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[Announcer] (0:01 - 0:19) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Our topic is: "What Really Happened on the Mount of Transfiguration?" Here's Rick and Julie.

[Rick] (0:20 - 0:27) Welcome everyone, I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a long-time contributor. Julie, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

[Julie] (0:27 - 0:52) Matthew 17:2-3: "And he was transfigured before them; and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him."

[Rick] (0:52 - 1:27) The vision on the Mount of Transfiguration was one of those magnificent events in the life of Jesus that give us some insight into just how remarkable his earthly ministry was.This vision had everything. It had Jesus' very appearance changed to one of brightness and glory. It had the appearance of two Old Testament powerhouses who were talking with this glorious version of Jesus. It had the booming voice of God from heaven, and then it had the sudden removal of all these amazing elements and the world suddenly became normal again. In the midst of all the glory and the splendor shown here, we need to ask some simple questions.

First, why did this happen? Second, what can we take away from this for our own benefit and understanding?

[Julie] (1:28 - 1:43) The three gospel accounts of the Transfiguration are from Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:1-13, and Luke 9:28-37. Here we're going to combine them into one narrative to conclude all the details to the best of our ability.

[Rick] (1:43 - 2:09) All right, so the context in all three gospels that leads up to the Mount of Transfiguration experience takes place six days beforehand. In that context, Jesus had just told his disciples that for them to be God-honoring, they each had to take up their cross and follow him so they could serve the glory of God's kingdom. He then says this, and this is Matthew 16:28:

[Julie] (2:10 - 2:25) "Truly, I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Rick, what does this mini-prophecy mean? Here's a clue; that Greek word for "kingdom" here means "royalty."

[Rick] (2:26 - 2:58) You will "see the Son of Man coming in his" royalty. Jesus was actually referring to the coming Transfiguration experience, and that, in all three Gospels, is the very next narrative. Now the fact that this was a vision of Jesus' future majesty--remember, "coming in his kingdom," coming in his royalty, is confirmed by the Apostle Peter much, much, much later.

Julie, let's go to 2 Peter 1:16:

[Julie] (2:59 - 3:42) "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." That word "majesty" means "splendor" or "magnificence." This is Peter, much later, talking about this first-hand experience he had at the Mount of Transfiguration experience, and we're going to look at this closer in a little bit.

All three gospel accounts say that several days would pass before this little prophecy came true. Matthew and Mark say it was six days later. Luke says it was eight days later.

They're both true. It just depends on if you're including the day Jesus predicts the vision and the day of the vision itself. It's not a contradiction, it's just a different way of expressing the time.

[Rick] (3:43 - 4:20) All right, and that's important, because some people look at that and say, aha! Bible contradiction! No, just another way of explaining the six days or the eight days. Is this including the first and the last day, or is it the days in between?

Simple. Let's go to this now. Jesus often retreated from everyone to the mountains to find solitude and fellowship with his Father.

We see that several times in the New Testament, and it's a beautiful, beautiful "selah" for him, a "pause and consider" moment. This time though, he goes to the mountain and he brings Peter, James and John, because something miraculous is going to happen.

[Julie] (4:21 - 5:08) Again, we're going to be reading from these combined accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but we're not going to stop to announce which book we're reading from. In order to follow along visually, please get the free CQ Rewind Show Notes at ChristianQuestions.com or the Christian Questions app. We'll start with Matthew 17:1-13 as our base:

Matthew 17:1: "...Six days later (or eight days, depending on if you're counting like Luke) Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves..."Luke 9:28-29: "to pray. And while he was praying..." Matthew 17:2: "...he was transfigured before them..." Luke 9:29: "... the appearance of his face became different..." Matthew 17:2: "...and his face shone like the sun..."

The Greek word for "transfigured" here is "metamorphoo." That should remind us of the English word "metamorphosis," meaning "to transform."

[Rick] (5:09 - 5:26) There's something remarkable that happens, and it specifies to Jesus' face. It transformed. Another familiar use of that word "metamorphoo" in the New Testament is in Romans 12:2:

[Julie] (5:26 - 5:47) "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (metamorphoo) by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." In other words, you become different than who you were. In the transfiguration scene it's still Jesus, but he transformed into a glorious representation of who he is.

[Rick] (5:47 - 7:00) That's important because the transformation in Romans 12 is that transforming from being a human being about earthly business to being transformed into the likeness of Christ because of God's Spirit. You can see that there's something more than just the painting of a face or something. This is bigger.

This is a change. In this vision, Jesus was portrayed with God's majesty upon him. These three apostles were beginning to get a glimpse of Jesus' future glory.

