The Transfiguration Series

-AD 29_

Unnamed Mountain

Lesson: The Transfiguration

(Isaiah 42:1) Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36

-Matthew-

The final verse of chapter 16 belongs here with chapter 17, because Jesus is speaking about the transfiguration when He says: Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matt. 16:28)

This statement by Jesus was fulfilled for the disciples in the transfiguration of Jesus. Peter verifies that in his second epistle, when he wrote about the experience that he and two other disciples had when they witnessed the event. He said, “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. 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.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18).

The transfiguration is a miniature picture of the Kingdom. It is also a picture of what we will be someday, when we get our glorified bodies. Peter got a glimpse of what the child of God will be someday, when he saw Jesus transfigured. The man or woman you will be someday will be like Christ, for it says in 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” The glorious prospect of being like Christ is before every person.

The Lord Jesus Christ was glorified before His death and resurrection and that’s the story of the transfiguration.

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light (Matt. 17:1-2).

When Christ was here on earth, He was without His glory. He left His glory in heaven. He lived here, for the most part, in a humble state and He surrounded Himself with men who were humble in possessions and status. Occasionally, there were glimpses of His glory; at His birth, at His baptism, at his temptation, and at His death. But His public ministry began in humiliation and continued that way. Here in the midst of His ministry Peter, James and John are privileged to see the greatest display of His glory.

It was six days after Jesus told them about his coming death when he took Peter, James and John to a secluded place on an unnamed mountain. He took three because that was the number that could legally, according to scripture, testify to what they saw. Scriptures states, “For out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”

The three disciples saw something spectacular. They saw Jesus transfigured; “His face did shine like the sun.” In John 1:14 it says, “we beheld his glory, even as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The light shown from within Him, rather than upon Him from the outside, like a spotlight. The word transfigured is the word metamorphosis, which means “a change of form or structure.” The little wooly caterpillar will sometimes become a beautiful butterfly by the process of metamorphosis. The body that I have today, filled with arthritis, will be transfigured, and even those who are alive when Christ returns will be changed, transfigured. This is a great hope of humanity.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him (Matt. 17:3).

Two men appeared with Jesus in a miraculous way. Either from the conversation or by what Jesus told them the disciples discovered that the two were Moses and Elijah. Moses was the representative of the Law, and Elijah was the representative of the prophets. Moses had died, and Elijah had left this world in a chariot of fire. Now, they were talking with Jesus. Luke tells us that they were discussing His coming death in Jerusalem.

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” (Matt. 17:4).

Peter put his foot in his mouth once again. He should have kept still, but he couldn’t resist saying something. He tried to place Jesus on the same level as Elijah and Moses, and God himself rebukes him as we shall see. Luke tried to explain his rashness by stating, “…not knowing what he said” (Luke 9:33). There are a lot of people today who talk without knowing what they are saying.