power of the Spirit. Our Liturgy is literally heaven on earth. Christ is truly in our midst and where He is there is His Father. This is not an endeavor of relaxation. This is true of all Orthodox worship, not only the Eucharistic Liturgy. All Liturgy is work. It is God's work done in His Church.. We enter into His presence and when we are there we stand in awe and respect of His presence in our midst.

John and Elijah: For Friday

St. Matthew 17:10-18 (8/8) Gospel for Friday of the
Eighth Week after Pentecost

John and Elijah: St. Matthew 17:10-18, especially vs. 12: "But I say to
you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.
Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." In St. Matthew's Gospel, immediately after the first disciples experienced the Lord Jesus' Transfiguration (Mt. 17:1-9) they asked, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" (Mt. 17:10). Our Lord then teaches all of us about three important persons: Elijah, the classic model of all Old Testament Prophets; St. John the Forerunner, "greatest
of those born of women" (Mt. 11:11); and Himself, our God and Savior. He seeks to enlarge the understanding of all disciples concerning the theophany on Mt. Tabor; therefore He addresses the relationship among these three persons (Mt. 17:11-13).

First, our Lord confirms a traditional reading of Malachi 4:5, "...behold, I will send to you Elias the Thesbite, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes...." The scribes rightly discerned that immediately before the Messiah comes to judge the nations, God in His mercy will send Elijah as a Forerunner to prepare His People by settling their questions and restoring the sacred articles long-ago vanished with Solomon's Temple (Mt. 17:11).

Then, our Lord links together Elijah and St. John. The connection He makes between them is best understood in terms of the Archangel Gabriel's announcement before St. John's birth - that John would minister "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Lk. 1:17). John's and Elijah's divinely appointed tasks, therefore, are very similar, as Gabriel's words emphasize: historically the two will serve as Forerunners prior to the appearance of the Christ in the world.

Furthermore, both John and Elijah will be endowed with the Holy Spirit, and both will appear at critical moments, decisive in the process of God's salvation on behalf of mankind. In stating that "Elijah has come already"(Mt. 17:12), the Lord Jesus reinforces the identification of the tasks of John and Elijah, although not literally; for He says that Elijah has come.

It is important to understand that when our Lord identifies John and Elijah He is affirming a powerful approach for interpreting Scripture. The statement that "Elijah has already come" is "typological" in character: the record of the Bible remains firmly grounded in actual history even as it calls attention to theological meanings, doctrines, and essential beliefs.

The typological method of reading Scripture is rigorously faithful to God's revelation of Himself in real time. In contrast to allegory (which looks for hidden and inner meanings in the words of Scripture) typology discloses the inner dynamic of God's plan within actual events. As Fr. Florovsky says, "there is no need to abstract revealed truth from the frame in which the revelations took place." The mighty acts of God in history build up in a crescendo and reach the majestic resolution of the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ our God.

The typological perspective makes connections among many events over the long span of history, illumining God's hand through time. Typology discloses the mysteries of the Faith by using God's work in and through concrete events and persons - such as John and Elijah.

Another example of typology in today's reading may be found in the link that our Lord makes between Himself and the Forerunner John. St. John is a type of the Lord Who "is also about to suffer at their hands" (vs. 12). The Forerunner's martyric death at Herod's command foreshadows and prepares for the Mystery of the Lord Jesus' Passion. Observe further that Elijah, when he returns in history, will foreshadow the dread day when Christ the Lord returns to judge every person, people, and nation for all their words and deeds.

O Forerunners of Christ, who proclaim the dispensation of the King, pray to Him for us.

