As we look at the Transfiguration, we often tend to look only at certain parts of the event. We see our Lord Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Old Testament, the Apostle of the Church, the High Priest of the New Covenant, and many other titles that he rightfully has. We see Moses, who stands for the Law, the one who stood up to Pharao and freed his people physically as our Lord was going to free His people spiritually. We see Elijah, who stands for the Prophets, who won the battle against the false prophets as our Lord won the battle against Satan and his hosts.
But, often, we miss some of the other commonalities between them. For instance, two of the three were taken bodily and alive into heaven (Jesus and Elijah), while the body of the third one was never found — in part because the Archangel Michael fought Satan for his body (see the Book of Jude). I suspect that it is now in God’s keeping.
And, finally, the one that I only learned today. All three of them were men who fasted 40 days and 40 nights. That is, together these are the three men listed in Scripture as engaging in that God-blessed fast. Pope Shenoudah (Coptic Orthodox) said, “This magnificent scene, conceals behind it an important message that is, by conquering the body through fasting, the spirit becomes manifest and the body is transfigured Our Lord Jesus Christ selected two people who fasted to be with Him on the mount of transfiguration showing their transfigured nature in eternity.” This demonstrates for us the importance of fasting. Those who fast with meaning can end up with transfigured lives, lives that reflect our Lord Jesus Christ.
And, remember, as St. Basil says, “Because we did not fast, we were chased out of Paradise; let us fast now, so that some day we return there.” That is, the first commandment given was to fast, that is to abstain from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When we fast, we imitate our Lord Jesus Christ, and we agree with him that we need to fast as Adam and Eve were told that they needed to fast.
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