A Glimpse of His Kingdom

JESUS’ TRANSFIGURATION ON THE MOUNT

17:1 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.”

10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

—Matthew 17:1–13

We have seen the Messiah identified as the Son of God (16:16–17), the Messiah interpreted as the Suffering Savior (16:21); now the Messiah is introduced as the glorified Son of the Father (17:1–5). While each of the synoptic Gospels record that a week after Peter’s confession Jesus took three disciples onto the mountain to witness His Transfiguration, Matthew seems to relate the scene to characteristics of Moses on Mount Sinai. Moses took Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu with him; Jesus took Peter, James, and John. Moses saw the glory of God, and his face shone from speaking with God; Jesus was transfigured with a glory not reflected, but authentically His own. A greater than Moses had come, for as the writer to the Hebrews says, “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house… . But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house” (Heb. 3:5–6, niv). At Sinai the divine voice spoke from a cloud, and at the Transfiguration God spoke from a cloud and the disciples fell on their faces in reverent fear.

This passage might be called “the glimpse of the kingdom.” Willard Swartley calls the Transfiguration “a preview of the Kingdom power.”7 Matthew tells of the presence of Moses and Elijah, but omits Luke’s statement that they talked with Jesus “about his departure, which he was to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31, niv). Matthew does not interpret the significance of these particular men, Moses having been the first great lawgiver and Elijah the first great prophet in Israel. But Moses, Elijah, and Jesus are not equals, for in Jesus revelation had reached its peak, and He was pronounced by God as His Son.

The word for “transfigured” is the word “metamorphosis,” from the Greek root morpha, a word which means a change arising from the essential nature of His person, not an external impression. Peter’s offer came as an outburst of enthusiasm, “Lord, this is great! Let us build three tabernacles.” Let us capture the moment, let us institutionalize the happening, as we are so inclined to do with God’s movements, with revival and with movements of the Spirit among us. But before Peter was finished expressing his plan, God pulled the rug out from under him! The Greek is emphatic in the word “suddenly” (literally “behold”) a voice came from the cloud with the ultimate word, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” It was God’s affirmation of Christ and God’s mandate to Peter—“You listen to Him.” No small wonder that the disciples fell on their faces in fear. We should here note some Old Testament accounts of reverent fear from visions of God: Isaiah 6:5; Ezekiel 1:28–2:1; and Daniel 8:17.

Years after the event, Peter wrote, “We … 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 Pet. 1:16–18). And as on the mount, when Jesus touched them and said, “Do not be afraid,” and they looked up and saw none but Jesus only, so their proclamation announced only Him. Peter said, “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:13, kjv).

The glimpse of His kingdom can be outlined as follows: (1) it partakes of the glory of the eternal, v. 2; (2) it includes the sweep of salvation history, Law and Prophets, v. 3; (3) it is the extension of God’s presence in Christ, vv. 4–5; (4) it is expressed only in and by Jesus Christ, vv. 6–8; and (5) it is secured by the suffering of Christ, vv. 9–13. This latter was clearly stated by Jesus as He asked the disciples not to tell the vision until after His Resurrection—the glory of the Transfiguration would then be witnessed by all of them in the risen Christ!

The conclusion of this section is an answer to the disciples’ question as to why the scribes said that Elijah would first come. They had just seen Elijah. And the spirit of Elijah had been present in John, and he had been rejected. In fact, Jesus identified His own coming Passion as partaking of the same suffering as had been inflicted upon John. The disciples appear to have understood, and were able to “close that book” and accept the unique mission of John as fulfilled in announcing “The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

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7 7. Swartley, Mark, p. 155.