Self-Denial: For Thursday

St. Matthew 16:24-28 (8/7) Gospel for Thursday of the Eighth Week after Pentecost Self Denial: St. Matthew 16:24-28, especially vs. 24: "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, 'Ifanyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself....'" St. Paul once posed a crucial questionthat applies to each Christian: "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey,you are that one's slaves whom you obey...?" (Rom. 6:16). Note St. Paul's implication: everyoneis slave to someone or something. Our human problem is that we cannot serve both Christ asMaster and be ruled by other things in this life to which sin entices us. To be Christ's slave, onemust wage a continuous interior war. Listen to St. Paul: "But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet youobeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set freefrom sin, you became slaves of righteousness....For just as you presented your members as slaves ofuncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slavesof righteousness for holiness" (Rom. 6:17-19). Here is our dilemma. We are in a unending battleof self-denial to remain faithful to Christ and not to be drawn back into sin. Who is our Guide in this battle for self-denial? Christ Himself, of course: "...I havecome down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me" (Jn. 6:38). TheLord Jesus does not ask something of you that He did not do Himself as a man. He knows the battle,and in Him you have an invincible Champion: "...those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh withits passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24). Choose to depend on grace from God for this battle, for He"will crush down Satan" under your feet (Rom. 16:20). However, if you and I will not deny "self," if we persist in pampering and indulging ourself, let us accept the Lord's declaration that "whoever desires to save his life will lose it" (Mt.16:25). See, there is no profit in giving in to self! Even if I gain the whole world, I will, in fact,forfeit the life in Christ (Mt. 16:26). Remember also, the Son of Man will come and "...reward eachaccording to his works" in this life (Mt. 16:27), who lives shamelessly for pleasure, gratification andguilt. Do we preach fear? We do not deny the reality of dread in the Gospel. St. John Chrysostom observes that "fear is necessary merely in order that we may masterthe indolence natural to us. Where there is so fierce a war and such great hindrances, how can weby any possibility be saved without fear?" It is told of St. Silouan that he achieved union with Christand became His slave by the continuous raging of the fires of hell around him. Do we think that theApostles, the Prophets, and the Lord Himself held the "fear of God" lightly? Listen to the counselof the Prophet David: "Who is the man that feareth the Lord? He will set him a law in the waywhich He hath chosen. His soul shall dwell among good things, and his seed shall inherit the earth.The Lord is the strength of them that fear Him..." (Ps. 24:12-14). St. John Chrysostom identifies godly fear as an essential for spiritual growth. As he says,"And how may this fear be produced? If we only consider that God is everywhere present, hears allthings, sees all things, not only whatsoever is done and said, but also all that is in the heart, and thedepth of the soul, for He is 'quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart' (Heb. 4:12).Whenever you eat, consider that God is present, for He is present; whenever you are preparing tosleep, or giving way to passion, if you are robbing another, or indulging in luxury, or whatever youare about, you will never fall into laughter, never be inflamed with rage. 'Serve the Lord with fearand rejoice in Him with trembling' (Ps. 2:11)." O my Creator, establish me wholly in Thy fear. Ever shelter me, guard and keep mefrom every soul-corrupting deed and word. Show me a dwelling place of Thy Spirit only.

The Full Gospel: For Wednesday

St. Matthew 16:20-24 (8/6) Gospel for Wednesday of the Eighth Week after Pentecost

The Full Gospel: St. Matthew 16:20-24, especially vs. 23: "...You are an
offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." It is tempting for us, frail and human as we are, even when illumined in the Christian Mystery, to adopt what St. Paul calls "a
different Gospel" (Gal. 1:6); for, as the blessed Apostle says, there "is
not another [Gospel], but there are some who...want to pervert the Gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:7).

In these verses from St. Matthew, the Lord Jesus reveals three ways His full Gospel is "skewed" and made "palatable" for the convenience of "human
sensibilities': 1) minimize the supernatural, 2) modify the Person and Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 3) gloss over the centrality of His
suffering, death, and Resurrection.

The disciple Peter, who would become chief among the Apostles (Mt. 16:18), had an intense, human reaction to the Lord Jesus' announcement that He "must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed" (Mt. 16:21). Peter was horrified at the prospect. He rebuked the Teacher for "allowing" this (Mt. 16:22). Peter's resistance to the Lord's prophecy of was so strong that he missed the all-important portion of the message, "and be raised the third day" (vs.21). The full Gospel includes the Resurrection.

Like the Pharisees and Sadducees, Peter and the other disciples did not fully comprehend the two dimensions of the "sign of Jonah" (Mt. 12:39): they understood "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Mt. 12:40) but missed the Resurrection to follow. Jesus told them, but still they missed it. So the Lord Jesus warned them of the "leaven of the
Pharisees and Sadducees" (Mt. 16:6,11) who demanded signs to believe in Him.

Ultimately, the disciples would be blessed to witness the most upernatural
of all signs, but, first, they would have to experience the Passion. Only
afterwards would the risen Lord stand in their midst.

Ah, but let us not be over-dependent on miracles. The full gospel is ours
by faith in Christ. As He says, "...Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (Jn. 20:29). Above all, let us not miss the full gospel by having an inadequate or limited understanding of the Person and ministry of Christ our God. Rather, let us affirm that He is fully God and fully Man in every respect, except He has not our clinging plague of sin - the tragic lot of our race.

