Luke 9: 28 – 36
You Get The Picture?
28 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. 30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. 33 Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” 36 When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.
In order to derive as much information relative to today’s Scripture, we find that not only Matthew and Mark cover the same situation, but also Peter is led to comment on this event later in his life in his second letter. So, let’s see what they wrote.
Matthew 17:1-9, “17 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” 8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”
Mark 9:2-13, “2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— 6 because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. 7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” 8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves. 9 Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. 11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
2 Peter 1:16-18, “16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
There was a time that a arrogant co-worker tried to embarrass me because of my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in front of other workers. I am sure you have come across similar situations where out of the blue some attack like this occurs.
Anyway, as I was working, this guy made this insulting comment so all around could hear. He said against the bible. It was something like it was just a book of fairy tales. He was baiting me and wanting a confrontation. So, he got a response from me. I replied that the bible has been proven accurate over and over.
So, he says this to me as a crowd gathered around. ‘Oh yeah, then tell me how Cain got his wife?’
‘Simple’, I said, ‘She was one of his sisters. You see then the DNA was pure so it wasn’t a problem then to marry one of your sisters. Remember, Eve came from the body of Adam, so they were the same flesh and blood as the other.’
I opened my bible and showed him and every one around my desk Genesis chapter 2, which pointed out Eve’s creations, “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
So, then I handed the guy my bible and showed him chapter 5 of Genesis and had him read the portion which spoke of how girls came on the earth where Cain could get a wife – “5 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.”
So, since this guy opened the door of sharing God’s truth I commented. ‘Who is the father of the Jewish people?’ The guy responded – ‘Abraham’. ‘Are you aware that the father of your heritage married his sister?’ Before he could answer I turned to chapter 20 of Genesis, “And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” 8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.” 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?” 11 And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
I bring this story up because there are also skeptics out there that try to take a shot at God’s Word. These use the different Gospel versions to try to say that the bible is inaccurate. So, we have to give a defense of God’s Holy Word.
In case you didn’t catch the significant difference that those who defy the loving submission to the Holy Creator there is a noticeable difference. This difference is the 8 days that Luke lists and the six days the other writers list. So, who is right?
The answer is that they are all correct.
Remember that Matthew and Peter were there. In fact, Peter was one of the special three guys who the Lord took with Him up on the mountain. Luke came back with Paul years later and spoke with these two guys along with other apostles and disciples who were there with our Lord.
Both Matthew and Peter who gives Mark his version of what happened had just been with our Lord at Caesarea. At this time as you remember Peter had declared that our Lord Jesus was God’s special ‘Anointed’ Holy One – The Christ, The Son of God. Matthew and Mark pick up from this point in saying ‘Now after 6 days’. These were the amount of days that the disciples abode with the Lord at Caesarea that the group headed out and traveled to the area of Mount Hermon.
Luke now gives us the time frame so we can subtract the journey. He says that after 8 days is when the Lord now separates three of the guys to go further up on the mountain with him. Thus, the journey took how long? The answer two days, which is six from eight.
28 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
Why did our Precious Holy Spirit encourage Luke to write ‘8 days’? Well, ask the Holy Spirit yourselves when you have a chance.
I will take a stab at the reason why? The number 5 is often referred to as what? The answer is grace. How about the number 6? This number is often referred to as man’s failure to reach perfection which is listed by the number 7. The number 8 then refers to what? – New Beginnings.
Peter had declared that our Lord Jesus was the Messiah. The group set out after six days and traveled to where our Lord was going to display His Glory. This time frame would not serve the Perfect Third Person of the Trinity, The Holy Ghost. Six is man’s failure to reach perfection or the number 7. So, they were guided to walk two days to equal now eight or the vision of the Lord’s future kingdom which will be a new beginning for all who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord took Peter, James, and John up further on the mountain. I do not believe that they climbed to the top but to a flat plateau. In my visit to Israel we traveled to this site. There is the ruins of an old Roman fortress on a plateau half way up the mountain. I believe that this spot is very likely where our Lord and the three came to.
29 As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. 30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Remember the Lord’s words to His disciples when He said in verse 27 of chapter 9 of Luke, “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”
Well, guess what. Here these three guys are seeing the Glory of the Lord. His kingdom is being implemented in the hearts of many and these guys got to see Him is His Majestic Holy Radiance.
Moses’ and Elijah’s presence confirmed the reality that our Lord Jesus Christ Is The Messiah of Peter’s confession.
Elijah represented the prophets who foretold the coming of the Messiah as we read in the book of Malachi chapter 4, “5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
Moses was the leader of the Jewish nation. As you know he lead the people out of Egypt. We find this information in what book of the bible? – Exodus.
Look again what Luke says that he is talking with our Lord about? - ‘31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.’ The word ‘decease’ very interestingly means ‘Exodus’
These two guys, one who was taken alive into heaven and the other already resurrected was encouraging our Lord about His role in the ‘Exodus’ of mankind from the slavery of sin into forgiveness and adoption as sons and daughters to be able to live in God’s Heavenly Kingdom.
They were sent by Adoni Yahweh, our Father God, to encourage our Lord, because His role in accomplishing this ‘Exodus’ required the sacrifice of His blood and life on the cross. Thank You Lord Jesus, Holy Father, Wonderful Holy Spirit – El Shaddai, God Almighty.
32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His Glory and the two men who stood with Him.
Remember that all four went up the mountain to pray. Have you ever been at a prayer meeting and someone fell asleep? Yes, many times is probably your answer. Can you imagine walking up a high hill and then finally settling down. I can imagine that the conversations between our Lord and Moses and Elijah along with our Lord’s shinning light woke the three up. Then their minds were clearly blown away.
33 Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
For me I go by the principal, ‘Blessed is the fool who knows he is a fool and keeps his mouth shut, then the one who opens his mouth and removes all doubt.’ I do not want to be that fool and say things that will cost me later.
Peter had been praised by our Lord when he had boldly declared the Lord Jesus as God’s Holy Son. His trouble was that he felt that he should say something again. So the voice which told him that Jesus was the Messiah now Is going to tell him something else.
34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”
Our Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High informed Peter that there Is only One voice to heed and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
This had so much impact on Peter that some forty years later it is still on Peter’s mind as he wrote in his second letter - “16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.’
At this time false teachers were claiming that the Lord Jesus’ Resurrection and Return to Heaven were just fables. Peter countered these comments with his eyewitness account. He had seen the power and Glory of the Son of God.
36 When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.
Have you ever thought about or asked, ‘why did the Lord inform the three not to say anything till the future after He Is risen from the dead?’ Well, let me show you again the passages and see if you can guess why this was so?
In Mark’s Gospel as dictated by Peter we read some additional information, “11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
Again as I listed before, Elijah represented the prophets who foretold the coming of the Messiah as we read in the book of Malachi chapter 4, “5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
These guys should have known from the Word of God that Elijah would appear. Here our Lord Is displaying for them with Elijah and Moses ministering to Him the fulfillment of prophecy of the prophet Malachi’s writings and they then ask that Lord about Elijah possibly showing up again. ‘Hello!’ He had just shown up.
Our Lord told these guys not to say anything because is was evident that they did not fully understand what had just happened. After our Lord gave His life on the cross and rose again from the dead, then the disciples would fully comprehend what had just occurred.
