“And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. The prostration of the disciples — falling on their faces in terror — is the standard response to theophany in the Hebrew Bible. The terror communicates the reality of the divine encounter: the disciples who have been following Jesus and calling him Lord now encounter the Father's presence and are overwhelmed.
Church Fathers on Matthew 17:6
While they thought only of an earthly tabernacle of boughs or tents, they are overshadowed by the covering of a bright cloud; 'While he yet spake there came a bright cloud and overshadowed them.
When the Lord threatens, He shews a dark cloud, as on Sinai [margin note: Ex 19:9,16]; but here where He sought not to terrify but to teach, there appeared a bright cloud.
The bright cloud overshadowing the Saints is the Power of the Father, or perhaps the Holy Spirit; or I may also venture to call the Saviour that bright cloud which overshadows the Gospel, the Law, and the Prophets, as they understand who can behold His light in all these three.
Read all 17 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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