Scripture: Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.
Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.
Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.
As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Some Thoughts
What would have it been like for you as one of his disciples to travel with the famous Jesus? He was a rock star. Great crowds of people showed up wherever you all went. You saw his miracles with your own eyes. You lived and travelled with him. He even gave you power to do a few miracles yourself. Now as Peter, James, or John, you were a part of his inner circle yet you couldn’t quite figure him out. Where was he headed with his mission? Sometimes you were almost afraid of him or fearful of asking him to clarify what you didn’t understand. This was a pretty heady time for you as a very ordinary blue-collar disciple. The only really unusual thing was that he chose you to follow him in the first place. And now you have this unusual experience.
Jesus often referred to himself in the third person as the Son of Man. In fact, just before the passage of Scripture you just read, he had asked the twelve disciples this pointed question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Peter (of course) answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then told the three not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. To a disciple, this must have seemed to be a very strange request.
A short time later Matthew recorded an event called the Transfiguration. Jesus took his inner circle, Peter, James, and John with him to a mountain top. There is speculation as to on which mountain this occurred, though Mt. Tabor is assumed to be the location according to tradition. This unique event affirmed three things: the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, his relationship to the Old Testament greats, as well as the Father’s affirming of his mission.
The presence of Moses and Elijah may seem a curious pair at first. Why these two men? Moses died 1400 years earlier and Elijah around 850 BCE. Moses led the first exodus of Jews from the bondage of slavery to freedom in a shadow of what was to come. We learn from the Synoptics that the conversation among Moses, Elijah, and Jesus concerned Jesus’ own “exodus” from this world, that’s the word Luke used (Luke 9:31). The Transfiguration showed that Jesus was the new and better Moses leading all peoples enslaved to sin to a path to eternal freedom. Moses died looking into the Promised Land and was buried by God himself in an unknown grave. Moses was held in highest esteem by the Jews, as the one who received and represented the Law, after all, he had talked with God directly and represented the very best of tradition and truth under the Law. In contrast, Jesus fulfilled the Law, died and entered a known grave, overcame death, rose again, and opened the way for all to enter the Promised Land.
You’ll recall Elijah did not die, but rather was taken by a chariot of fire straight to heaven. He was viewed as one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. He was the prophet Malachi announced would appear to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 4:5. Note that Malachi also pairs him with Moses and the Law in the previous verse). The Transfiguration fulfills Malachi’s prophecy concerning Moses and Elijah. Here the disciples saw two very noteworthy, prominent Old Testament figures in Moses and Elijah appearing from that Promised Land. They apparently came to comfort and give solace to Jesus as he prepared to give his life as the ultimate Lamb of God in freeing all peoples from the bondage of sin. When the cloud lifted the disciples saw only Jesus indicating that the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) had been fulfilled as only Jesus was left standing in shining brilliance. Their work was finished as Jesus embarked on his. Clearly, Peter’s suggestion of building three equal booths was inappropriate. The disciples were witnesses to the brilliance of the event and the affirmation of Jesus as God spoke from heaven.
Then we read further that Jesus told these three to say nothing of what they had seen and heard. Why? It was not yet God the Father’s timing. Why did these three get to see this event and not the other disciples? It appears Jesus was grooming them for leadership after he was gone. After the resurrection and ascension, Peter and John did assume significant leadership in the early days of the church. James was killed early on (Acts 12:2). Peter later referred to seeing Jesus’ glory (2 Peter 1:16-21) and cited the experience as giving him greater confidence in the truth of Jesus as the Son of God as they led the early church. Remember, the disciples were trying to understand Jesus’ mission.
What does this have to do with Lent? We can always have great confidence in the great and detailed care God gave in bringing redemption to all tribes, tongues, and nations. His plan begun before the dawn of creation, came to a pivotal point in the Transfiguration, and continues to this day. It will culminate in the Lord’s Return which will usher in the heavenly realm for all eternity . . . and all Jesus’ disciples worldwide will be there!
Music: “Sanctus,” from Requiem Durufle Robert Shaw Festival Singers
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.”
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, until the day when we see Thee face to face in all Thy glory, when we don’t have to come down the mountain but dwell in Thy presence forever, when we see what we’ve never even conceived, when we hear music that our ears have never even imagined, when the whole world sees the glory of the glorious Son of God, until then may we be faithful. May we not keep quiet, but go into all our world preaching the great Good News of redemption in Christ in deeds, in words and in demeanor. Amen.
―Daniel Sharp