IV TRANSFIGURATION

I believe the Transfiguration takes place not long after his visit to the springs. The dictionary defines “transfigure” as “change in appearance.”

Matthew and Mark describe the change that takes place in Jesus as “…His face shined as the sun”…“clothes began shining, exceedingly, brilliantly, white as snow”…“as no launderer on earth could whiten them…” Luke says “…the appearance of His face became different…”

Moses and Elijah are transfigured, as well, because they were dead and appear to be alive. But their appearance is not described…only that they appear “in glory” (maybe wraith-like, as well). Afterwards, Jesus, Moses and Elijah are enshrowded in a cloud, from which the voice of God emanates, saying that Jesus is His Son…the Messiah and that they should listen to Him (Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36).

…MATTHEW 17:1-9…And six days later Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shown like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold a voice, out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; hear Him!” And when the disciples heard this they fell on their faces and were much afraid. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” And lifting up their eyes, they saw that no one, except Jesus Himself alone. And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one, until the son of Man is risen from the dead.”

…MARK 9:2-9…And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were conversing with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him.” And all at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus, only. And as they were coming down from the mountion, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the dead.”

…LUKE 9:28-36…And some eight days after these sayings, it came about that He took along Peter and John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. And it came about, as they were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles; one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —not realizing what he was saying. And while he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One (Messiah), listen to Him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

What a dramatic scene. Peter, together with John and James, downstage center, Jesus, Moses and Elijah upstage resplendent in glory; and God directing from above!

There have been several theories posited as to where the Transfiguration occurred. Some believe it was on the lower mountain of nearby Mt Hermonit, others Mt. Tabor…Some feel it was Mt. Carmel, as one of the persons transfigured was Elijah, the sight of one of Elijah’s greatest triumphs, as God’s prophet mentioned previously. Others say it was Mt. Hermon.

I believe the Transfiguration took place on Mt. Tabor (small drum). This mountain sits in the Valley of Jezreel (God sows) and is over 1800 feet high, with steep sides. Although that is not as high as the other mountains, when it ascends straight up from the valley floor it appears very high indeed. Both Mark and Matthew refer to it as a “high” mountain. My main reason for believing it is this mountain is because it is near the road that Jesus would take to Jerusalem (more about this later). The other mountains would’ve been out of the way.

Moses (son…draw from…God is Jehova) is chosen, I believe, because he is considered the greatest prophet, and also because he was never able to enter the Promised Land. This enables him, at long last, to step onto the hallowed soil. Also, many (myself included) consider Moses to be the “Jesus” of the Old Testament. Moses was the bearer of the Old Covenant (Ten Commandments)…worship by law; and Jesus is the bearer of the New Covenant…worship by Faith (Numbers 20:12).

…NUMBERS 20:12…But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land (the Promised Land…Palestine) which I have given them.”

I believe Elijah (God is Jehova) is there, because he is the prophet chosen to proclaim the coming Messiah, Jesus. And John the Baptist is said, by Jesus, to be the Elijah of that day (Matthew 17:10; 11:13,14).

…MATTHEW 17:10…And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

…MATTHEW 11:13,14…Jesus continues “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you care to accept it, he (John) is Elijah, who was to come.”

So, God enables this beloved prophet to witness the fulfillment of the prophecy…the arrival of the Messiah.
To show the esteem God had given these two prophets, they were the only ones known, of all those in His service, whose place of burial was deliberately made secret. Moses was personally laid to rest, by God, in an unknown location near Mt. Nebo, and Elijah was taken up into the heavens by God and transported somewhere to his final resting place (Deuteronomy 34:6; 2 Kings 2:11).

…DEUTERONOMY 34:6…And He (Jehovah) buried him (Moses) in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor (near Mt. Nebo, in what is now Jordan); but no man knows his burial place to this day.

…II KINGS 2:11…Then it came about as they (Elijah and his protege Elisha) were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.

Now this does not mean that Elijah was carried up to heaven, bodily, where he resides to this day. For no one, except Jesus, is alive who once lived and died. No, it was God’s way of once again insuring that no one knows the burial place of one very special to Him and His people.

An aside…As to why Jehova would insure that their places of burial would be unknown I wouldn’t know for sure. Who knows the mysterious ways of Jehovah? But I will hazard a guess that it was because He didn’t want humans to worship at their graves. If this seems farfetched, look at the way Christians of today worship at sights believed to be connected with Jesus. Or for that matter, look at the shrine erected to Elvis Presley and how the “faithful” flock to that shrine in Memphis. People are prone to look for “idols” to worship.

