The Bible Book

234

HIS FACE SHONE LIKE

THE SUN, AND HIS

CLOTHES BECAME

AS WHITE AS LIGHT

MATTHEW 17:2, THE TRANSFIGURATION

M

ark, Matthew, and Luke—

the so-called Synoptic

Gospels—all tell the story

of the Transfiguration. This event

follows two outbursts by Peter, one

of Jesus’s favored disciples. In the

first, Peter makes a bold statement

about Jesus’s identity: “You are the

Christ, the son of the living God”

(Matthew 16:15). After the second,

in which Peter objects to Jesus’s

intimations that He will suffer

rejection and be killed, Jesus issues

the stinging reply: “Get behind me,

Satan!”—“Satan” here meaning

simply an adversary of the Lord—

“Your thoughts are not thoughts

from God but from men” (Mark 8:33).

Shining glory

Six days after Jesus’s rebuke,

according to Mark and Matthew,

or eight days in Luke, Jesus takes

His closest disciples—Peter and

the brothers James and John—up

a high mountain. A tradition dating

from the 4th century ce identifies it

as Mount Tabor in Lower Galilee,

but mounts Carmel and Horeb are

other candidates. There, the

astonished disciples witness an

extraordinary metamorphosis.

Jesus’s clothes become dazzling

white—“no one on earth could

clean them so white” (Mark 9:3)—

while His face shines like the sun.

With Him are two other figures,

whom the disciples identify as

Moses and Elijah. The disciples are

terrified and, as ever, it is Peter who

speaks. He suggests erecting three

The Transfiguration of Christ

(1516–1520), by Raphael, sets the

transfiguration against a story of the

Apostles, who, unlike Christ, are only

human, failing to rid a boy of demons.

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Matthew 17:1–13;

Mark 9:2–13; Luke 9:28–36

THEME

Jesus is affirmed by God

SETTING

c. 27–29 ce Mount Tabor.

KEY FIGURES

Jesus The Messiah and Son

of God during His ministry.

Peter Together with James

and John, a member of Jesus’s

inner circle of three disciples.

James and John Sons of

Zebedee. Originally fishermen

on the Sea of Galilee.

Moses Israel’s liberator and

lawgiver, who led the people

out of slavery in Egypt.

Elijah A prophet active in the

reign of King Ahab of Israel in

the 9th century bce.

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GOSPELS 235

shelters to worship in: one each for

Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. However,

as he speaks, a cloud envelops

them and the voice of God comes

forth: “This is my much loved Son.

Listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7). After

this, everything returns to normal.

When the disciples look around,

there is no one there but Jesus.

Divine revelation

The Transfiguration has been seen

by some theologians as a blueprint

for how to respond to the glory of

God. While the disciples’ first

response is to fear it, they learn to

listen and believe, reassured by the

touch of their friend, Jesus, who

says, “Do not be afraid.” For a

moment, it seems, some kind of

partition is drawn back between

the heavenly and earthly realms,

allowing the disciples to glimpse

Jesus in His glory as the Christ,

the son of the living God.

In the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh

reveals himself in a cloud on a

mountaintop to both Moses and

Elijah. The cloud that descends

upon this mountain conveys the

same divine presence, known in

rabbinic literature as the Skekinah.

The words uttered by God from the

cloud are similar to those spoken

at Jesus’s baptism: “This is my Son,

whom I love” (Matthew 3:17).

God now adds a command:

“Listen to Him!” Luke’s Gospel tells

us more about what this refers to.

In Luke’s version of events, Jesus,

Moses, and Elijah speak with Jesus

concerning His “departure, which

He is about to bring to fulfillment

at Jerusalem.” In other words, they

are discussing the suffering and

death Jesus had recently warned

His disciples about. The use of

the word “departure”—exodus in

Greek—draws a deliberate parallel

to the Old Testament. Just as

Moses had freed the Israelites from

Egypt, the suffering of Jesus would

deliver the people from their sins. ■

The new Elijah

According to the Hebrew

Bible, the prophet Elijah did

not die in the usual sense.

Instead, he was taken up into

heaven in a blazing chariot of

fire. This gave rise to a belief

that he would come back one

day to prepare the way for the

Messiah. Indeed, the very last

verses of the Old Testament

make this prediction. “See,

I will send you the prophet

Elijah before that great and

dreadful day of the Lord

comes,” the prophet Malachi

proclaims in Yahweh’s name.

Descending the mountain

after the Transfiguration,

the three disciples ask Jesus

about this prophecy. His reply

is that it has already been

fulfilled in the person of John

the Baptist: “But I tell you,

Elijah has already come, and

they did not recognize him ...

In the same way, the Son of

Man is going to suffer at their

hands” (Matthew 17:12). John

the Baptist suffered and died

at the hands of Herod Antipas,

and Jesus says again that

He will suffer the same fate.

In fulfilling God’s plans for

redemption and restoration,

the way of glory and the way

of suffering are inseparable.

See also: The Baptism of Jesus 194–97 ■ The Crucifixion 258–65 ■

The Empty Tomb 268–71 ■ The Great Commission 274–77

The Five Milestones

of Jesus’s Ministry

We did not follow

cleverly devised stories ...

we were eyewitnesses

of His majesty.

2 Peter 1:16–18

Baptism

Ascension

Transfiguration

Crucifixion

Resurrection

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