This must have been a really remarkable experience! Now let's pause here with this Transfiguration scene for a moment and go back to the Old Testament. Let's go back to the book of Malachi, because in Malachi, he presents a similar prophetic reference along the same lines as Jesus' face shining like the sun.

We're going to look at Malachi 4--it's the last chapter of the Old Testament--and look at parts of this prophecy because they end up being very significant here. Malachi 4:2-3:

[Julie] (7:01 - 7:39) "But for you who fear My name (that's God), the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall." That's an odd sentence. In other words, free to go out to pasture.

"You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says the LORD of hosts." This "sun of righteousness" reference, even though it's spelled in the Bible S-U-N, it's widely understood to be a Messianic prophecy. We remember how Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament.

There was a four-hundred-year gap of silence from God before the New Testament begins.

[Rick] (7:40 - 9:03) When we look at this and you see "the sun (S-U-N) of righteousness," and we think of Jesus. Look at the account of the Mount of Transfiguration. It says "his face shone like the sun." Oh, the sun!

Yeah, so you put those together, and we see the sun here in this Malachi prophecy is Jesus in the most basic and clear sense. This is, remember, the last prophetic message of the Old Testament.

This prophetic message actually has a dual meaning, as it first, the first part of its meaning prophesies the coming of Jesus four hundred years later. After the book of Malachi, there's nothing--until four hundred years later, suddenly you have the experiences with John the Baptist, and we'll get to those. That's the first application of the Malachi prophecy.

Malachi also refers to the final work of Jesus long afterwards, with the Day of Judgment and the kingdom to follow, because it does talk about the end times and time of great trouble and so forth. We're looking at Malachi because it focuses on Jesus in two different ways. There are other details that are going to come out in just a little bit to see how these two things, the Mount of Transfiguration and Malachi, really do work hand in hand. Let's go back to the Transfiguration event, and we're going to read here just from Mark 9:3.

[Julie] (9:03 - 9:24) This is one of my favorite scriptures of this whole experience. Listen to this: "...and his garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them."

Is that a poetic description?! This describes something that's so pure, it's beyond human ability. This vision is beyond earthly imagination.

[Rick] (9:25 - 11:15) Yeah, and it must have been spectacular to have been written this way. Spectacular! "His face shone like the sun," and his garments were radiant to the point where it is beyond human capacity.

Let's kind of hold on to these views here, and let's look at another scripture that shows us Jesus as the one who brings the brightness of God's glory, because this helps us to see that he is bringing a change that is different. We believe that his bringing God's glory--and we're going to read Isaiah 60:1-3--comes through not only himself but his faithful followers once they are in heaven. Let's take a look at Isaiah 60:1-3:

JULIE

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear among you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising."

RICK

How many times do you see light and brightness in this scripture? It gives us a sense of what the ultimate mission of Jesus is for. It's to bring light to a darkened world.

Satan is "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), and it's a dark world under his rule. Jesus' return is for the sole purpose of destroying Satan's rule and bringing God's light back to earth. When we see Malachi talking about the "sun of righteousness" (S-U-N), you can see the power of the Son (S-O-N) in that.

When we look at the Isaiah scripture, you see the brightness that changes the world, and of course when we look at Jesus, we see he's the embodiment of everything. It just all fits.

[Julie] (11:16 - 11:32) The purpose of our segment first here is to introduce that Jesus' face shines like the sun, his clothes turn a blindingly white, and other scriptures prophetically describe him as this light and brightness that dispels the darkness of the day of sin.

[Rick] (11:32 - 11:52) You have a compelling message here, and what's happening is, this is right at the beginning. The first things that you notice are the metamorphosis of Jesus and his face and his garments. Let's pause here, and let's look at attempting to Translate the Transfiguration:

[Julie] (11:52 - 12:10) Jesus knew that his Father had designed a spectacular vision for three of his apostles to witness, and what began as a prayer on a mountain became a heavenly vision of the majesty of Jesus in a way no human could replicate. It was no accident that the description of Jesus was the first part of the vision's unfolding.

[Rick] (12:11 - 12:29) This is important to hold on to. You see where it begins, and hang on to that thought because we'll see where it ends, and that will help us understand what the main meaning here is. This is a truly remarkable event, as God's message through Jesus here was to be both unique and memorable.

[Julie] (12:30 - 12:37) We have Jesus clearly defined in this vision as the main focus. How do Moses and Elijah compare, and what was their role?

[Rick] (12:38 - 13:21) Here is where we begin to weigh different approaches of understanding this magnificent event. First and foremost, Jesus is seen with great majesty, and as we will see, both Moses and Elijah appear in clear supporting roles. Acknowledging this--the difference between Jesus and these other two--is going to help us keep our focus on the main thing, which is Jesus and his glory.

