His appearance changed before their eyes and they saw with Jesus two of the most significant men in Judaism: Moses and Elijah. He was transfigured, transformed into something more beautiful (Google’s definition). Peter speaks up (no surprise), let’s build something! Then they heard the voice of God say, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36
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The Transfiguration account comes between two sections where Jesus is trying to explain to his disciples what must happen in the near future, his suffering, his death and resurrection. The proximity to yesterday’s post, “see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom,” supports the idea that those verses were fulfilled in the Transfiguration. Here we have three witnesses of Jesus being recognized as God’s Son, Peter, James and John.
Mark attempts to explain how white Jesus’ clothes were, looking for words to express their splendor, he thinks about bleach. Matthew considers this as “white as the light” and Luke adds “as bright as a flash of lightning. Of the three versions, Luke seems to find the best analogy, a light so bright that you couldn’t look at it.
They all seemed to agree this was a good thing, “it is good for us to be here.” Peter wants to build shelters, something to memorialize the event, after all, it was amazing! It wasn’t a bad idea, it was just the wrong idea. Fantastic! Yet another example in Scripture where someone of great importance proposes an idea that is inappropriate. Jesus gently turns them in another direction.
There were not allowed to speak about this until after the resurrection, something Jesus told them directly, yet something they didn’t quite understand, “They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what ‘rising from the dead’ meant.” I love the fact that we have such words in Scripture…evidence of people being real, not understanding, unable to see the whole picture. I don’t know about all the other religions, but I really appreciate reading about those who had to live by faith.
So Jesus brought out three of his select twelve to witness the definitive proclamation from God and they leave the scene scratching their heads, trying to take it all in, while keeping it to themselves. There are so many times, especially these days, that I really wonder what God is up to–not that I doubt or lack faith, I just don’t understand the plan. I’m grateful to be assured I don’t have to understand to be within his will and working his plan.