This present passage shows that the disciples were growing toward a full understanding of the Person of the Lord Jesus. They rejected many popular
views of Him: that He was John the Baptist or Elijah - forerunners of the
Christ - or that He might be "Jeremiah or one of the prophets" (Mt. 6:14). Peter did declare, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt. 16:16). Carefully, the Lord modulated his true revelation. Note how He begins with the caution to "tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ" (vs.
20). While Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God," the full Gospel will include His death and Resurrection. Immediately, then, He told
the disciples of His Passion and of being raised the "third day" (vs. 21).

When Peter evinced a "normal" resistance to the idea of suffering and death, the Lord Jesus rebuked him sharply so that all His disciples might gain a full understanding of the Gospel. Beloved, grasp the foolishness of the Gospel - "...Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called...the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Cor. 1:21-25). Only the full Gospel saves us despite ourselves.

The Bridegroom of the Church was fastened with nails, pierced with a spear.

Thy sufferings we adore, O Christ. Make us to behold Thy glorious Resurrection!

Preparation for the Light: For Wednesday

St. Matthew 17:1-9 (8/6) Gospel, Feast of the Transfiguration of ourLord Jesus Christ

Preparation for the Light: St. Matthew 17:1-9, especially vs. 2: "...He wastransfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothesbecame as white as the light." By His Transfiguration, the Lord Jesusprepares His People for His Passion, the ineffable wonder of HisResurrection, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, apprehending the Mystery ofHis Incarnation, and His second, glorious coming to judge the living and thedead. The Transfiguration prepares the Faithful for the full Mystery ofChrist, for Truth beyond human comprehension, and for the unfathomable gloryof God. And may it evoke a healthy fear of the Lord.

How can a mortal be "prepared" for a Mystery that is "beyond and above"?God has provided the Transfiguration. The radiant Christ stands as apromise of His utter glory that we shall one day behold . The troparion ofthe Feast adds a caution: "When Thou wast transfigured on the mountain, OChrist our God, Thou didst reveal Thy glory to Thy Disciples in as far asthey could bear it." That last phrase is an alert: the Lord's glorifiedstate, as the God-Man, overwhelmed the disciples. It would stagger allother humans as well - in heart and mind.

The glistening, whiter-than-white figure of the Incarnate Lord dominates theicon of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor. All else around Him is subdued,bowed in reverence. Observe the disciples prostrate, overwhelmed in holyfear. Jesus' Transfiguration was momentous for those who "left all andfollowed" Him (Lk. 18:28). May the thought that we too shall gaze upon Hisglory bring us down upon our faces, trembling before the majesty of theEternal Himself.

For months the disciples struggled to comprehend the Lord Jesus' teaching,His instruction presented with astonishing power and authority (Mt.7:28,29), and His control of the natural elements: "Who can this be, thateven the winds and the sea obey Him?" (Mt. 8:27). They knew Him as a uniqueMan (Mt. 9:8), for He healed "every sickness and every disease among thepeople" (Mt. 9:35). Speculation became rampant: "Could this be the Son ofDavid?" (Mt. 12:23). Yes, there were some who blindly attributed His powerto evil demons (Mt. 12:24).

Shortly before the events on Mt. Tabor, apart from the crowds, the Lordconfirmed Peter's intuition to the disciples: He is, indeed "the Christ, theSon of the living God" (Mt. 16:16). But He added that "He must go toJerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests andscribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day" (Mt. 16:21). Thismessage confused them. Undoubtedly powerful groups in society were plotting"against Him, how they might destroy Him" (Mt. 12:14). The moment had cometo help the disciples see His Divine nature, and so, in a flash of eternity,He briefly slipped aside the cloak of His Divinity. Thus, theTransfiguration became one more aid in the Disciples' development asApostles. In a dazzling moment, the gracious Lord provided a theophany ofHimself to move three of His key disciples closer to the whole truthconcerning Him, their Master.

Beloved of the Lord, read this account and prostrate yourself before thegleaming Incarnate God. Worship the Holy, Transfigured Christ our God andbe prepared to see Him in His glory. Today, in a burst of uncreated Light,God illumines all who will go up on the mountain with His Son Jesus. Thebrief vision still is overwhelming for the mortal mind; yet the Light ofTabor is enough to prepare us for the "disarray" that comes when wecontemplate the arrest, crucifixion, and death of the Son of God in theflesh - when we see the power of sin. Ah, but be encouraged. Here also isforetaste of the Resurrection!

"Let Thine everlasting Light also enlighten us sinners, O Thou Bestower ofLight."