Let's keep that in mind as we unfold this. Those are the first details that we're seeing, and now let's expand it a little further. Let's go back to the Luke rendering of this Mount of Transfiguration experience.

[Julie] (13:22 - 14:09) Luke 9:30-31 is where we'll pick it up. "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 at Jerusalem." What's happening is the Apostles overhear this conversation between these three about Jesus' impending death.

Now, it's interesting. We don't know how the Apostles recognized this is Moses and this is Elijah, because of course they'd never met them. They had been dead thousands of years earlier. But here's a question that I think a lot of people have when they study this:

Do Moses and Elijah "appearing in glory" mean that they went to heaven with Jesus after Jesus' resurrection? If not, what does their "appearing in glory" mean for these two individuals?

[Rick] (14:10 - 16:03) Okay, that's a really good question, and here's the interesting thing. It says they appeared in glory. They appeared in marvelous array.

This is a heavenly vision. It's not real. They didn't go to heaven.

Remember, the Old Testament prophets had no sense of heaven whatsoever. The call to heaven only came with Jesus. That's why John the Baptist was called the greatest among men, and "the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:11)

They're in that category of earthly, so what is this glory thing? The glory part of this is helping us understand the glorious plan of God.

They were parts, as we will see, they were parts of this glorious plan that brought everything to Jesus and through Jesus. It's interesting, it didn't talk about them having that metamorphosis. It didn't talk about them having that transformation.

They were men, and they were talking with him. We'll expand this as we go a little bit further, so hang on, we're going to come back to those thoughts.

Let's get back to the vision and start putting it in a little bit stronger definitive clarity now. Seeing this vision as all about Jesus has got to be the obvious point here. We're going to suggest that on the most basic level, Moses and Elijah represented the Law and the prophets--on the most basic level.

The Law came through Moses, who was the deliverer of Israel, and Jesus himself said that Elijah the prophet was powerfully represented by John the Baptist, who paved the way for him (Jesus). We're going to get into some of those scriptures in a bit. We're looking at understanding, translating the Transfiguration, and on the most basic level, Moses, Elijah, Law, and the prophets.

Let's continue, let's go a little bit further now.

[Julie] (16:03 - 16:18) In the vision, Moses and Elijah were speaking of Jesus' coming sacrifice on the cross. This illustrates how the death of Christ was fully declared beforehand, because Moses spoke of it as represented in the sacrifices of the Law, and all the prophets declared it.

[Rick] (16:19 - 16:37) We need to really dig into that. The "Law and the Prophets" theme ran throughout all of Jesus' ministry. It was right there at the beginning.

Let's just drop in on one verse that helps us understand this at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry. John 1:45:

[Julie] (16:37 - 17:30) "Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Jesus' teachings encapsulated what the primary message of the Law and the Prophets was meant to be. Here in Matthew 22:35-40 that we're going to read, Jesus is speaking with the Pharisees who are trying to trap him into saying something they could twist around to make him look bad.

Here's what it says: "One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?

And he said to them, YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it,

YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

[Rick] (17:31 - 19:04) You have the "Law and the Prophets." They were looking for Messiah through the "Law and the Prophets," and now Jesus is taking the Law itself and saying on these two commandments, loving the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself, on these two, everything about the "Law and the Prophets" is dependent. In his ministry, here's what he's doing;

he's telling us that the "Law and the Prophets" can be summed up in those two commandments. Essentially what's happening is Jesus studied these things, and they--the "Law and the Prophets," essentially by his studying and praying and meditating on these things, the "Law and the Prophets" spoke to him. They told him,

they showed him--along with God's Spirit--they showed him what to do, what to say, and how to frame it. He takes these commandments and says, this is the summation of the "Law and the Prophets." They spoke to him.

When we look at these two men talking to him in this vision, you can really see how the "Law and the Prophets" were feeding Jesus about what he had come to do, and interesting, they were talking about his coming crucifixion. Let's go a little bit further here with the "Law and the Prophets."

We saw it at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, we see it during Jesus' ministry in Matthew 22. After Jesus' resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus again pointed to the same theme. Luke 24:25-27:

[Julie] (19:23 - 19:28) "And he said to them, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the Prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures."

[Rick] (19:28 - 20:16) You see how Moses and the prophets spoke to Jesus. They spoke to him. They spoke of him.

They were there to put his understanding in place. Jesus himself goes and uses the "Law and the Prophets" to describe these things on the road to Emmaus. Now, with all of those representations of the "Law and the Prophets" in Jesus' ministry, let's go back to the prophet Malachi.

