Strengthening the Disciples

Λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, εἰσίν τινες τῶν αὐτοῦ ἑστηκότων οἳ οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσιν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.  Οὔπω τὴν ἐξ ὕψους δύναμιν ἐσχηκότας τοὺς μαθητὰς εἰκὸς ἦν τάχα που καὶ ἀνθρωπίναις περιπεσεῖν ἀσθενείαις καί τι τοιοῦτον καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐννενοηκότας εἰπεῖν· Πῶς ἀρνήσεταί τις ἑαυτόν; ἢ πῶς ἀπολέσας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν εὑρήσει πάλιν αὐτήν; τί δὲ τοῖς τοῦτο παθοῦσι τὸ ἰσοστατοῦν ἔσται γέρας; ἢ καὶ ποίων ἔσται χαρισμάτων μέτοχος; ἵνα τοίνυν τῶν τοιούτων αὐτοὺς ἀποστήσῃ λογισμῶν καὶ οἷον μεταχαλκεύσῃ πρὸς εὐανδρίαν τῆς ἐσομένης αὐτοῖς εὐκλείας ἐπιθυμίαν ἐντεκών φησι· Λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν· εἰσί τινες τῶν αὐτοῦ ἑστηκότων, οἳ οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσι τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ. βασιλείαν δὲ θεοῦ λέγει αὐτὴν τὴν θέαν τῆς δόξης, ἐν ᾗ καὶ αὐτὸς ὀφθήσεται κατ' ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ, καθ' ὃν ἐπιλάμψει τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς· ἥξει γὰρ ἐν δόξῃ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔν γε μᾶλλον σμικροπρεπείᾳ τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς. πῶς οὖν ἄρα θεωροὺς ἐποιεῖτο τοῦ θαύματος τοὺς λαβόντας τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν; ἄνεισιν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τρεῖς ἀπ' αὐτῶν τοὺς ἀπολέκτους ἔχων. Εἶτα μεταπλάττεται πρὸς ἐξαίρετόν τινα καὶ θεοπρεπῆ λαμπρότητα ὥστε καὶ τὸν ἱματισμὸν αὐτοῦ τῇ τοῦ φωτὸς προσβολῇ διαλάμψαι καὶ οἷον ἀπαστράψαι δοκεῖν. Πλὴν Μωυσῆς καὶ Ἠλίας περιεστηκότες τὸν Ἰησοῦν προσελάλουν, φησίν, ἀλλήλοις τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἔμελλε πληροῦν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, τουτέστι τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίας τὸ μυστήριον καὶ τὸ σωτήριον πάθος, τὸ ἐπί γέ φημι τῷ τιμίῳ σταυρῷ· δόξαν γὰρ αὐτὸ καλοῦσιν ἀεί. Καὶ γάρ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ὅτι ὁ διὰ Μωυσέως νόμος καὶ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν ὁ λόγος τὸ Χριστοῦ μυστήριον προανέδειξαν, ὁ μὲν ἐν τύποις καὶ σκιαῖς, μονονουχὶ καθάπερ ἐν πίνακι καταγράφων αὐτό, οἱ δὲ πολυτρόπως προηγορευκότες ὡς καὶ ὀφθήσεται κατὰ καιροὺς ἐν εἴδει τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς καὶ ὅτι τῆς πάντων ἕνεκα σωτηρίας καὶ ζωῆς οὐ παραιτήσεται τὸ παθεῖν τὸν ἐπὶ ξύλου θάνατον. Οὐκοῦν ἡ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἠλίου παράστασις καὶ τὸ προσλαλεῖν ἀλλήλοις αὐτοὺς οἰκονομία τις ἦν εὖ μάλα καταδεικνύουσα δορυφορούμενον μὲν ὑπὸ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ὡς καὶ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν δεσπότην, προκαταδειχθέντα δὲ παρ' αὐτῶν, δι' ὧν ἀλλήλοις συνῳδὰ προεκήρυξαν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λούκαν Εὐάγγελιον, Κεφ. Θ'

'Truly I say to you that some standing here will not taste death until they have seen the kingdom of God.' 1 As the disciples had not yet obtained virtue from on high, it was likely that they also stumbled in human weaknesses, and pondering in themselves the sayings they had heard may have said 'How does a man deny himself?' or 'How having lost himself does he find himself again?' And 'What reward will be worthy of those who suffer so? Or 'Of what gifts will they be made partakers?' To rescue them therefore from such unstable thoughts, and, so to speak, to forge them into fortitude by begetting in them a desire for the glory to come, He says, 'I say to you, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they have seen the kingdom of God.'  And by the kingdom of God He means the sight of the glory in which He will appear at that time when he shines on those on earth, for He will come in the glory of God the Father, and not in low state as was to us. How, then, did He make those who had received the promise spectators of such a wonder? Going up the mountain He takes with Him three chosen ones, and He is transformed with so surpassing and godlike a brightness, that His garments shine with such light that it seems like  flashes of lightning. And then Moses and Elijah stood at the side of Jesus and spoke with one another about His departure, which He was about to fulfill at Jerusalem, that is, the mystery of the dispensation of the flesh and the passion of salvation, and indeed, I say, about the precious cross which will always be called glorious. For it is indeed true that the law of Moses and the word of the holy Prophets prefigured the mystery of Christ; the first by types and shadows, as in the painting of a picture, while the rest in many ways declared before the events that both in time He would appear in our likeness and for the sake of the salvation and life of all he would not refuse to suffer death on the tree. Therefore the standing of Moses and Elijah beside Him and their talking with one another was a sort of arrangement which well represented our Lord Jesus Christ as being guarded by the Law and the Prophets, and Him as master of the Law and Prophets, foreshown by them by those things which in agreement with one another they had proclaimed. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 9 1 Lk 9.27