1) Passover…14^th day of the 1^st month (our calendar, April)
2 Weeks/Firstfruits…50 days after Passover (May/June)
3)Trumpet&Atonement…1^stand10^thdayof7^thmonth(October)
4) Tabernacles…15^th day of 7^th month
5) Purim…14 and 15^th day of 12^th month (March)
6) Dedication…25^th day of 9^th month (December)

Observant Jews were expected to celebrate three FeastHoly Days…Passover, Firstfruits, and Tabernacles at the Temple in Jerusalem. Naturally, nothing would keep Jesus from participating.

Jesus is going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. As evidenced by what Peter says regarding the setting up of tabernacles, the Transfiguration may well have occurred at this time. The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the ingathering of the harvest, and is also called the “Feast of Ingathering”. It is celebrated in “booths” for a seven day period, at the close of the agricultural season. It is a celebration of the coming into the Promised Land (Leviticus 23:34).

…LEVITICUS 23:34…(Jehovah speaks to Moses) “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “On the fifteenth of the seventh month is the Feast of the Booths for seven days unto the Lord.”

John says that the “Feast of Tabernacles was at hand” (John 7:2,10) .
…JOHN 7:2,10…Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of the Tabernacles, was at hand…But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret.

Or it could have occurred at the Day of Atonement. This would also be approriate, because it is a holy day that honors the expiation of the sins for the Jews, and the death of Jesus will be the expiation of the sins for all mankind (Leviticus 16:34).

…LEVITICUS 16:34…“And this shall be an everlasting statute for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins…”

Or it could have occurred ten days earlier at Trumpets. I’m always interested in answers to the six questions…WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW .
The location for the Transfiguration is based on my best estimate. So for me, that is the WHERE of this event. The accounts above give us the WHO, and the WHAT. The WHEN could be near the Feast of Tabernacles, or he could have wanted to get there earlier to celebrate the Holy Days of Trumpet and Atonement. We look to Luke to understand the WHY of the Transfiguration. The HOW we’ll leave to God.
It is fairly well concealed, but Luke says that Moses and Elijah are speaking of Jesus’ “departure”…that is an innocuous term for “death”. Another term used is “exodus” which is defined as “going out”…”decease” (B-3-97). So, they are not talking about any physical journey that he is going to make after his trip to Jerusalem, but rather what he will experience after dying. This gives “ingathering” a whole new meaning. This may be the Father’s way of explaining the process of death to His Son. These prophets are no doubt the most revered by His Son, and they are able to explain what he will experience in death’s journey. But they have no way of preparing him for the agonies he will endure before death.
It seems strange to me that the gospel of John, attributed to the only author present at this event, was the only one who does not mention the Transfiguration. And in each story all three disciples, John, James, and Peter witness the event.
Mark, credited by many with writing the first gospel, was the cousin and disciple of Barnabas. Barnabas was an early disciple of the “twelve”, and Mark could have heard the story from him, or Mark might have heard it, first-hand from Peter, in Antioch. Both Mark and Luke were disciples of Paul for a time, so Luke could have heard of the account from Mark.
The gospels of Matthew and Luke were said to have been inspired by that of Mark.
Even though the gospels may not actually have been written by these four disciples, the written acounts would have been based on their oral or written traditions. Four different view points: Matthew - from the aspect of the King; Mark - the Servant of Man; Luke - the Man; and John
- the Son of God.
Some claim that the details of the Transfiguration, i.e., the appearance of the Prophets, the physical change in Jesus, the voice of God, etc., are embellishments after the fact, on the original accounts of Luke. They think what might have happened is that, while praying, Jesus’ face undergoes a change because he experiences an epiphany or a revelation, which is reflected in his countenance (B-13-18). Nobody knows for sure, but whatever occurred is significant enough to be chronicled by three of the gospels, and to make a profound impact on Peter.
But, if the account was originally that of Luke’s, how does that track with Mark’s gospel being first and an inspiration for Luke? Another unanswerable question.
(Note: In my play, ROAD TO BETHANY, I use the “idea’ of the Transfiguration to make the crucifixion of Jesus more compelling, keeping it in the “present”. By this I mean I use the dramatic device of the “trance”, and in that state ascend the “cross” to capture the passion of the crucifixion. )