Remember, this is the last Old Testament writing. Here's the interesting thing; it was no accident that this last Old Testament writing--as a matter of fact, the last chapter of the Old Testament writing--as a matter of fact, the last words of the Old Testament--actually combine Jesus as the sun, S-U-N, S-O-N, of righteousness, and Moses, and Elijah.

Malachi 4:4-6:

[Julie] (20:17 - 20:56) "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, for that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."

Okay, so we know that this Malachi prophecy ties into our discussion with the Mount of Transfiguration, because, get this, it's the only other place in Scripture where Moses, Elijah, and a representation of Jesus as the S-U-N of righteousness are all mentioned together.

[Rick] (20:57 - 21:33) Right. Now, remember, we mentioned that this prophecy does have a dual meaning. It had a meaning that applied at Jesus' first advent, and a meaning that applies as Jesus comes to his second advent.

Here's what we know. We know absolutely it had a meaning to apply in his first advent, because John the Baptist was highlighted here as pictured by Elijah. We know that because the angel Gabriel said to Zacharias when John's birth was foretold, he actually quotes this Scripture.

Let's look at Luke 1:16-17:

[Julie] (21:34 - 22:12) "And he (John) will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he (speaking of this baby, this John the Baptist) who will go as a forerunner before him (Jesus) in the spirit and power of Elijah (and then he quotes that phrase from Malachi 4:6 that we just read), TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

The angel makes this direct connection for us that someone like an Elijah, the prophet, would come on the scene to prepare the people for the Lord. John the Baptist, we know, was that Elijah.

[Rick] (22:12 - 22:51) That's powerful, because these are the last words of the Old Testament. The first actions of the New Testament are the prophecy of John being born. You can see it just picks up only four hundred years in between, but it picks up exactly where the Old Testament left off.

The Old Testament prophesies, the New Testament fulfills. Let's go a little bit further here now. Further, Jesus summed up this "Law and the Prophets" focus, as he described John the Baptist to the crowds.

This is fascinating. Here's what Jesus himself said about John to the crowds. We're going to look at Matthew 11:11-15:

[Julie] (22:52 - 23:28) "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus himself confirmed this Elijah-to-John connection for us.

[Rick] (23:28 - 24:02) Right, and we're going to have to expand that a little bit later when we go further in the account of the Mount of Transfiguration. Another part of this verse that was important, it says "violent men take it by force." You're like, well what's happening here?

That helps us. When Jesus is explaining things after the Mount of Transfiguration, that comes into play, that we can see an understanding of that. What we're saying here is the "Law and the Prophets" all pointed to Jesus. They spoke to him.

They spoke of him. They made him the centerpiece of God's plan.

[Julie] (24:03 - 24:29) We continue with the account of the Mount of Transfiguration. Luke 9:32: "Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep..." This detail only shows up in the Luke account, in Luke 9.

The sequence of events seems to be this: Jesus takes the three apostles to the mountain, and he's praying. He's praying, he's praying, he's praying, he's praying for so long that the apostles fall asleep.

When they wake up, they see this vision in progress.

[Rick] (24:30 - 25:00) You can see that the prayer of Jesus--and this wasn't the first time that the apostles fell asleep, or this wasn't the last time, I should say, that the apostles fell asleep when Jesus was praying. He had this depth of connection that took time to unfold, and they were mere men trying to keep up, and you just can't. It's too big, it's too big.

Let's go back to the account of the Transfiguration, understanding this, beginning with Luke 9:32:

[Julie] (25:01 - 25:37) Luke 9:32-33: "...but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. And as these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here..." Matthew 17:4 "...if you wish..." Luke 9:33: "...let us make three tabernacles: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah..."

Mark 9:6: "For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified." Rick, we know Peter is impetuous, and here he's totally confused. He doesn't know what to say.

The first thing that stumbles out of his mouth is, well, we can build you three dwelling places. You can all live here. I don't know.

He's trying to be helpful, and he wants to serve in some way.

[Rick] (25:37 - 26:22) He does want to serve, and you look at that, and you've got to love that utter confusion--I've got to do something! I've got to do something positive! He has the desire to serve, and he's outright scared to death.

Look, the typical response of almost any human being who's been exposed to something so unexpected and enormous and so solemn would be wanting to serve it, and just not knowing what to do, having that nervous energy. You look at that and say, well, there's something very powerful here, something very positive. He's reacting as just a man who doesn't understand.

