The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ (Celebration Day August 6)

"...He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

Often times our Christianity becomes so familiar to us that we begin to sin presumptuously in the sight of God. We presume, for instance, to proclaim what His will is without seeking it fervently with prayer and fasting. We presume upon His grace to forgive our sins even as we have allowed ourselves to grow feeble or apathetic in our struggle against unrighteousness. We presume to constrain Him to bless or to heal us by quoting the word of God to the One Who was God the Word incarnate. In countless ways we have become all too familiar with the God that we serve and it is then that the prophet fittingly rebukes us and reminds us of our place. "With whom did He take counsel and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as the small dust on the balance.....Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers....." Isaiah 40:12-24. Or in the words of Solomon which begin our meditation, God restores His people by putting again a measure of eternity in our hearts. For just such a reason was the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured before His closest disciples.

Consider the setting for this miraculous event. It records in Matthew 17:1 "Now after six days...." and we must ask ourselves, six days after what? There are many candidates in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew for the starting point that we seek, but one which stands out is Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ. It was undoubtedly the high point of the disciples' growth in faith, but the scripture well exhorts us "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." ( I Corinthians 10:12) For shortly after this mighty confession, the Lord rebukes Peter for taking a heavenly vision and turning it so easily into an earthly viewpoint. "You are an offense to Me for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23) And it is just here that He once more sets eternity in their hearts as He proclaims "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 kingdom." Now this prophetic word has been applied to many events, but certainly there is no conflict in ascribing it in the most present sense to the Transfiguration which took place almost immediately afterwards.

The actual events of the Transfiguration are recorded for us in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 17:1-8a, Mark 9:2-10 and Luke 9:28-36). It would do us good to read all three accounts to get a fuller picture of what occurred that day. Matthew tells us that Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a high mountain by themselves. The early Church Fathers believed that this was Mount Tabor, other commentators have identified it as Mount Hermon. Regardless of the location, Luke adds the note that Jesus chose this location in order to pray. To pray about what? Certainly about the future, for only a week before this Jesus "began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer...and be killed and be raised again the third day." And as He prayed He was transfigured before them, His clothes becoming white as light, His countenance changing with glory shining out as the sun. This word transfigure is the Greek word "metamorphuo" from which we easily recognize our English word metamorphosis. It was a change not just in appearance, but in type and substance. One moment the Son of Man stood before them praying, the next the Son of God was clearly revealed. And as He stood there resplendent in glory, Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, or to use Jesus' words the truth and the spirit, conversed with Him. Luke tells us that they spoke of His "decease", His death, resurrection and ascension which was to take place in Jerusalem. The Apostle Peter responded to the vision before Him, and each of the three gospel writers records a different title which formed upon his lips as he beheld His glory...."Lord....Rabbi....Master...it is good for us to be here". Jesus was all those titles in that moment and more beside. Peter's is a classic understatement, perhaps because, as Mark records, they were greatly afraid; or as Luke concludes simply, because he did not know (to which we add, could not know) what he was saying. Upon them, then, came the cloud of Yahweh's presence, even as it had descended upon Sinai at the giving of the law. And as Moses and Elijah parted from Jesus Christ, from that cloud came the declaration of eternity that pierced their hearts, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him." We can gain an appreciation for the significance of this proclamation in light of what we read in Hebrews 1:1-3 "God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past ....by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son."

And as suddenly as it began, so it ended, and they were alone with Jesus and He was speaking words of comfort to their fearful hearts. As they came down from the mountain, the Lord commanded them to tell the vision to no man until He had risen from the dead, thus securing the work of salvation for all time. And when they finally had leave to speak, what was it that they said? In John 1:14, John declares "And 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." Or in I John 1:2 "...the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us...." Peter is even more straightforward in II Peter 1:16-19 "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [in the glory of His kingdom], but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain..."

God puts eternity in the hearts of His people that they might have, as Peter says, the prophetic word made more sure. It is a light that truly shines in a dark place until, as Paul says, "the veil is taken away...[and] we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed [transfigured] into the same image from glory to glory..." (II Corinthians 3:17-18). Such a dramatic change in our character comes to pass as "the day dawns and the morning star [Jesus Christ] rises in our hearts.”