Christian Quest
Study 18
The Transfiguration

Reading:
Matthew 17:1-13
Mark 9:2-13
Luke 9:28-36

Commentary

The transfiguration of Jesus in which three of His apostles witnessed a vision of Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah is one of the most mystifying events in the Bible's account of the ministry of Jesus, on par with the events at His baptism and His temptation in the wilderness. For the second time, God voiced His approval of Jesus as His Son. The episode follows soon after Peter confessed to Jesus that he believed him to be the Messiah, although it is fairly clear that Peter and the disciples did not yet have a clear understanding of what that meant. In those times in northern Galilee, a general concept of messiah was one of a militant king who would conquer and re-establish the throne of David to Israel. Perhaps that is why Jesus instructed the apostles not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. The uprising that would later come of Rome against Israel would begin against the Jewish zealots at the nearby fortress of Gamla where the rare ruins of a first-century synagogue have been excavated.

In the previous study, Jesus had brought his disciples to Caesarea Philippi at Mount Herman where Peter made his confession of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This was the first time it was spoken, and Jesus confirmed it saying that was God who had revealed it to them, and upon that foundation He would build the church.


Mount Hermon north of the Sea of Galilee

 About a week later, Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain. It does not say which mountain they ascended. Ancient tradition of the Orthodox churches has held it to be upon Mount Tabor some distance southwest of Caesarea Philippi. However most modern scholars favor the idea that it was more likely Mount Herman, the mountain where they were in Caesarea Philippi a few days earlier. Mount Herman was a border between Jews and Gentiles and it high enough to have snow peaks except in summer. Often clouds or mist hover around its peaks. To ascend it would have taken several hours, thought to be at least a six-hour climb. Perhaps they began their hike in the very early hours of the morning, even before dawn.

After such a rigorous climb, and in the air of the higher altitude, the three apostles napped while Jesus was praying. When they awoke they saw him in shimmering array, his clothes whiter than light, and he was conversing with Moses and Elijah. Both Moses and Elijah had been forerunners of the prophesied Messiah, Moses as the Law-giver to Israel, and Elijah as a forerunner of Elisha prefigured John the Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus. This vision on the mountain being soon after Peter's confession of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God, now for the first time revealed the divine character of Jesus as they had never seen it before. Once again God voiced from a cloud His approval of Jesus, His Son. Once again, Jesus instructed the three apostles not to tell anyone of the event until after his death and resurrection. From Mark's account, we see that even Jesus' closest apostles did not understand about resurrection yet, for it says: "they seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead might mean." (Mk 9:10 NAS) They had only been with Jesus about a year to a year-and-a-half. They had abandoned their careers and other things to follow him. And now He was telling them that He would going to die. They were not fully comprehending it all.

As Jesus ministry was now taking a new direction, He became more focused on preparing his disciples for his imminent death. He began moving toward Jerusalem and preparing the apostles for the mission they would need to carry out, which they would not fully comprehend until Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus resurrection.

Synopsis

Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36

As in other events, the story is most complete only by considering all three Synoptics. Only Matthew reveals that Elijah prefigured John the Baptist. From Mark we realize that the apostles did not understand his meaning of "risen from the dead". Luke tells us that Jesus went up to pray. From this, some scholars speculate that both the occasion of Peter's confession and the transfiguration may have occurred on a Sabbath. Paul also is the one who explains that the apostles were sleeping and saw the three figures upon awaking. While Matthew and Mark say the occasion occurred six days later, Luke says eight days. Some scholars have suggested that Matthew and Mark, in speaking of when Jesus took them up the mountain, they perhaps began their ascent on the evening before, at the beginning of Sabbath, and that the vision occurred in the very early hours of morning when the sunlight would have shown bright in the morning mist. In that case, Luke may have considered the event as being the day later, and also may have been counting from the beginning of the time they came into Caesar Philippi, accounting for a two days difference. As some critics claim that two of the Synoptic writers copied the writing of the first (which many believe was Mark's account), it is little differences such as these that confirm the Gospels were written independently of one an other, thus giving added credence overall to the historical accounts of Jesus' life and ministry.

Peter gave further testimony about his experience here at 2 Peter 1:17,18:
"For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased'--and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain."
This Scripture lends further to the conclusion that Mount Herman was the mountain where the transfiguration occurred. Not only because of the proximity to Caesarea Philippi, but the name, Mount Herman in Hebrew means 'mountain set apart'. Mount Herman was generally considered by local tradition to be a 'holy mountain', as Peter inferred.

Optional research:

Review questions:

Optional discussion:
What does the account of the transfiguration mean to you?