The beauty is, Jesus has compassion on all of that as we unfold this account further. Julie, let's go to Translating the Transfiguration again:

[Julie] (26:23 - 26:53) Jesus knew there would be a significant event on this mountain, although it's hard to say what details he was aware of. God's message would come through the likenesses of those who had gone before, and through the power of heavenly light showering over Jesus. Thus far, we see the point being a focus on Jesus as the centerpiece of all that had come before him.

The whole plan of God rested on his shoulders. He's the pivot point who will make it all come together. But to do that, he's first going to have to die.

[Rick] (26:53 - 27:11) This is what the Transfiguration is actually going to be pointing to, as we will see shortly. It's hard to even imagine what Peter, James and John could have been thinking. They're essentially in the presence of God's glory.

I mean, look, how do you handle that?

[Julie] (27:12 - 27:17) As overwhelming as this experience has proven to be, there would be more. What came next?

[Rick] (27:18 - 27:49) The next elements of this Transfiguration event would elevate things even higher. So far, the vision showed three faithful individuals talking, albeit in the context of heavenly brightness and majesty. What would be added next would make this event a unique and undeniable display of heavenly love, heavenly power, and heavenly acceptance from God, and focused entirely on Jesus.

[Julie] (27:49 - 28:29) While Peter's blurting out about building tabernacles with all his, like you said, nervous energy, a cloud forms. Matthew calls it a bright cloud. Let's drop back in on the account.

Luke 9:34: "While he was saying this, a..." Matthew 17:5: "...bright..." Luke 9:34: "...cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud." Matthew 17:5-6: "...and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, This is My beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased;

listen to him! When the disciples heard this, they fell face down on the ground and were terrified." So first of all, Peter, stop talking!

Stop guessing what to do next and just listen. Listen to Jesus!

[Rick] (28:30 - 29:47) Yeah. Again, they're terrified. This is the second time that they're terrified.

They were terrified when they woke up and saw this vision before them, and now this cloud is terrifying. The vividness of this vision is startling.

Now there's this bright cloud--sounds kind of odd--a bright cloud and a booming voice from that cloud. Let's talk about both parts. First, the cloud.

It was bright, full of light, and yet it was still a cloud that caused them fear. We look at that and perhaps, perhaps this was showing them that even though clouds are signs of trouble--and scripturally that's a very, very easy determination in terms of scriptural symbolism; clouds are signs of trouble--the brightness is a reminder that God's hand is ultimately over all things. There's brightness in the trouble because God is ultimately behind all of it.

Now let's look at the voice for a moment. The voice provokes fear, and rightfully so. Think about this.

There's nothing like being covered in a bright cloud and hearing a powerful voice from heaven to remind you how utterly insignificant you are. You could be squashed like a bug and nobody would ever know. That's kind of how you feel in this circumstance.

[Julie] (29:47 - 29:54) Notice that the voice says, "listen to Jesus," not listen to Moses and Elijah. All the focus is on Jesus.

[Rick] (29:55 - 30:21) That's such an important thing. We're putting this together. Now while these things provoked more fear, much later on the Apostle Peter described their purpose.

Now we had quoted 2 Peter 1:16 earlier. We're going to go back to that verse and then go on to verses 17-18 as well, because this is the only time we have the Transfiguration recalled in scripture, and it's important to see what is being recalled.

[Julie] (30:22 - 31:16) 2 Peter 1:16-18: "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made it known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." Remember we read this at the beginning. Peter was there at the Mount of Transfiguration.

He saw firsthand this majesty, the splendor, that brightness, the magnificent picture of Jesus in glory. When the event happened, the apostles weren't allowed to talk about it. We're going to read that shortly when we finish up these gospel accounts.

Now years later, Peter's writing about this event. We're going to continue with 2 Peter 1:17 that we haven't read yet: "For when he (Jesus) received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the Majestic Glory (God),

This is My beloved son in whom I am well-pleased-- and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain."

[Rick] (31:16 - 32:00) Peter is describing it with great enthusiasm, and he's focused on the majesty and the voice, and the voice is focusing on Jesus. It's this proclamation from God that makes the real purpose of this Transfiguration experience become very, very clear.

This would be, interestingly, this would be, this experience would be the second of three times that God would publicly speak on behalf of Jesus. There were three times in the New Testament. Let's reiterate them.

First is Jesus' baptism, and we're all familiar with that. Let's look at Mark 1:9-11:

[Julie] (32:00 - 32:19) "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opening and the spirit like a dove descending upon him; and a voice came out of the heavens: You are My beloved son, in you I am well-pleased."

[Rick] (32:19 - 32:48) You have this beautiful message at his baptism. This is a message from God to Jesus spoken in public! "You are My beloved son."

