Luke 9:28-36 Transfiguration
Good morning! I’m glad you all came back, after last week’s sermon I had my doubts that anyone would show up today! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 9:28-36, page 867 in the pew Bibles.
This morning we are going to look at one of the most fantastic events in the Gospels. It is an event of great importance in the history of redemption, perhaps only out shined by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that is the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain.
We have a lot of work to do this morning but it is not my goal to be exhaustive in dealing with this text and its theological implications but perhaps to gain at least a little more understanding of this event and its purpose and meaning.
So let’s look at the text and dive in.
28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Let’s pray.
There has been considerable debate about which mountain Jesus led Peter, James, and John up to pray. Some say Mount Hermon, some say Mount Tabor. I say Mount Irrelevant. The name of this mountain and its exact location are completely irrelevant to the purpose and meaning of this event. But the purpose and meaning of this event are extremely relevant to our understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
What we do know is that Jesus led Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray and something fantastic happened there.
There have been a lot of preachers and teachers that have endeavored to make much about the glory of Jesus and Moses and Elijah here and try to sort of stretch that over what believers will experience when they die, who they will see, and the idea that they will just know who everybody else is, all sorts of ideas like that. That is not the purpose and meaning of this event at all, not even close.
Some preachers purport that this passage emphasizes the importance of prayer in the life of the believer, that we will not be transformed in our Christian life unless we are much in prayer. Umm… maybe, but that’s a stretch for this text.
Some say that Peter’s desire to build three tents represents the threefold ministry of the church. I don’t even have a clue what that even means but the text clearly states that the whole tent idea was foolish.
Quite frankly, I think the purpose and meaning of the transfiguration of Jesus lies right on the surface, and though the disciples didn’t understand it at the time, once they were filled with the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension, it was made clear to them. Peter would even later write about it in 2 Peter chapter 1.
So let’s break it down into little bites and see what a wonderful and powerful event this really was.
Let’s start with verse 29.
And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.
Both Matthew 17 and Mark 9 describe this same scene. They use the word, “transfigured,” which is where we get our English word, “metamorphosis,” a change from the inside out, where Luke simply says that the appearance of His face was altered, and His clothing became dazzling white.
But the truth remains that Jesus’ appearance was changed before their eyes and his clothing gleamed like lightening, whiter than any bleach could ever make it. I think our imaginations’ ability to picture His appearance falls desperately short, just as the disciples’ ability to comprehend His glory fell short.
This wasn’t the appearance of a sudden sunbeam through the clouds, nor the sun shining off the snow that illumined Jesus’ face, this was a taste of the radiance of His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son of God.
And as He was transfigured before them two other men also appeared with Him, Moses and Elijah.
30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
One of my favorite preachers spoke of how the disciples just knew who these two men were, just like we are supposed to just know who everybody else will be in God’s eternal kingdom… I think they knew because they appeared and were talking with Jesus and the disciples could hear them. Not to take anything away from the amazing nature of this event but the disciples did hear the conversation they were having about Jesus’ departure, His exodus, that He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.
But regardless of how they knew who the two other men were, why did those two other guys appear, and why those two specific guys?
Moses and Elijah were the two greatest messengers of the Old Covenant.
Moses was the prophet who delivered God’s Law to the people of Israel. But Moses himself said in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen…”
And the Father also said to Moses in verse 18-19 of that same chapter, 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
Elijah was the prophet who delivered God’s people from worshipping false gods, and though he didn’t write any of the letters of prophecy we have in the Old Testament, he is considered to be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. He is the prophet that didn’t die but was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.
So the two representatives of the Old Covenant appeared in order to consecrate Jesus the Messiah for death in order to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:17,“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And that’s exactly what He did in His perfect life, His death, and His resurrection.
Our favorite theologian JJ vanOosterzee wrote, “The Christological importance of this whole event for all following centuries is self-evident. A new light from heaven rises upon Jesus’ Person. On the one hand it rises upon His true Humanity, which needed the communication and strength from above. On the other hand, His Divine dignity, as well in relation to the Father, as also in comparison with the prophets, is here made known to earth and heaven. Considered from a typico-symbolic point of view, it is significant that the appearance of the prophets is represented as a vanishing one, Jesus, on the other hand, as alone remaining with His disciples. Their light goes down, His sun shines continuously.”
“Not less light here falls upon the Work of the Savior. The inner unity of the Old and the New Covenant becomes by this manifestation evident, and it is shown that in Christ the highest expectations of the law and the prophets are fulfilled. His death, far from being accidental or insignificant, appears here as the carrying out of the eternal counsel of God, and is of so high significance that messengers of heaven come to speak concerning it on earth. The severity of the sacrifice to be brought by Him is manifest from the very fact that He is in an altogether extraordinary manner equipped for this conflict. And the great purpose of His suffering, union of heaven and earth, how vividly is it here presented before our souls when we on [the mountain], although only for a few moments, see heaven descending upon earth, and dwellers of the dust taken up into the communion of the heavenly ones.”
It’s clear that the disciples were taken with this whole scene even though it’s clear that they didn’t truly understand its significance.
32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
I don’t believe that there was any great significance to the tents that Peter wanted to set up, no deep mysterious symbols for us to discern. Luke even goes so far as to say that Peter didn’t know what he was saying. Mark in his account, which we have discussed previously was Peter’s own telling of these events, said that Peter offered this suggestion because he didn’t know what else to say because he was terrified.
Maybe Peter was hoping that this was the beginning of God’s kingdom on earth but he would have to ignore Jesus’ own words saying that He had to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die and on the third day rise again.
Peter’s suggestion of building the tents points to his ignorance of God’s purposes and his desire to cling to the Old Covenant.
But there was another special guest at this amazing event, the Father Himself.
34 As he was saying these things[about the tents], a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
The voice of the Father, which they had heard at Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, once again reaffirms Jesus’ sinlessness, His being well pleasing to God the Father, and His elevation above the voices of the Old Covenant prophets, and the Father’s approval of the plan that would lead Jesus to the cross.
John Calvin wrote, “I willingly concur with those who think that there is an implied contrast of Moses and Elijah with Christ, and that the disciples of God’s own Son are here charged to seek no other teacher. The word Son is emphatic, and raises him above servants. There are two titles here bestowed upon Christ, which are not more fitted to do honor to him than to aid our faith: a beloved Son, and a Master. The Father calls him my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, and thus declares him to be the Mediator, by whom he reconciles the world to himself. When he enjoins us to hear him, he appoints him to be the supreme and only teacher of his Church. It was his design to distinguish Christ from all the rest, as we truly and strictly infer from those words, that by nature he was God’s only Son. In like manner, we learn that he alone is beloved by the Father, and that he alone is appointed to be our Teacher, that in him all authority may dwell...
When it is said that in the end they saw Christ alone, this means that the Law and the Prophets had a temporary glory, that Christ alone might remain fully in view. If we would properly avail ourselves of the aid of Moses, we must not stop with him, but must endeavor to be conducted by his hand to Christ, of whom both he and all the rest are ministers.”
Hebrews 1:1-4 says, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
So, have confidence that this has been the plan from the beginning, that the whole Old Testament points to the person and work of Jesus, that He is the fulfillment of it, of the Law and of the Prophets, that He is God’s One and Only Son, the Christ, the Chosen One of God, and that we should listen to Him above all the other voices that clamor for our attention even our own.
Amen.
