The Transfiguration Testifies

The Transfiguration is one of those events that should cause us to be in awe of the greatness of our Lord. Sure, He made the blind to see, the lame to walk, and raised the dead. Yes, He cast out demons. And I know that He delivered sermons and messages that have inspired the world. But imagine seeing Him in His glory! Just like Moses, when he was on the mountain, pleaded with God, “Show me your glory,” Peter, James, and John got to see a sight that very few of us would ever get to see. I believe that The Transfiguration showed Jesus in His Shekinah glory, a glory that means “He stays, or He dwells.” This is the same glory shown above the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.

But The Transfiguration does so much more that showing Jesus in a new light. According to the Law, two or three witnesses were needed in court to make a testimony acceptable. So Jesus brought Peter, James, and John. And let us not forget that Moses, Elijah, and The Father bear witness to the same thing on the mountain. They testify that He is the Messiah. Peter made it abundantly clear that “We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made it known unto you” (2 Peter 1:16). There is a testimony to the gospel. Moses represents the law, and Elijah the prophets. And in this setting, we see how the law, the prophets, and the Father testify that He is indeed the Messiah.

THE LAW

One of the figures that appeared with Jesus at The Transfiguration is Moses. Moses was the representative of the Old Testament Law, which testifies of a coming Messiah who would take away the sin of the world. And we see this testimony in no better place than the Ark of the Covenant.

In the the Ark were three different articles. One of them was the stone tablets upon which God wrote the Ten Commandments. The commandments were God’s standard of perfection and holiness. It is a standard that we can never hope to meet. We are told that if we break one law, then we are guilty of them all. The law reveals to us that we are sinners, separated from a relationship with God and eternity in heaven. And we can never be able to satisfy the debt on our own.

The second article in the Ark was manna. Manna was bread that fell from heaven when Israel was wandering in the desert for 40 years. It was a way that God provided for His people. I am reminded that hundreds of years before that, Abram was instructed to sacrifice his son. When Abram and Isaac arrived at the place for the burnt offering, Isaac asked where the sacrifice was. Abram responded, “The Lord Himself will provide.” God provided a ram for them to sacrifice. And in His Only Son, the once again provided the sacrifice for our sins. God crucified His Son on the cross for you and for me. Jesus died so that we could have forgiveness of sin and have salvation.

The third article in the Ark was Aaron’s rod. While walking through the wilderness, they needed a walking stick, a rod. This was a piece of wood that had been cut off from the tree, so it was lifeless, dead. When Aaron’s rod was put in the Ark, and it was opened later, there were buds on his rod. A dead, lifeless stick now did the impossible – it showed life. And after Jesus died, He rose again on the third day to newness of life, so that we could have eternal life in heaven.

Therefore, Moses appeared as a representative of the Law. He testified that we are all sinners as revealed by the law. He testified that God would provide a lamb that was worthy to be slain for us all. And He testified that in that spotless lamb, we would have new life, eternal life.

THE PROPHETS

The prophets have all had prophecies and predictions about the coming Messiah. Elijah was a picture of Christ in that he rose people from the dead, he expanded food, and he left the world in a spectacular manner. Zechariah prophesied, “Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Jeremiah said, “Look, the days are coming”—this is the LORD’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). And Isaiah proclaimed, “But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds” (Isaiah 53:5).