It's in you that I am pleased. You have a tremendous, tremendous introduction there. The second event is this Mount of Transfiguration,

the second time you hear God speaking in relation to Jesus. Again, Julie, let's reread Matthew 17:5:

[Julie] (32:49 - 33:01) "While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, This is My beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to him!"

[Rick] (33:01 - 33:53) You added "listen to him!" There's an addition there. This is a message to the disciples about Jesus.

Listen to my beloved son. This is him. It's not just...you don't gawk, you listen.

That's what this comes down to. Now the third time that we have God's voice from heaven in recognition of Jesus is in John 12. We just want to put some context behind that.

Jesus had just ridden victoriously into Jerusalem for all to see, and was proclaimed king before hundreds of thousands of people. Remember, riding in on the donkey, Hosanna to the son of David. It's just this amazing, amazing event.

Would Jesus be able to bask in the pinnacle of that glory? We're going to look at John 12, and we're going to sum up a few of the verses. John 12:20-24, 27-29:

[Julie] (33:54 - 34:33) We're going to just sum up. Men from Greece came to see Philip to ask about Jesus. We'll start with verse 22:

"Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Jesus knew all this adoration from the people unfortunately wouldn't last, and he knew his death was imminent.

Continuing with John 12:27: "Now my soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, Father, save me from this hour?..."

[Rick] (34:34 - 35:22) He's going through, and he's verbalizing the fact that he's troubled. He's verbalizing he's going to have to die, and that all of those people who said here's our king, it's going to turn really, really, really badly, as far as they're concerned, very, very soon. Jesus is troubled because his life is drawing to a close, and literally the weight of the world is upon his shoulders.

How would Jesus respond here? What does he do? What do you think?

What do you...how do you take action under those circumstances? How would those masses of people understand the seeming failure of his coming crucifixion? How would this all come to be?

Does he say, there's got to be a different way? No, no. Here's what he says.

Julie, let's go back to John 12.

[Julie] (35:23 - 36:03) Well, remember we left off, he said: "...what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

Father, glorify Your name." Oh, I just got goosebumps. "Then a voice came out of heaven:

I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, An angel has spoken to him."

We're at a question. God says, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." What is He talking about?

What was glorified? What's glorifying again?

[Rick] (36:03 - 38:20) Okay, so this is, remember, all about Jesus. This is a confirmation for Jesus. Think about this, and I'm going to give you a suggestion.

When Jesus was born, the angels in Luke 2:14 came and said "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." "Glory to God." Why?

Because the Messiah had been born. His name--God's name, through Jesus--had been glorified at the very beginning. After Jesus' resurrection, if we look at Philippians 2:9-10, it says (to just sum up the scriptures) Jesus was given a name above all names for the purpose of giving God glory.

You can see that He had been glorified. God had been glorified in Jesus leaving the heavens, becoming a human being, and being born. Then he is crucified, and upon his resurrection and his ascension, God is again glorified. I think in the midst of between those two things, that's what we're seeing.

God is affirming these things. This voice from heaven confirmed and extended what had been said the first two times. Again, at his baptism--"this is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased"-- that introduced Jesus as the Messiah.

At the Transfiguration, it added "this is my beloved Son...listen to him!" That verified Jesus as the Messiah and the way to life; "listen to him!" The third, "I have been both glorified it, and will glorify it again." That confirmed Jesus as the Messiah and the one who would bring the glory of God. He was the one that put it all together.

In the Transfiguration, what were they talking about? The crucifixion. Why?

Because it all came together. Jesus is the center of the plan. In all three instances, the voice from heaven was a public evidence of his mission and his acceptability.

When you have that in this Mount of Transfiguration, this powerful, booming voice in this cloud, this is God saying, I am with him, he's My Son, "listen to him," watch what he does to honor My name. That's what we have there. Julie, let's go back to Translating the Transfiguration:

[Julie] (38:21 - 38:50) Jesus was a man. His life would be freely given in sacrifice for the sins of Adam, and therefore the sins of the world. His journey towards the sacrifice was in many ways lonely. This Transfiguration experience verified the singular importance of his role in God's plan through the vision of Moses and Elijah.

It further verified his singular importance through God's own audible proclamation of who he was and the authority that God had given him.

[Rick] (38:50 - 39:12) You have a very, very strong and unmistakable message from God to Jesus with those three witnesses. The further we go with this account, the more dramatic it becomes. God is offering Peter, James and John a glimpse of what majesty looks like.

[Julie] (39:12 - 39:20) The terrified apostles are all face down on the ground as a result of God's booming message. What else is going to happen?

