Read and Believe in Jesus.

“He was transfigured before them…” Matthew 17:2

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REVIEW – Alone with His disciples, Jesus asks them who others say He is, and then who THEY say that He is. Peter, his top-of-the-class disciple, speaks out boldly. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus acknowledges the truth of the statement, but says that God has given it to him as a special revelation.

Then Jesus tells them of His upcoming suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, His death, and His resurrection, and immediately His star pupil goes to the rear of the class, blurting out, “This shall NEVER happen to You!” insinuating that Peter himself would not let it happen.

Immediately, Jesus tells Peter he is speaking as Satan with those words, and tells him to “Get behind me! And get your thoughts on the things of God!”

The disciples are silenced further when Jesus tells them each to take up their own cross and follow Him, considering their lives as nothing.

And finally, Jesus tells them that SOME of them who are with Him right then will not die until they see “the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Now they are really confused and seem lost in their own thoughts.

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Matthew 17:1-8.

Six days pass as Jesus leads His disciples higher into the mountain range. They don’t seem to have much to say, still thinking about Jesus’ last words. His death? Peter speaking the words of Satan? Themselves having to bear a cross too? Did that mean they would die with Him in Jerusalem? And then those words about some NOT seeing death until they saw Him in His Kingdom. Did that mean it was coming soon?

Finally, Jesus stops, high up on Mt. Hermon. Below them, Galilee, the Sea, and the fertile land, the River Jordan, and the plains, the rise that would indicate Jerusalem far to the south. The blue Mediterranean to the West. (The view Moses may have seen before dying.)

The Twelve are tired and sit on rocks, catching their breath. They pull cloaks around them to keep out the chilly air. Then Jesus calls His inner three leader-disciples to go a bit farther up with Him. Peter, John, and James follow higher and higher till the others are out of sight.

“And Jesus was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.”

Imagine that for a minute.

Indeed, they were seeing ‘the Son of Man coming in His kingdom’.

Both Luke and Mark also write about this, based on interviews with Peter and John. Luke says the change took place while Jesus was praying.

They said His clothes were “shining” and “dazzling” (sparkling).

Both Mark and Luke mention that the two men who appeared with Jesus were Moses and Elijah, also clothed in “heavenly glory.” These two prophets represented the Law and the Prophets, all of which pointed to Jesus as Messiah.

They were talking to Jesus about His “departure,” or “Exodus.” (Exactly what Moses would say, right?) They were encouraging Jesus about His upcoming death, but more than that. His “Exodus” would include His burial, resurrection, and ascension. His “exodus” from earth, back to Heaven, with His work completed.

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Then Peter, oh, foot-in-mouth Peter, speaks up. “Lord (Teacher, Master), 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….”

But while he was still speaking, a dense white cloud (the Shekinah?) overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said,

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to HIM.”

And Peter, with James and John, fell on their faces, terrified. A bit later, for they had “fallen asleep” (or I’d say unconscious), Jesus came, touched their shoulders, and awakened them. “Rise, and have no fear.”

The three sat up and looked around. The light was gone; Jesus was the same as always in homespun linen robes. A breeze blew, but neither Elijah nor Moses was seen. Had they been dreaming? Had they fallen asleep from tiredness on the hike up the mountain … and all dreamed the same thing?

But Jesus said, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

And they didn’t. Not until they wrote their gospels, and not until Peter and John wrote letters to the believers around the known world. James surely told people about it as he evangelized. His testimony was quickly stopped when King Herod Agrippa beheaded him, in Acts 12.

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Matthew 17:9-13.

These three disciples realized that they had “seen the Son of Man coming in His kingdom,” in that miraculous vision of Him as God. They were the ones who had fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy that some would not see death until they saw it.

(WOW. It would have soooo hard for me not to have told someone about it right away! How about you?)

To prove that they understood what they had seen, they asked, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?’ (Before the Messiah’s kingdom came. If they saw it, Elijah should have already come, right?)

When Jesus told them that Elijah had already come, and that he’d suffered at the hands of man – just like Jesus would – they realized He was speaking of John the Baptist.

Did they ask Jesus more questions on that walk back down to the other disciples? I would have. Will everyone who dies and goes to heaven look as glorious as Moses and Elijah?