THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION

Matthew 17:1-9 “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[a] 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.” In this passage of scripture, the disciples were greatly afraid, and Peter not knowing what to say, said “let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”. You could imagine the fear that struck Peter’s heart as the great men of God, Moses and Elijah, appeared unto them, but at the same time what a glorious moment it must have been. Here was Moses, a man who spoke face to face with God almighty as a man speaks to his friend. Here was Elijah, the mighty prophet of God who stopped the rain from falling on earth and called fire down from heaven. Here was, one of God’s greatest spokesmen communicating with Jesus on the mountain. Have you ever wondered how it must have been like to be in the shoes of the disciples and witness this moment? Even though how awesome this moment was to the disciples, God came in a cloud and interrupted Peter, saying “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”. God rebuked Peter in such a way that the disciples fell on their faces as a result. Why was it that God rebuked Peter? Certainly he didn’t say anything inappropriate - he just wanted to do Moses and Elijah a favor? PETER’S FOCUS WAS NOT ON JESUS God rebuked Peter, because he had his eyes set on Moses and Elijah, instead of Jesus. Jesus was about to die on the cross and establish a new covenant. The disciples therefore had to have a revelation of Jesus - the One who was about to set aside the law by fulfilling it. The disciples had so far listened to the law and the prophets - but it was now time to listen to the One that God has now spoken through (Hebrews 1:1-2).

If it wouldn’t have been for Jesus, Moses and Elijah hadn’t been great. The law given by Moses was glorious at that time, but Jesus was the fulfillment of the law, and the new covenant we now have in Jesus is far more glorious! The law would have never been a foreshadow of good things to come if it wouldn’t have been for Jesus coming to this earth. The law was great at that time, but greater was He that redeemed us from that law. 1 Peter 1:18-20 “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” Galatians 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

THE LAW WAS GREAT BUT JESUS WAS GREATER The law given by Moses was like a mirror, it let us see what was wrong, but it couldn’t fix the problem. While the law pointed out the problem; Jesus gave the solution. He was the fulfillment of the Law and the countless prophecies in the Old Testament. In fact, the law and the prophets was to point towards Jesus (Luke 24:44). THE PROPHECIES WASN’T GREAT WITHOUT JESUS It wasn’t the prophecies alone that was that great, but it was Jesus that made the prophecies great. In fact, if Jesus wouldn’t have fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets, their prophecies would have been no prophecies. THE PROPHETS DIDN’T HAVE THE FULL REVELATION OF GOD None of the prophets, not even Elijah, had the full revelation of God. They couldn’t see the full picture but only saw a glimpse of who God was. The apostle Paul described it as though there was a veil over their hearts hindering them from seeing the fullness of God’s glory. This same veil remained unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, but the veil, Paul said, is only taken away in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). With other words, Jesus gives us the whole picture - He is the revelation of God. No one has seen God at any time at any time, but Jesus has declared Him (John 1:18) MOSES AND ELIJAH DISAPPEARED Here’s the beauty of this story. After God had spoken and the disciples had fell on their faces, they lifted up their eyes, and saw no one but Jesus only. This is a great picture of how Jesus fulfilled the law - Moses and Elijah disappeared and there stood Jesus alone! Our righteousness is not found in doing everything according to the law - but is found in Jesus! This is symbolically speaking about how the Old Covenant disappeared when Jesus established the New Covenant.

Moses and Elijah was no more, now there was only Jesus standing there. He was the only one that shone like the sun and had clothes that shone bright as the light. Neither Moses nor Elijah (the law or the prophets) could reveal the fullness of God’s great glory - but Jesus was the express image of God’s person (Hebrews 1:3).

The law and the prophets had truly written the word of God - but Jesus gave light to the Scriptures. Jesus was the Word of God - He was God’s communication to humanity. Jesus revealed to the world the Word of God - He was the personification of the written and spoken Word. In the Old Testament God revealed His word through the prophets while in the New Testament the Word of God was revealed in a Person - Jesus Christ. The disciples was privileged to see that the written word of God is all wrapped up in Jesus. Earlier generations didn’t have the knowledge and wasn’t as enlightened as the these apostles would come to be. Earlier generations would have to try to interpret the meaning of the Torah, but the New Testament disciples had the Word of God revealed to them through Jesus Christ - the Word therefore had to line up with the revelation of who Jesus was! God never meant to reveal to the disciples either Moses or Elijah, His only purpose was to reveal Jesus! My friend, let’s open our eyes to who Jesus is for in Him we live and move and have our being, glory to God! Bless