[Rick] (39:20 - 40:15) I know, like, come on, really, more? We have seen the power in this experience by virtue of the fact that Peter, James and John were seriously afraid three different times. As we've already seen, the big takeaway for them was what Peter wrote so many years later about God's voice proclaiming Jesus.

We see the takeaway for Jesus to be one of strength and focus. That's the takeaway; Jesus the one of strength and focus.

Every aspect of this vision verified the authority he had been given to fulfill God's plan for the world. We pick up, we had the three apostles there, and they're terrified, and they're face down, and there's the bright cloud, and there's this booming voice. Now what happens?

Let's go back to the account. We'll pick it up with Matthew 17:7-9:

[Julie] (40:16 - 40:47) "And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, Get up, and do not be afraid. And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."

Mark 9:10: "They seized upon this statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant." Rick, it doesn't sound like they fully understood what had just happened. They weren't getting it, that it's about the crucifixion.

[Rick] (40:47 - 41:39) No, but you see that it has to do with rising from the dead. What were Moses and Elijah talking about? His dying.

Jesus is saying, you don't talk about this until that event is finished with the resurrection. Of course, they don't know. They don't understand.

Like wait a minute. Did you hear what he said? What do you think he means by that?

They're trying to figure it out. These poor guys. I mean, they've been overwhelmed and wanting to build booths when you're not supposed to,

and now they're trying to figure it out. The aftermath of fear and awe was simply Jesus telling them to "get up, and do not be afraid." Because all of it had gone.

In an instant, all of it had gone, and he touches them. There's such tenderness in this.

He touches them. "Get up." Don't worry.

"Do not be afraid." All of the remarkable pieces to this experience had vanished. Now there was just Jesus with a request to not talk about it.

[Julie] (41:40 - 41:42) How would they even describe it?

[Rick] (41:43 - 41:49) Yeah, but, and how do you keep from telling it? What happened up on the mountain? Oh, nothing.

Jesus did a lot of praying.

[Julie] (41:50 - 41:52) Yeah, you just won't believe what I just saw.

[Rick] (41:53 - 42:13) Beautiful, beautiful scenery. Now the apostles are thinking about their experience, and they're wondering about this resurrection part, rising from the dead.

But they also began to ask other questions and these become very significant. Let's go back to the Transfiguration account, picking up with Matthew 17:10:

[Julie] (42:13 - 42:41) "And his disciples asked him, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" Mark 9:12-13: "And he said to them, Elijah does come first and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that he will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him." Matthew 17:13: "Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist."

[Rick] (42:41 - 42:50) Now remember when we were talking earlier about the angel and the Malachi prophecy, and the wicked "take it by force?"

[Julie] (42:51 - 42:51) Yeah.

[Rick] (42:51 - 42:52) What happened to John the Baptist?

[Julie] (42:53 - 42:56) Oh, the wicked definitely killed him.

[Rick] (42:56 - 43:47) He was taken by force.

You can see that as Jesus is is helping them understand the role John the Baptist plays, that also fits in to the Malachi prophecy. You can see that the pieces all come together in very specific ways. What did Jesus' answer here actually mean?

Well, we read most of that from Mark. That was Mark 9:12-13, for most of it. The Mark rendering indicates that Elijah's coming referred to what had already happened in John the Baptist.

Jesus follows that up with how he himself would be treated. He said, look, Elijah has come and they did not treat him well, and nor are they going to treat me well. You see that past application and the results.

That's what Jesus is talking about there.

[Julie] (43:47 - 43:54) In other words, he's pointing out that "Elijah," who's John the Baptist, had come and wasn't able to convert all.

[Rick] (43:54 - 44:19) Right, right. You have that aspect of an answer. Now let's mix it up a little bit, because the Matthew accounts can actually be interpreted in a wider manner.

Now we're going to look at those same verses from Matthew, and there are some slight differences that we want to make some comments on. Matthew 17:10-13:

[Julie] (44:20 - 44:44) "And his disciples asked him, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? And he answered and said, Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished.

So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist."

[Rick] (44:44 - 47:54) Okay, so we've got this, and in the Matthew rendering, it says "Elijah is coming" to "restore all things." You get the implication that Elijah has a future work. Now Jesus already said, well, he's already come in the form of John the Baptist.

Now I want to make a point, okay? John was a representation of Elijah. He wasn't a reincarnation of Elijah or anything like that.

It's very important to understand that, that Elijah is shown to be a prophet who motivates change. That's what we understand about Elijah. This indicates, well, Elijah is coming to do the work of restoring "all things."

We saw in the Malachi prophecy how there was a future application. We can see how that could fit into the Matthew rendering. Additionally, verse 12 in the Matthew 17 rendering; additionally, Elijah--John--already came and was mistreated, as I, Jesus, will also be mistreated.

