“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount” (II Peter 1:16-18).
Peter is referring to the transfiguration, a divinely provided foretaste of the glory and the power that will come when Jesus Christ returns to the earth to fulfill the utterances of the prophets. But this incident was not the establishment of the kingdom of God in power and glory. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations” (Matt. 25:31-32).
After six days
A parallel may be drawn between the events of the transfiguration and an occurrence in the history of Israel at Sinai. In Exodus 24, Moses takes Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy elders up ML Sinai where they were later joined by Joshua. Verse 16 reads, “…The glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he (God) called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.” Matthew and Mark begin their narratives, “After 6 days,” in introducing the transfiguration.1
Whereas Moses took Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Jesus takes Peter, James and John. Similarly, God calls to Moses out of the cloud and also speaks to Jesus and the others out of the cloud.
In the Exodus account, the glory of the Lord abode upon the mount; Matthew speaks of a bright cloud which overshadowed them, while Luke mentions the glory that Jesus had (along with Moses and Elijah) just prior to the appearance of the cloud.
Moses describes the glory of the Lord as a devouring fire; Matthew mentions Jesus’ face (same word as countenance in Luke) shining as the sun, with his raiment white as the light; Mark adds the raiment shone “white as snow like no fuller could white them;” Luke described the raiment as “white and flashing like lightning,” along with the changing of Jesus’ countenance.
II Corinthians 3:7,8 contrasts the glory that shone from Moses’ face (see Ex. 34:29,30) with the glory which would come from the “ministration of righteousness.” This passage may explain the glorious appearance of Moses and Jesus at the transfiguration. The fact that Moses and Elijah appear in glory, then disappear, may indicate the completion of their missions — Elijah as a prophet and Moses as the lawgiver. Or it may suggest the transfer of the kingdom of God from the Jews, under the legal system, to the Jews/Gentiles to whom the gospel is preached.
The mount
Tradition supports the identification of the mount of transfiguration with Mt. Tabor, which is west of the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. Upon closer examination, we may conclude this is not correct. Matthew locates Jesus and his disciples outside of Caesarea Philippi (north of Galilee) at the time of Peter’s confession (16:13). The probable location of a fortification on Mt. Tabor at this time should also dispel this tradition.
Hear ye him
In Deuteronomy 18, Moses makes reference to one of his brethren, who would come in the future, someone who would be like himself He says, “Unto him ye shall hearken.” In fact, he goes on to say that Yahweh “will put His words in his mouth.” Furthermore, he states, “…Whosoever will not hearken unto my (God’s) words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” Here, on the mount, God says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” What an impact this must have had upon the disciples!
The transfiguration
Following the confession of Peter, Jesus began to “shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Six days from this point, they appear on the mount.
What took them so long? No intervening events are mentioned by any of the writers. The news of Christ’s impending death was very disturbing. In all probability, they made slow progress to the mount while they considered what Jesus had said and questioned him further. The transfiguration would accomplish two purposes: it would serve to encourage Jesus in his coming trial, and it would shore up the faith of the disciples who were to establish the future church.
The topic of conversation between Moses, Elijah and Jesus involved his “departure” or exodus. Both Moses and Elijah had been involved in a special exodus of their own; Moses with that of Israel, leaving the bondage of Egypt, and Elijah in the fiery chariot which bore him out of sight of the other prophets. In the case of Israel, the death of the first-born of Egypt had been the price of the exodus. In the case of Jesus, it would require his own death in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.
Jesus is changed before their eyes. Not just his person, but his clothes as well. It is as if the glory of God momentarily transformed him to his glorious reward subsequent to his resurrection.
Matthew mentioned the disciples fell down on their faces in fear. Does this represent death? Jesus came to them, and touching them said, “Arise, and be not afraid.” Is that not what we want him to say when he comes in the day of resurrection?
When considered in detail, we can readily see why the transfiguration could be considered a foretaste of the coming kingdom of God.
- Matthew and Mark begin their narratives, “After six days.” Luke has, “About an eight days…” There are at least two ways to explain this apparent discrepancy. First, from the time of Peter’s identification of Jesus as the Christ to the time of the transfiguration there is a time lapse of about eight days — the confession, the six intervening days, and the transfiguration. Second, there should be little difficulty in reconciling a period involving “about…eight days” with a description of an event occurring “after six days.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One