This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!

Bulgarian icon of the Transfiguration

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. 

- Matthew 17:1-13

Yesterday we read that, from the time of Peter's confession that He is the Christ,  Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.  Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His coming."

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  Luke's report says, "about eight days after" (Luke 9:28).   Both give us a clue about this event.  Matthew is possibly speaking of the number of days between Jesus' revelation of His suffering and this experience of the Transfiguration.  Six days was the number of days in Genesis in which God created all things, and rested on the seventh.  The eighth day is a term understood as the day of Resurrection, the new time born through the ministry of Christ.  The Transfiguration would be an experience of that for these three apostles, Jesus' inner circle of faith.  Jesus transfigured means that His divine nature was revealed and shown through His appearance.

His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. The Transfiguration is what is known as a Theophany, a Greek word meaning a manifestation of God.   This theophany is characterized by light, as God is light (1 John 1:5).  In these images of light -- his face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light -- we're given an expression of Jesus as God.  Oftentimes icons will depict the Transfiguration light as having a blue tinge to it, indicating its otherworldly, divine origin:  beyond this world, impossibly white, brighter than the full spectrum of earthly sunlight. 

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  In Luke 9:31, we're told that Moses and Elijah speak to Jesus about His decease or departure, which in the original Greek is literally exodus.  My study bible says that Moses represents the Law and all those who have died, while Elijah represents the prophets and, as he did not experience death (2 Kings 2:11).   My study bible says that their presence shows that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah, who is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament.  Their presence also is a manifestation of the reality of the communion of the saints (Hebrews 12:1).  Both are immediately recognizable by the disciples, and they speak with Christ. 

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."    The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated the time that Israel wandered in the desert following Moses to the promised land, living in temporary structures (tents, or "tabernacles").  It is also called the Feast of the Coming Kingdom.   In Peter's mind he has put together an understanding of the manifestation of the Kingdom there present with Christ, Moses, and Elijah, in which he and the other apostles also able to participate at this moment.

 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!"  God the Father bears witness from heaven to the identity of Christ as Son.  My study bible points out that the Father does not say, "This has become My beloved Son," but "This is My beloved Son."  It is a revelation of what has always been, an unveiling of spiritual reality for human perception.  As Christians, we affirm in the Creed that Christ fully shares in the essence of the Father, the Son is "true God of true God."   This bright cloud, my study bible reminds us, recalls temple worship and the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness, the "visible sign of God being extraordinarily present."  This is what Peter has seen to signal that the Kingdom has come when he makes his statement about building tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  At the Feast of Tabernacles, such booths or tabernacles or tents were built to serve as symbols of God dwelling among the just in the Kingdom.  This verse is also the full expression of Theophany, as the Trinity is revealed here:  Christ is transfigured and revealed as Son, the Father speaks to testify of Christ's sonship, and the Spirit is present in the dazzling light that both surrounds Christ and overshadowed the entire mountain.

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.   These verses speak to us about the experience of spiritual revelation.  It might be only momentary, but it is eternal in its dimensions and also unforgettable, sparking deep feeling and response.  Christ's words, "do not be afraid"  are those spoken on many occasions by Himself or by divine messengers to the faithful in the Gospels and the entire New Testament.  To open their eyes and see Jesus only is once again a reaffirmation that "It is I; do not be afraid" (14:27).

Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.   After this taste of eternal reality, and their ability to understand Elijah and Moses speaking with Christ and alive in the communion of saints, the disciples are now able to understand Jesus' words that Elijah has come already.  They perceive that He's speaking to them of John the Baptist and that Malachi's prophecy (Malachi 4:5-6) refers to one who comes "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17), rather than Elijah himself.

Have you ever had a "mountaintop" experience?  Jesus has led the apostles on a high mountain for this experience of the Transfiguration, just as He spoke upon a mountain when He delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  These are experiences of closeness to God; perhaps we could say "touching God" in the sense of getting a taste of heaven or the heavenly life.  We might find those moments in our own prayer, or read about them in the experience in the lives of the saints.  We might find glimmers or lights of understanding as we browse through the Gospels, and suddenly a light is cast on a difficult situation in our personal life, helping us perhaps to make a decision we could not make before.  These are moments of clarity, in which the light from heaven can shine in our own lives and illuminate our minds, giving us an understanding to take us forward in life.  Without them we are depleted of our real inheritance, for we are taught by Jesus that we, too, are "sons of God" although not in the same ways that He is.  Nevertheless, this is our inheritance we are given as heirs of the Kingdom.  It is the bounty and the beauty bestowed upon us by Christ in His mission into the world, incarnate as Jesus, and living with us -- even dwelling among us as did God in the Old Testament time of the wilderness when Israel followed Moses.  In fact, there is another allusion made in the Gospels to this time and to the festival that still commemorates it for the Jews, the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).  John 1:14 tells us that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  In the Greek, the word "dwelt" means literally "tented" (or tabernacled).  At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' final words to the disciples are "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (28:20).  The Transfiguration -- and the mountain top experiences we're given in the Gospels -- reveal to us a place of eternity, where there is no space or time.  John, Peter, and James understand Jesus speaking directly with Moses and Elijah.  Each understands immediately who the others are.  These moments of participation in Christ remain possible and available to us through this reality of Jesus still dwelling among us, and His promise that He is with us always.  In the icon above, as is traditional in many Transfiguration icons, the light around Christ appears in what is called a mandorla shape. This shape is an indication of the "space" of this mountain top experience, the place where we connect with the living Christ, where understanding comes and the presence of Christ lives for us.  This is the place where there is no space and time, and nothing bars us from Christ.  Let us take His word and invite it into our hearts to meet in the place where He dwells and is always with us.  This vivid experience, which will remain with the disciples through Christ's Passion and death on the Cross, is also shared with us through the Gospel.  When we see dismaying things in the world, let us keep it vividly in mind as well, so that we know and understand to whom we pray and with whom we also dwell.  Above all, let us remember the command of the Father to "Hear Him!"