Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1–9 ESV

1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 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.” 5 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.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 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.”

Leading up to these verses, we find the disciples and Christ in Caesarea Philippi. Peter has declared Christ as the Son of the living God, and Christ tell him that he will be the rock on which the church is built. From that, Christ begins to counsel with the disciples on the soon upcoming events - his death and resurrection. At this time in Christ’s ministry, he has 12 close disciples who are learning, growing, and preparing for ministry after He is gone. He reminds them that anyone following Him would have to deny himself, take up “his” cross, and follow Christ.

Following Christ is a total commitment, a deliberate choice, made voluntarily. I think it is important that we remember Christ will not force us to follow Him, He doesn’t make us choose Him, He does patiently wait on us to come to Him. Whoever sacrifices and gives all they are and have for Christ - saves their life, eternally.

I often wonder what it would have been like to be with Christ, to experience His teaching, to know His personality, and to see His face. Not only did the disciples get to do this, three of His closest were about to take a trip and would see a miraculous transformation of Christ.

Matthew 17:1–2 ESV

1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

Six days after this conversation of His death and resurrection, Christ took those closes to Him - the sons of Zebedee (James and John), and Peter up onto a high mountain, to enter the final stages of their discipleship training. They were about to learn that it was not through the life of Christ that the world would be saved, but through His death. You see, He could have declared it all a wash. He could have decided we were not worth the pain, anguish, torture, and ridicule. He could have called the angels to end it all. But Christ knew it was not through power that salvation could be for all humans, but through His sacrifice. He would bear the cross for the sins of the world. The disciples would not fully understand the full magnitude of taking up the cross until they experienced His crucifixion. They would need this strength to face the things to come in their future ministries.

As they were on the mountain, they were high up - in isolation, alone, where they could not be interrupted. Christ needed this time alone with God, and the disciples with him was allowed to see his deity in a different light.

Peter, James, and John apparently formed an inner circle around Jesus. Jesus revealed more to these three men than to the other disciples. They were with Him when He raised Jairus’ daughter, when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and here on the mount of transfiguration. Why were these three chosen to receive these additional revelations?

What is known is this. Each was being chosen for a very special ministry role or call. They were not aware of it yet, but they were to fill unique positions in the ministry.

1. Peter was to be the leader of the early church, the one who was to open the door of the gospel to both Jew and Gentile after Pentecost.

2. James was called to be an apostle and to be martyred for his faith in Christ.

3. John was to receive The Revelation from God to close out the Scripture.

All three would serve critical roles in the ministry, and furthering of the Gospel Message.

During this time on the mountain, scripture says he was “transfigured before them”.

Transfigured: metamorphoo (where we get the word metamorphosis) to be transformed, an external change, a change of state, or an inner change. Christ was changed from the physical human body into a deified body. Luke describes it as: Luke 9:29 “29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.”

What the disciples witnessed was the glory of God’s nature in Him to be seen visibly. Could you imagine being with Christ when all the sudden you couldn’t look upon Him because of His face shining like the sun? Could you imagine the things that would have been going through their minds? Looking back now, we see that God was being visibly manifested in His son. But we also experience SOME portion of God’s glory as a Christian. Scripture tells us in:

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Of course, our sense of God’s glory is very much dependent upon our doing what Christ did: getting alone with God in an intensive session of prayer and devotion. We are to be transformed into the image of Christ, transformed in all His moral excellence. But we must learn that the change is brought about only by the Spirit of God and only as we seek His face in prayer and genuine trust.

Matthew 17:3–5 ESV

3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 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.” 5 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.”

Not only did they see the transformed body of Christ, but they also see two OT saints; Moses and Elijah. Why did Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus?

They were counseling with Christ, strengthening Him for what was about to come during the crucifixion. They were there to testify to the deity of Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. They represented to law, and the prophets. Christ was the One whom the prophets foretold, and He was the one who fulfilled the law.

There was truly a part of heaven physically present on earth. These three disciples were seeing a glimpse of glory! Not only did they see Christ changed, not only did they see Moses and Elijah, they were in the presence of God the Father and was experiencing some of heaven’s joy, peace, security, fulfillment, and perfection.

Take notice, Peter was so overwhelmed by what he was experiencing, he offered to make three tents on that mourning for Christ, Moses, and Elijah. They didn’t want to leave this place or the experience. But even in his excitement, notice his words “If you wish”. Even with everything going on around him, with him trying to wrap his mind around the experience, Peter still would not intentionally act against God’s will.

As he was speaking, God spoke. “a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleases; listen to Him.” To add to the experiences, now they experience the strength of God’s presence.

There is a great need to learn something: God knows exactly how to meet every believer’s need. He knows just what kind of experience is needed, and God will do whatever it takes to meet our need—if we truly seek Him.

However, we must remember something: our experiences must conform to God’s Word. God will not go against His Word in order to give growth and experiences. The experiences that come from God are the experiences that conform to His Word. In fact, spiritual experiences and growth usually come about as a result of reading and studying God’s Word.

Now, in the present, we are not called to this same experience, but we are to bear the cross, what it stands for, and proclaim that message to a lost world.

Matthew 17:6–9 ESV

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 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.”

What happens after God spoke, is what I would expect. The disciples heard His voice and immediately fell to their faces scared to death. They had just seen the Shekinah glory of God in the cloud and heard His clear audible voice. The intent of the words were plain. Christ is God’s Son, His only begotten Son, whom he had sent to the world as their Savior. When the disciples experienced all this, it scared them to death. The disciples’ experience can be applied to the believer’s future, to his appearance before God in the great Day of Redemption. In fact, that is just what is happening to Peter, James, and John. They find themselves in God’s presence. The believer’s experience when he meets Christ face to face will undoubtedly be very much like what they experienced.

But Christ came over to them, maybe He placed His hand on their shoulders, and said “Rise, and have no fear”. Can I tell you, church, that if we are a Christian we have no fear? We have the same comfort as these disciples with us each day.

John 14:26 ESV

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

We can be reminded that during times where we are trembling, scared, uncertain, worried, all the other emotions we experience during life that we can be reminded of the words Christ spoke “have no fear”.

At that time, there was no need of anyone else to be there, the experience had been one that was impactful enough. Christ had been transformed, two Old Testament saints appeared, they had seen the Shekinah glory of God and had heard His voice, and when it was so overwhelming they fell to their faces… When it was more than they could bear, Christ says have no fear.

I think this shows us that no matter what we experience in this life, no matter how out of control it may seem, no matter how far off we feel we are, when we get away and spend some time with God, all those other things that seem to be collapsing in around us leaves and we are reminded to have no fear. You see, when we focus on God, He is faithful to His Word.

I do find it interesting that the disciples were told to tell no one of what they had seen until after His resurrection. Jesus did not allow the three disciples to share their experience because it could not be understood. It was just too incredible to grasp until after the resurrection.

It was not that He didn’t want it told, it was that He knew it would not be understood. Have you ever heard something you just can’t wrap your head around? Physics, Chemistry, you know there are some things we experience and learn that others could not comprehend until they experience it.

There was no way others could understand what they had just experienced until they experienced it themselves.

Conclusion

You see, today I think I can safely use this analogy. If you have never accepted Christ as your personal Savior, there is no way you can fully know about God and His workings!!!