Matthew 16:28-17:13

Matthew 16:28-17:13 NIV

“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Donʼt be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Donʼt tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

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Have you ever had a premonition where you experienced a bit of the future before it happened? Previews at the movie theater are like that. You experience a bit of a movie you haven't seen. If you are attracted to the preview you are likely to go see the film in the future. That's sort of what's happening in this story of the transfiguration of Jesus. The disciples witness a taste of the future kingdom of heaven.

What has always amazed me about this story is the fact that the disciples recognize Moses and Elijah. These men lived centuries before the time of Jesus. Moses lived between 1526 and 1406 BC. Elijah was a prophet who served the Lord in northern Israel during the reign of King Ahab. (863-851 BC)

I can look at a US dollar bill and see the face of George Washington, first president off the United States of America. I only know what he looks like because he sat for a portrait painting. What we know of George Washington's face is an artist's approximation. The disciples had no such imagery to know these men by sight. So how did they know it was Moses and Elijah?

That's the amazing thing this story brings to light. The disciples are getting a foretaste of heaven. They know Moses and Elijah because in heaven we will have the mind of God. We will be one with God and know all that God knows. We will know one another with such great intimacy that love will reign always and forever! Fear, hate and jealousy will vanish. We will love one another perfectly, just as God loves us. We will know every soul in heaven as if we were bosom buddies! For God knows every hair on your head. God knows all His children intimately, at depths no human could ever know. But in heaven, when the veil is lifted, we will know all things.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:9-10, 12 NIV

Peter is so stricken by the sight of Jesus talking to heroes of his faith that he blurts out something about building shelters for each of them. On the surface this seems like a kind idea, but there's deeper symbolism.

The booths or shelters were a practice of the Jews at harvest. During the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles the Jews remember how God, during the exodus from Egypt, provided for the freed Hebrew slaves in the wilderness. They celebrate that God is faithful to bless the land with produce and grain. Over time the shelters' meaning took on more advanced ideas. For instance Moses descended from Mt Sinai with a new set of stone tablets containing the law and instructions on how to build the tabernacle, God's shelter among His people. Torah reading cycles end at the Festival of Booths, so there is a celebration of the Word of God as part of God's many provisions. Prophetically speaking, the Festival of Ingathering (harvest), another name for this festival, looks forward with hope to the Messiah and the gathering of His people from the from the four corners of the earth.

Moses represents law and word. Elijah represents prophecy and the restoration of Israel under the Messiah, for Elijah was said to come and herald the Messiah's arrival. For Peter to suggest three booths might be a way of compartmentalizing these three parts of Judaism. There are those who adhere to law, others who are passionate about justice and the reign of God, but in Christ they are bound up together as one. That is why the voice of God from heaven beckons, "Listen to Him". Jesus gave us the golden rule which illustrates the union of law and the spirit of prophecy in Christianity.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12 NIV

The apostles were awestruck and fell face down in worship and holy reverence. Jesus touched them and told them to get up and not to fear. The touch of Christ turns fear into courage and death into life. The Greek word translated as "get up" is the same word used to describe resurrection. It's the same word used in Matthew 17:10, when Jesus urged them not to divulge to anyone what they witnessed on the Mount of Transfiguration until He was raised from the dead.

The secrecy is unexplained. We have to guess as to Jesus' motivation. I'll assume He didn't want any undue attention. The crowds were difficult to manage as it is. There may be practical reasons for keeping the experience a secret. I suspect more than anything that Jesus needs time to prepare His disciples to lead the church after His death and resurrection. Perhaps He felt His transfiguration which they witnessed should be something special given only to His closest companions.

The conversation turned to Elijah, which Jesus confirmed had already come to herald the Messiah, in the person John the Baptist. (Malachi 4:5-6) Jesus once again reminded the apostles that He must die, just as John did. The apostles understood, but had they really?

There are books written on the theological and ontological, even cosmological significance of the transfiguration of Jesus. But for me it's fairly simple. Jesus promised that some would see the Son of Man come into His kingdom. The transfiguration is one example, a foretaste of the kingdom, not only for Jesus, but for Peter, James and John. Jesus' crucifixion is His coronation and crowning as king of His kingdom. The ascension was His exaltation, taking the throne and serving as the supreme authority in heaven and earth under the Father's commission. Yes, these three apostles witnessed Jesus coming into His kingdom! But the journey there is through the cross.

It was hard for them to grasp the reason for the cross. The suffering of the Messiah was prophesied. The atoning sacrifice opened the way into His kingdom for all who believe. For through Him we have received our foretaste of the kingdom, that is the Holy Spirit, a guarantee of our eternal home.

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance...
Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:16-17 ESV

Glory be to God!