The Transfiguration
(Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36)

Luke 9:28-36

28        Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

29        And as He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.

30        And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,

31        who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

32        But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.

33        Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”-- not knowing what he said.

34        While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.

35        And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”

36        When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

Family reasoning goes like this: “Jesus Himself talked with two departed saints, who came down to earth to help Him in some way, therefore we ought also be able to get assistance from departed saints.”

Look a little closer:

Did Moses and Elijah come to assist Jesus?

No. In none of the three passages (Matthew, Mark and Luke) did Moses and Elijah bring any physical assistance, spiritual encouragement, emotional strength, etc. There is record of a conversation: they talked together.

Jesus had already become physically changed, glorified by God just before Moses and Elijah arrived. So Moses and Elijah did not effect the change on Jesus. In fact Jesus was appearing in the glory he had in heaven with God before coming to earth

John 17:5         “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory, He is the exact image of God’s person, He is the creator of all things and the Lord of all.

Heb 1:2-3

2          [God] has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

3          who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Jesus did not require any assistance to talk to His Father. He needed the usual physical care when He was a baby and as He grew into manhood, and God even sent angels to minister to Him on occasion, but He did not need human help to fulfil His mission, even help from departed humans.

Did Moses and Elijah come to bring a message to Jesus from Heaven?

No. The account in Luke gives the topic of their conversation: Jesus’ death in Jerusalem. Was this news to Jesus? No, Jesus communed daily with His Father in Heaven. He knew His own future.

John 18:4         Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” 

No one else knew God like Jesus knows God, even while He was on earth, no one knew God like Jesus knew Him. There was nothing anyone could have told Him that He didn’t already know.

Matt 11:27       “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

In fact about a week earlier Jesus had warned His disciples of His impending death, and had given them some very specific details.

Luke 9:22         saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”  

So Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus about His imminent death, about which Jesus already knew. They did not come as messengers from heaven with fresh orders from God or new information to help Jesus in any way. Jesus, who communed daily with His Father in heaven knew God better than anyone else, even those who had died and were in heaven at the time.

So, why did they come?

As they didn’t come to help Jesus (there was no help they could have given) and they didn’t come to bring a message to Jesus (He knew everything already), why did they come at all?

One explanation is that Moses and Elijah represented the law and the prophets. They came as the representation of the Law, containing God’s written rules and the Prophets, containing the inspired messages of God. The Law and the Prophets both spoke of Jesus, predicted His coming and were fulfilled (not destroyed) in Jesus. This is God glorifying His Son as the manifestation of His plan on earth. Jesus was the Word made flesh. What Word? Their Word! Moses’ words, Elijah’s words. The Words of God that had been given through Moses and the prophets, including the OT predictions of Jesus’ death as payment for our sins. Jesus was the embodiment, in human form, of the law, the divine prophecies, and the miracle-working power of God. He was the embodiment of God’s commandments and God’s grace.

Excerpts from Matthew Henry’s Bible commentary:

            (4.) Moses and Elias spoke of this, to intimate that the sufferings of Christ, and his entrance into his glory, were what Moses and the prophets had spoken of; see <Lu. 24:26-27; 1 Pet. 1:11>.

Luke 24:26-27

26        “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”

27        And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

1 Pet 1:10-11

10        Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,

11        searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

            2. The witnesses of it were Peter, James, and John; these were the three that were to bear record on earth, answering to Moses, Elias, and the voice from heaven, the three that were to bear record from above. Christ did not take all the disciples with him, because the thing was to be kept very private. As there are distinguishing favours which are given to disciples and not to the world, so there are to some disciples and not to others. All the saints are a people near to Christ, but some lie in his bosom. James was the first of all the twelve that died for Christ, and John survived them all, to be the last eyewitness of this glory; he bore record <Jn. 1:14>; We saw his glory: and so did Peter, <2 Pet. 1:16-18>.

            4. His companions in this glory were Moses and Elias (v. 4); They appeared talking with him, not to teach him, but to testify to him, and to be taught by him; by which it appears that there are converse and intercourse between glorified saints, they have ways of talking one with another, which we understand not. Moses and Elias lived at a great distance of time one from another, but that breaks no squares in heaven, where the first shall be last, and the last first, that is, all one in Christ.

            2. These two were Moses and Elias, men very eminent in their day. They had both fasted forty days and forty nights, as Christ did, and wrought other miracles, and were both remarkable at their going out of the world as well as in their living in the world. Elias was carried to heaven in a fiery chariot, and died not. The body of Moses was never found, possibly it was preserved from corruption, and reserved for this appearance. The Jews had great respect for the memory of Moses and Elias, and therefore they came to witness of him, they came to carry tidings concerning him to the upper world. In them the law and the prophets honoured Christ, and bore testimony to him. Moses and Elias appeared to the disciples; they saw them, and heard them talk, and, either by their discourse or by information from Christ, they knew them to be Moses and Elias; glorified saints shall know one another in heaven. They talked with Christ. Note, Christ has communion with the blessed, and will be no stranger to any of the members of that glorified corporation. Christ was now to be sealed in his prophetic office, and therefore these two great prophets were fittest to attend him, as transferring all their honour and interest to him; for in these last days God speaks to us by his Son, <Heb. 1:1>.

(from Matthew Henry's Commentary)

Are we to take Jesus’ miraculous transfiguration as a pattern on which to build our daily lives?

Of course not! He did not tell us to practise walking on water or feeding crowds without food, and He certainly did not tell us to attempt to imitate His manifestation as the only begotten Son of God! And there is nothing in this passage to intimate that we might attempt getting messages from notables like Moses and Elijah, or anyone else, for that matter. The transfiguration was Jesus appearing in the glory of the Son of God, the King of kings, the embodiment of the Word of God. He is God and we dare not exalt ourselves to this level.

Did God tell the disciples to listen to Moses and Elijah?

Did He tell them to get messages from them, or anyone else? Did He say that they may do so later on?

No, in fact God’s wish is very clear. When Peter started babbling about putting up tents for their distinguished visitors, God boomed out His own instructions: “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”

God’s command: listen to Jesus, which by implication means we are not to attempt to contact the departed. Another interpretation of God’s command is in our Bible reading. The Old Testament must be interpreted through the life of Jesus. It is only through Jesus’ life, ministry, teachings, death and resurrection that we can comprehend the magnitude of God’s plan in the Old Testament law and prophets.

Similarly, our own lives must be interpreted through the life of Jesus. Not the life of Moses, nor Elijah, nor any other man or woman of God living or dead, but through the life of Jesus. We may look to other’s lives for the examples they were, but we may not attempt to contact them after they have died.

God spoke to the disciples for their own benefit and for ours, that we should read in this account that is that we should listen to Jesus only. We as Jesus’ disciples should listen to the instructions given to His earlier disciples: Hear Him!

Can we use this passage to condone hearing from departed saints?

Not at all! If anything, we should come away from this passage deeply humbled by the magnitude of Jesus Christ, who as the Lord of the universe condescended to die for our sins that we may be cleansed from our filth to live eternally in glory with him. The message is clear: Jesus is God and we must listen to Him. We must not attempt to get messages from anyone else! The method God uses to bring the message is of His choice, our part is but to listen.

© 2006 Make Straight Paths

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