The Transfiguration Of Jesus Christ

Today we’re going to look at an amazing scene in the life of Christ—what we often call The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. The gospel tells us about an incident on a mountain. The clothing of Jesus began to shine, and His glory was revealed. Why was that moment so significant?

In Matthew 16, Jesus explains who He is to His disciples. And He explains to them what lies ahead. Taking into consideration that He is Christ, the Son of the Living God, they’re saying, “You are God. You are the Messiah.” In verses 21 through 26 Jesus describes His humiliation. Remember, Jews on that day had an expectation that the Messiah would come and throw off all their oppressors and make everything right. Their king would come on a white horse and destroy their enemies. They were expecting the exaltation of their Messiah.

But before the exaltation, and glory, there must be humiliation—not just for the Master, but also for His servants. Look at verses: Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Luke 16:24-25)

So, first is humiliation, and then there's vindication—the return of Christ in glory and in final judgment. Look at verses "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 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". (Luke 16:27-28)

What must the Master and His servants endure to receive vindication? So there's the suffering, the death, the cross—for the Master and for His servants. Then there is the vindication, the glory, the kingdom. But, we want the latter without the former. The disciples wanted Jesus to be this great, conquering Messiah without pain, suffering, and death of the cross. But it could not be. First the humiliation, then the vindication. Amen. Now, we’re going to walk through this passage, and I want us to see several things about the transfiguration:

I. The Glory of Christ:

This scene appears to have taken place at night. We read in Luke’s account that the disciples were heavy with sleep (Luke 9:32). It was nighttime. The sky was filled with darkness. But here everything is bright and filled with light.

Now, please do understand this. This is not like a spotlight shining on Jesus. This is the glory of God from within Christ shining out through the form of a human, He had taken in the form of a servant. Remember, He is God and man. Here the God-ness shines out through the human veil—the glory of God from within.

Luke’s account says that “As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening (dazzling and white)” (9:29). It was like flashes of lightning. So we have this blazing light and this dazzling whiteness.

Now, as I ponder this passage, it reminds me of the descriptions of the Old Testament where the glory and presence of God were manifested.How was the glory and presence of God manifested in the Old Testament? What was it like? The manifestation of God in the Old Testament was often accompanied by light, by fire, by brightness.

Think about how God first appeared to Moses. How did He appear? In a burning bush. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2) Think about the Children of Israel in the wilderness. How did God lead them? With a pillar of fire at night and a bright, shining cloud by day. (Ex. 13:21-22)

As we turn to Ezekiel chapter 1. There’s a vision in Ezekiel 1 of the pre-incarnate glory of Christ. Before Christ came to this earth, this was the description. Listen to what it says: And seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.

There was this bright, magnificent, splendorous vision of the pre-incarnate Christ. And Ezekiel says: Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking (Eek. 1:28).

Ezekiel was given this vision, this glimpse of Christ in His glory in heaven, but now Christ has come to earth. He’s walking in what we know now as Palestine. He goes up to this mountain and takes three of His closest disciples with him. The disciples are all given this glimpse of the fullness of the glory of God, a glimpse of the incarnate Christ in His glory.