The Transfiguration
Notes
Transcript
The Story
The Story
Gospel accounts of the transfiguration:
- Matthew 17:1–9
- Mark 9:2–8
- Luke 9:28–36
Our focus today will be on Matthew’s account:
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
The Sequence of Events
The Sequence of Events
- Jesus transformed (Matthew 17:2)
- Moses and Elijah appeared (Matthew 17:3)
- God told the disciples to listen to Jesus (Matthew 17:5)
- Peter offers to set up tents (Leviticus 23:34–42)
- bright cloud overshadowed them
- God speaks
- Then Moses and Elijah disappeared and they only saw Jesus (Matthew 17:8)
Silly questions
- What was it like for Moses and Elijah?
- Did they know they were going to meet with Jesus on the mountain?
- Was it like an appointment?
- Were they beamed down?
- Did they have to walk down a bunch of stairs, like Jacob's ladder?
Similarities between Moses and Elijah
Similarities between Moses and Elijah
- Both escape a king’s judgment.
- Both flee in an eastwardly direction.
- Both return to their homeland.
- Both are willing to endure the vengeance and wrath of the king.
- Both go on a journey back to Israel and encounter God.
- God miraculously provides food for both figures.
- Both had a vision of God, and thus serve as the ideal witnesses to the glory of Christ (Evans, Mark 8:27–16:20, 36).
The Law and the Prophets
The Law and the Prophets
This whole scene was playing out how the Law and the Prophets were no longer the authority now that Christ had come. The letter to the Hebrews uses this truth as its opening point:
> **Hebrews 1:1-4**
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
The phrase "The Law" refers not just to God's laws like the book of Leviticus. It refers to the Torah, the first 5 books of the Old Testament. The Prophets likewise refers not just to people but to the books written by the prophets that are found in the Old Testament. These phrases combined form a phrase that decidedly refers to the Old Testament as a whole. Jesus said Himself that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets:
> **Matthew 5:17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
The transfiguration was a brilliant display of Jesus' glory and power and a foresight into the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, thus the appearance and disappearance of Moses and Elijah (the announcer of the Law and the greatest of the Prophets).
From Cursed to Holy
From Cursed to Holy
Peter refers to the transfiguration in his second letter in the Bible:
2 Peter 1:16–19
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
He says that the transfiguration was a confirmation of the prophecy of Jesus. Part of its purpose was to confirm to the disciples that Jesus was who He said He was. Peter also calls the mountain that he transfigured on a "holy mountain". According to Biblical scholars, this mountain was most likely mount Hermon. Hermon actually means curse. But after the transfiguration, the disciples viewed the mountain that was once cursed as a holy mountain. This gives us further insight into the accomplishments of the transfiguration. Jesus reclaimed that mountain just as he said he would right before the transfiguration:
> **Matthew 16:18
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The gates of hell is a cave at the bottom of mountain of Hermon. Jesus and His disciples were standing at the bottom of the very rock that he would later transfigure on and reclaim for the kingdom of God. That mountain was ground zero for the evil in Genesis 6, which Peter mentions in the same letter that he refers to the transfiguration in (2 Peter 2:4-6).
Why does this matter?
Why does this matter?
According to Peter it was confirmation that Jesus was who He said He was.
This story was meant to be shared AFTER his resurrection
Matthew 17:9
And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
Peter and John mention it in their writings:
- John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- 2 Peter 1:16-18
Imagine what it would have been like to see Him gloified like that. How would that change your perspective of Him and the world around you?
2 It seems to me that if we get one look at Christ in His love and beauty, this world and its pleasures will look very small to us.
D. L. Moody
“The Transfiguration” sermon (19th century)
Dwight L. Moody
The transfiguration was a powerful message that was meant to be shared by those who witnessed the Glory of Christ it to those who did not.
We are meant to bare witness to Christ in our lives
We are meant to bare witness to Christ in our lives
We too should share what Christ has done in our lives and how He has shown His glory to us. We should encourage one another with stories about how God has moved in our lives and shown us His glorious lovingkindness.
Sometimes we have to climb a mountain before we experience a glimpse of His Glory.