The Transfiguration of Jesus
Matthew 17:1-5
Introduction.
If three witnesses of a crime are interrogated separately, and they each give the exact same story, what do the police assume?
That they colluded with one another before to get their story straight.
If there are minor differences, their testimonies are likely true, and the police can determine what happened from that.
Same with different biblical accounts.
The Transfiguration of Jesus was recorded in three different places in the New Testament and mentioned in one other place.
The significance of this event cannot be overstated.
Aside from Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, this is arguably the most significant event in His life.
It’s found in three of the four gospel accounts (Matt. 17; Mark 9; Luke 9), and Peter mentions it in 2 Pet. 1:16-18 – even John alludes.
What can be learned from this very significant event?
True event.
True authority.
True attestation.
Body.
This is a true event (Matt. 17:1-2).
It was no coincidence that Jesus asked three people to witness His transfiguration.
To establish any matter, two or three witnesses were necessary (Deut. 19:15).
He had the eyewitness testimonies of Peter, James, and John to establishing the truth of this event.
He only needed two, but made even more sure with three.
He had asked these three to join Him earlier as He healed the girl who had died, Jairus’ daughter.
Later He would ask them to accompany Him as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of His crucifixion.
These were His closest friends, and the greatest of His witnesses.
They were later told to tell no one of this event, however, until after the resurrection (Matt. 17:9; Mark 9:9).
But Mark records that they were “questioning what the rising from the dead meant” (Mark 9:10).
Why? After all, Jesus just told them about a week earlier that He was going to be killed and rise again after three days (Mark 8:31).
How forgetful they were, particularly notable as we have been studying in our class on Mark.
Regardless, they must have listened to Jesus, though I would have been curious about the reactions of the surviving 8 disciples when they told them about this.
These three were the witnesses and they were trusted.
We note that they had been sleeping, but were jarred awake by the goings on (Luke 9:32).
We know they were fearful, and that adrenaline rush would wake anyone up real quick (Mark 9:6).
In that kind of situation, our recollection goes into overdrive—we tend to remember such events better, so I’m sure they could tell everyone about it in great detail with no problem.
Jesus would end up comforting them, telling them not to be afraid (Matt. 17:7).
He was transfigured, literally “changed into another form” (Thayer G3339).
I don’t know what that means exactly.
Mark records that His clothes were the whitest white you ever saw (Mark 9:3).
Matthew records that His face was glowing as well, while Luke states this was happening during prayer (Matt. 17:2; Luke 9:29).
He was transformed, glorified before them.
As one commentator put it: “The transfiguration on the mountain is the meeting-place between human beings and God, between the temporal and the eternal, between past, present and future, between everyday human life—with all its hopes and fears—and the mystery of God” … (Lee 2).
The event certainly does carry some mystery about it, but that doesn’t make it any less real.
It would reveal who was given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Christ was given true authority (Matt. 17:3-5).
There are several places where we read of the authority given to Jesus.
Jesus Himself claims He was given all authority in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18).
The Father expressed His pleasure with Jesus at His baptism (Matt. 3:17).
The Father says Jesus is the one to listen to on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5).
This is significant because of who was now present.
Both Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus.
Luke records that they were talking about His decease, or exodus (Luke 9:30-31).
In our class, we will discuss various reasons why they might have been present, but one key reason is they represented the Law and the Prophets.
While Elijah was not a writing prophet, he was representative of all the prophets, being the quintessential prophet.
Moses, of course, was the one who brought the Law of God down from Mt. Sinai.
Peter, afraid and not quite thinking straight, sought to honor Jesus, Moses, and Elijah equally (Mark 9:5-6).
He didn’t yet recognize the supremacy of Christ and the authority He was given.
A voice came from heaven declaring the One they were to listen to.
This voice was the voice of God, coming from the cloud that surrounded them all.
He enlightened these three disciples of the truth of the matter, declaring this after Peter’s foolish gaffe.
The disciples were even more frightened by this voice (Matt. 17:6), not unlike the Israelites were when they heard the voice of God coming from Mt. Sinai (Exo. 20:18).
The voice of God identified His Son and that He was to be heard!
One was not to listen to the Law of Moses any longer, for Christ supersedes him.
One was not to listen to the Prophets any longer, for Christ supersedes them.
That doesn’t mean to completely disregard them, but it does mean that Christ and His testament (the New Testament) has greater authority than what came before (the Old Testament).
Culminating proof was His resurrection.
This event was a prelude to His resurrection, after all.
This was confirmation of the great confession Peter just made, and that would be further proved when He is raised from the dead.
This event showed a glimpse of what Christ would look like in glory.
After all, Christ was raised by God’s glory (Rom. 6:4), that same glory that shone about them at that moment.
God was clearly pleased with His Son, otherwise He would not have declared so, and certainly not have raised Him from the dead!
Christ was truly given this authority from above as these men had attested.
This event was truly attested.
This momentous event was recorded in three of the gospel accounts.
In Mark’s account, the description of Jesus’ clothes shows evidence that this was an eyewitness account (Mark 9:3) – the whitest white you’d ever seen!
One might ask, if this were such a momentous occasion, why didn’t these three disciples who witnessed it say anything?
First, Peter most certainly did, which we’ll talk about in a moment.
James never wrote anything that we know about, since he died in Acts 12 (the book of James was written by a different James).
John might not have discussed it directly, but he does allude to it!
Regardless, no one argues that Jesus’ birth wasn’t important, yet it’s only discussed explicitly in two of the four accounts—that’s all that was needed.
The Transfiguration in John.
John wrote 5 books, yet it’s not discussed in any of them, let alone his gospel account.
Perhaps not, but John does allude to it.
The most obvious allusion is at the very beginning (John 1:14).
He declares that “we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
And of course John describes a glorified Christ in Revelation 1, though with much allegory.
Peter’s account in his own words (2 Peter 1:16-18).
We understand that Mark’s gospel account was likely, as one early church writer stated, “the memoirs of Peter.”
This means what we read in Mark 9 was Peter’s eye-witness account.
Yet it does not include certain details that we see in Matthew and Luke.
The fact that these accounts differ in detail, but not in substance, is evidence that this was a true event—recall the eyewitness illustration.
He declares that they were eye-witnesses to His majesty.
When the voice came down, Peter informs us that Jesus then received honor and glory from the Father.
It is rather interesting that Mark’s account does not record the phrase, “in whom I am well pleased” showing the validity of the other accounts!
He identifies the mountain as a holy mountain on which this event occurred.
As a result, we now have the “prophetic word confirmed” with the voice of God Himself!
This event truly happened, and we can have confidence in it.
Conclusion.
From this lesson, we can see:
Jesus’ wisdom in bringing three witnesses to view this event.
That Jesus is the One that we ought to listen to and obey.
This event has adequate attestation in Scripture—it really happened.
In this event, like in the resurrection, we can be assured of who Jesus is.
He is the Christ, the son of the living God!
We are also assured of His authority given directly by God Himself.
And like one investigating a case, we can see that, while the stories do share in every detail, they agree perfectly with one another.
They truly saw His glory along with Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.
They truly heard the voice of God identifying Jesus.
What does that mean for us? We should listen to Him, too!
Since Christ is our authority, we should surely listen to Him (Matt. 13:9).
We ought to believe in Him (John 3:16).
We ought to repent of our sins (Luke 13:3).
We ought to confess Him before men (Matt. 10:32-33).
We ought to be baptized (Mark 16:16).
We ought to obey Him (Luke 6:46).