The Transfiguration II (Matt. 17:1-9): Second Essay

Once we look more closely at the text of v. 3, we begin to see how remarkable this "appearance" of Elijah and Moses was. At least three things stand out to me about it. First, these were two of the three OT figures who, by the NT era, were considered to be "deathless," to use RT France's word (The Gospel of Matthew, p. 648). Elijah was taken up to heaven without going through death (II Kings 2:11) and would return before the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5). Moses died, to be sure, but because no one knew the place of his grave (Deut. 34), and because a new prophet like Moses was going to arise (Deut. 18:15-19), he was considered deathless. The only other person who didn't die in the OT was Enoch, who "walked with God and he was no more, because God took him" (Gen. 5:24). Thus, we have a mini-convention of deathless heroes. Whoa.

Second, the presence of these worthies signals the coming of the Messianic Age. Note the way that the question is posed to John the Baptist in John 1.

"And they asked him, 'What then? Are you Elijah?' He said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the prophet?' He answered, 'No.'" John 1:21.

What is on the people's minds when they see John baptizing is that the Messianic Age is dawning. No better way to learn if it is than to ask John if he is either the prophet like Moses, from Deut., or Elijah returning.

Third, each of these figures had previous experiences with God on the mountain (Horeb/Sinai) and each was persecuted/misunderstood by the people of God. Moses' connection with the sacred mountain came through his receiving the Two Tablets of the law (Ex. 24; 33); Elijah met God in a very depressed state on Horeb (I Kings 19:8-13). Thus, mountain-top living isn't strange for either of these two OT worthies.

The thing that strikes me strongest about their appearance, however, is that it puts Jesus in a "league" that is above any other league of people that the OT could supply. How could you "top" Moses and Elijah? And now to see that they were with Jesus speaking on the mountain--wow, that is something that would thaw even the coldest heart; would overwhelm even the most disciplined brain. Some historians have been known to "invent conversations" of great people throughout history--Sigmund Freud speaking to Martin Luther or something like that. Such an exercise is an imaginative way for a scholar to try to see how ideas might have clashed or developed when two great minds meet. I would love to read a one-act play where an imaginative person can tell me how the conversation would have gone among these three people--Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Would there have been any humor? Who would be doing most of the talking? Would Jesus have been asking them any questions about the future? I think that making up conversations of great people like this can be a most salutary exercise. How do you think the conversation would have gone?

IV. The Comments (vv. 4-5)

The disciples don't just see remarkable things. They also heard some things. But first, before God speaks, Peter interjects something. Scholars, as well as average readers of the Scripture, have wondered what Peter was getting at when he asked for permission to build three small tents or booths for each of the speakers. Was he just nervous? Was he just doing the "guy-thing," which is to have a tendency to build something whenever the guys are together? I think there are at least three things going on here through Peter's brief words. First, he seeks some kind of protection for the speakers; then he wants some type of prolongation of the experience; and, finally, he seeks something to proclaim as a result.

I interpret his desire to create some booths as a sign of his concern and compassion--he wants to "provide them with accommodation befitting their dignity, using the best materials the mountaintop affords" (France, p. 649). The shelters may have been to protect from the sun, but they may also have been like those made for the feast of Tabernacles. But I think even more important for Peter was his desire to prolong the experience. Often when somethng of incredible beauty or deep meaning is happening to us, meaning that we just can't fully understand, we want to make the experience longer, to stretch it out, lest we miss any morsel of meaning which may be communicated to us. Jacob of old may have recognized that "God was in this place and I knew it not...," and maybe Peter knew about Jacob. He knew that God was in this place, and he was going to do everything he could to make sure it didn't leave. So, he built the booths. Finally, I think he wanted to have something to proclaim when the time was actually over. Jesus will put the kibosh on that in v. 9; but one of the reasons you seek to prlong something is so that you can understand it more fully and communicate it more faithfully. Surely, this was an experience of a lifetime, and Peter was not going to let it get away from him before he had sucked every ounce of meaning from it that he could.

But then, the divine voice comes and everything changes. The words are identical to those in Matt. 3, with one interesting addition. The identical words tell the hearers who Jesus is: "This is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well pleased," (v. 5). Though we, as sovereign readers, have access to the account of Matt. 3, we cannot assume that these special disciples did. Thus, they were receiving precisely what the rest of the crowd had received--confirmation of the special nature of Jesus. But there is the brief two-word (in Greek) exhortation at the end of the verse--"Hear him." Why would God have added these words? Well, possibly because Jesus had just finished saying some very hard sayings before they climbed the mountain. In 16:21-28, for example, we hear that "Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests an dscribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised" (16:21). Peter, for one, didn't like this at all, and he rebuked Jesus. But now, on the Mount of Transfiguration, where Peter wants to prolong the event lest any word or insight falling from the three special people be lost, he hears the word from God: "Listen to him." What had Peter just heard? That Jesus would suffer. That is what Peter especially needed to hear.

V. Conclusion (vv. 6-9)

The last verses of the story follow very quickly. The disciples are gripped with a very great fear (the word translated "very great" is the same word used to describe the wise men's joy in Matt. 2:10). Seeking to allay their fear, Jesus touches them and tells them to rise and not fear. I like the little "touch" about "touching" that Matthew inserts into the story. Since touch is often used in the Gospels as a means by which Jesus heals or communicates divine power, you wonder if something of that was meant by Matthew in this text. But, once they arose from their faces and opened their eyes, they saw only Jesus. Jesus alone.

Was this all just a dream? Or was this the most real thing that had ever happened to them? We are brought to the edges of our understanding as we try to make sense of this text, but certainly it was meant to be a demonstration of grace--a gift of God--to disciples who were preparing for the long haul. Just as TS Eliot suggests that the Magi, after their fateful visit to Jesus, could never been the same "in the old dispensation/ With an alien people clutching their gods," so if I were a poet of Transfiguration I would say that the disciples would never be the same again. They had, as it were, seen the promised land; they had seen God face to face and were permitted to live; they had heard things that no one had ever heard. And, Jesus told them to tell no one right away (v. 9). Why not? I think they could tell no one right away because they needed interpretive space to let it sink in on them.

We may have no comparable experience today (though a good exposition can, I believe, bring the life of the text and its ideas alive to us), but we are privileged to share by faith and with a community in the experience of the disciples. We are most fortunate to have this gift. How do you see it? How do you hear it?

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