THE TRANSFIGURATION

Almost every event in the life of Jesus is portrayed in early Christian art except this one. If you look through the art museums of the world, you will find tremendous paintings of the resurrection, the crucifixion, the walking on the water. But until the 16th century, no art form depicted the event which is described in this chapter.

In the 16th century, Raphael began a work on this event. However, before he completed it, his brush was stilled in death. There is something so holy about this event, so majestic, so grand, that it is difficult to portray.

It all started when Jesus told His disciples that they would see the coming of the kingdom of God. Some of them might have thought, "Yeah, right! You mean after 2000 years at the Second Coming." But Jesus said, "No, it will happen in your lifetime. Indeed, some of you who are standing here will see it."

This tells me something about the Transfiguration. It is a manifestation of the kingdom of God and its arrival upon planet earth. All too often when Christians speak of the kingdom of God, they think of something that is going to come in the future. But in this passage we see something different. The kingdom came 2000 years ago. And it came with power.

When it came time to manifest His heavenly glory, Jesus picked out three of His disciples. This was in keeping with the Old Testament Law that mandated that any legal proceedings were to be established in the presence of two or three witnesses. Why did Jesus pick these three men?

• James was to be the first apostle to die for the faith. He would have to be courageous. He would need this vision to sustain him through what was to come.

• John would be the last apostle to die. He would write the gospels and epistles of John as well as Revelation. Perhaps Jesus wished to give him something that would endure for a long life.

• Peter was to be the one on whom the church would be built. He would be the one to stand up on the Day of Pentecost and proclaim the significance of the gift of tongues. And he would open the doors of the kingdom to the Gentiles. He would need the lessons of this vision.

These three men are going to be with Jesus during the Gethsemane experience. They will be the pillars of the church.

But perhaps there is another reason why Jesus took these men. Perhaps He needed someone to be with Him. He is getting ready to go to Jerusalem to die. The time is drawing closer. It will be the most awful time of His life. And He needs a friend.

Being a Christian doesn't mean that you can go it alone. Jesus needed friends and He knows that we need a friend, too. And that is why He has given us the CHURCH.

Four people climbing a mountain. We aren’t told which mountain it was. There were several in northern Galilee from which to choose. Perhaps it was Mount Hermon, whose snow-capped peak rises to a height of 10,000 feet above sea level. Or it might have been Mount Tabor, the traditional location of the Mount of Transfiguration which lies on the western edge of the Valley of Jezreel. It doesn’t really matter which mountain it was. What matters is what happened when they got to the top.

Can you imagine it? The trip has been long. The hour is late. They reach a level place on the slope and they sit down. They are tired. Their muscles hurt.

Three of them talk softly among themselves. The fourth sits still. His conversation is with the Lord. He speaks to His Father. And out of the quietness, His Father answers. The face of Jesus became different. His clothing began to glow with an incredible gleaming whiteness. This was a spectacular event. From another dimension, a light comes. It begins to grow in intensity. Jesus explodes with glory. A roaring radiance pours forth from Him. He becomes as He was before He came. For one, brief shining moment the veil of His humanity is lifted and the brilliance splashes out. He is home again.

And in that glorious homecoming, there are suddenly two other figures. They are the two most famous of the prophets of the Old Testament.

Why the appearance of these two prophets? Because under Old Testament Law, the truth of a matter must always be established by witnesses. And a single witness was not enough. There must be at least two. And so, the two greatest possible witnesses are sent to testify of this little Galilean rabbi.

Moses was the great Lawgiver. Elijah was the great prophet. The Law and the Prophets - and they both bear witness of Jesus.

Did you ever stop to think that Moses finally made it into the promised land? It only took him an extra 1400 years.

Don’t you just love Peter? The most solemn and wondrous and unique and holy occasion in the history of planet earth has just taken place and he has to put in his two cents worth.

Peter is just getting started when suddenly there is an interruption. It doesn't come from the other two disciples. It doesn’t even come from Jesus. It comes from the Father Himself.

God interrupts Peter. He says, "Peter, shut up and listen!" He says the same thing to us sometimes. Sometimes He says, "Slow down! Be still! Listen to Me!" That is what the Sabbath is all about. Once every seven days we are to slow down and be still and listen for a still, small voice and the soft sound of sandaled feet.

Have you heard Him today? Are you listening to Him now? Or is your mind on other matters? Is your attention divided?

God gets Peter’s attention. He does this by overshadowing Peter with a cloud. This wasn’t any old cloud. This cloud was special.

In the Older Testament, Exodus 16:10 says how the whole congregation of the sons of Israel "looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the CLOUD."

Why was there a cloud? Because mortal man cannot look upon the glory of God without being destroyed. The cloud was for their protection. The cloud was to keep them alive. The cloud was so that they might hear the voice of the Lord and live through the experience. Because there was an important message given to them that day - a message that has been entrusted to us. What is this message?

"This is My beloved Son!" You are impressed by prophets and visions and clouds and bright lights. And God says, "You’re being impressed by the wrong things!" Moses is impressive. And Elijah is impressive. And a bright cloud overshadowing a high mountain is impressive. But if that is all you see here, then you've missed the most impressive thing of all.

You’ve missed the fact that God became a fetus and was born to a Hebrew peasant girl. You’ve missed the fact that the splendor of heaven was poured into a human body. You’ve missed the One who was older than time and greater than death. You’ve missed the Son of God.

Peter speaks of building tabernacles. God says, "I’ve already prepared a tabernacle and His name is Jesus!" That is what the Bible says in John 1:14 - "And the Word became flesh and TABERNACLED among us..."

By the way, if you go to Israel today and climb Mount Tabor, the traditional location of the Transfiguration, when you get to the top you will find three shrines - three MEMORIALS.

• One to Moses.

• One to Elijah.

• One to Jesus.

Religion has missed the lesson of this passage. Jesus is not just a good man or a godly teacher or a miracle worker or even a prophet. You cannot even compare Him to such lofty prophets as Moses and Elijah, for they are mere men. He is the unique Son of God.

And this brings us to the reason for this entire event. Why did it take place? What is the significance of the transfiguration? Why is it recorded in three out of four of the gospel accounts?

Here is the reason. It is because the transfiguration underlines and proves the confession made by Peter the week before. Do you remember Peter’s confession? Jesus had asked, "Who do people say that I am?" The disciples had checked their latest copy of the Gallup Poll and cited the responses...

Then Jesus asked, "But who do YOU say that I am?" And Peter replied, "You are the Christ."

Since that time, a week has passed. And I would bet that during that time Peter has asked himself, "Why did I say that? Am I really certain that He is the Messiah?" And so, he and these other two disciples are given the testimony of two witnesses and the very voice of God as EVIDENCE that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Many years later, Peter would look back on this event as the evidence for the claims of Jesus.

This was not a vision or a dream. This was not merely a philosophical stance. Something happened in history. Heaven reached down and touched the earth. God came near. And nothing will ever again be the same.

There are several lessons that we ought to learn from this passage: