The Bible tells the story as follows:
Jesus went up on a high mountain with three of his disciples. There, while praying and in the presence of his disciples, he was transfigured. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light, also two prophets appeared beside Him.
Suddenly a bright cloud covered the group and a voice from the cloud said: “this is my
Son, my beloved, listen to Him”.
When they heard this, the disciples were overcome with fear, but Jesus reassured them and prepared them for the terrible struggle, of which they were to be witnesses, leading to his crucifixion, and the following heavenly glory.
These words, “this is my son my beloved” were heard once before; at Christ’s Baptism.
The Transfiguration of our Lord is the culminating point of his public life, as his Baptism is its starting point, and his Ascension its end.
The prophets appearing beside Jesus were Moses and Elias, two figures from the Old Testament. The first represents the law and the second the prophets. It is written about Jesus in the laws as in the prophetic books.
But what were they discussing with Jesus? Luke the evangelist says that they were talking about Jesus’ death (Lk 9:31). These luminous prophets’ discussion was the revelation of
Jesus’ resurrectional transfiguration. By resurrection Jesus had victory over death.
In the Armenian church the origin of this feast is ascribed to St. Gregory the
Illuminator, who substituted it for a pagan feast called Vartavar.
In the month of July, when Armenia’s fields and woods were fully blossomed, Vartavar festivities were held in honor of Asdghig: the King, princes and the people gathered on
flourished plains at the banks of rivers and held joyful celebrations; young men crowned the statue of Asdghig with roses and launched pigeons in the sky, they had a lot of fun sprinkling water on each other. The Armenians at present keep the transfiguration of our Lord as one of the five great feasts of the year.