He's saying he's coming, and he already came. You say, well, how is that possible? Because this is how we read prophecy.

Prophecy sometimes has layered meanings, and we have to try to pay attention to get those layers. In verse 13 of the Matthew account, Peter, James and John got the John the Baptist connection, and apparently the rest was beyond them. I mean, it was pretty good that they got the John the Baptist connection, after all that had gone on.

It wouldn't have been unusual for things to be beyond them, because when you think about it, Jesus told his disciples very bluntly, I'm going to be persecuted, I'm going to die, and I'm going to be raised three days later. They were told three different times, and when it happened, they're like, what happened?

They're just men. They're trying their hardest, but they're just men. Jesus is explaining to them, there's more to this whole picture than you may begin to understand here.

Let's continue. Let's re-quote Malachi to support the thought that at the time of Jesus' second advent, there would be an Elijah-like activity. Now we're looking at the Malachi 4:4-6 scriptures, with the view of a future application from that time of the Mount of Transfiguration.

JULIE

"Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."

RICK

When it talks about Elijah the Prophet coming "before...the great and terrible day of the LORD," you have that as a symbol of the time of trouble that was coming thousands of years later from the time it was written. You look at that and say, and he's going to "restore the hearts of the fathers to the children... the hearts of the children to their fathers." What it means is that he is going to be engaged in the work of the restoration.

It's not going to be completed at that moment, but that work has a beginning, it will have a fruition, just not the way we see, typically. Go ahead, Julie.

[Julie] (47:54 - 48:06) You're saying that this Malachi prophecy, not only did it have a literal fulfillment but it also was a fulfillment with John the Baptist, and it's a future fulfillment even after Jesus is raised?

[Rick] (48:06 - 48:07) In our time.

[Julie] (48:07 - 48:07) Okay.

[Rick] (48:08 - 48:55) All right. Again, the work is not finished at that point in time. The work is engaged in at that point in time.

It's important to understand that there's so many details here that we want to just try to appreciate these prophecies for what they're there to speak to us about. But remember, the key point is Jesus. The key point is preparing for his crucifixion.

I think the key point is the encouragement to Jesus himself to say, you are "My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased." Everyone listens to him because he is the one who carries the plan of God on his shoulders. Now as we wrap up the Transfiguration account, here's what it looks like in Luke 9:36-37:

[Julie] (48:56 - 49:07) "...And they kept silent and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen. On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him (Jesus)."

[Rick] (49:07 - 50:14) They come down from the mountain and this large crowd meets him. This is the crowd where the man has the boy who's got the mental illness issues. They are literally thrust right back into the work of the gospel at that point in time. They have this incredible Transfiguration vision to be given a glimpse of something beyond them, and then they come back to the reality of the harshness of life.

With this unique and faith-strengthening experience in hand, the gospel work still needed to be done. It didn't change anything for them as far as the immediacy. It didn't change anything for Jesus.

He still had to do the work, he had to follow through, he had to teach, he had to preach, he had to know when to withhold, he had to know when to apply, and he had to be subservient to the will of God so that he could go through that crucifixion. The Transfiguration experience, I truly believe, was there to help Jesus get the strength to go through something that we can't even begin to comprehend. Finally, Julie, Translating the Transfiguration:

[Julie] (50:15 - 50:51) The vision on the Mount of Transfiguration restated God's clear intentions of working His plan of salvation through His son Jesus as the culmination of what the "Law and the Prophets" taught. This dramatic and powerful restatement would reaffirm Jesus and would give Peter, James and John a rare insight into spiritual things. Further, this experience based on Malachi 4 would have prophetic implications far down the road related to the second advent of Jesus.

All in all, this experience was yet another proof of Jesus as God's Son and of God's plan for all of humanity.

[Rick] (50:51 - 52:02) We put this in a context of seeing it as God's way of encouraging His son to do something that was so remarkably out-of-the-ordinary. Remember, Jesus' entire life was spent not doing his own will as a human being, but doing the will of God. He listened and he followed and he acted accordingly.

As his life grew closer and closer and closer to the crucifixion, the weight became greater and greater. God was with him every step of the way. You have Moses and Elijah, the "Law and the Prophets," speaking to Jesus; you're doing the work, you're fulfilling these prophecies, keep going.

The powerful voice of God from heaven, "you are My beloved son," and everyone will "listen to him." That, I think, is what the Mount of Transfiguration is there primarily to tell us. Think about it.

Folks, we love hearing from our listeners, we welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode: "Will God's Vengeance Bring the End of the World?"

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