THE TRANSFIGURATION SCENE.
What Was Its Purpose and Meaning?
IN the three synoptical Gospels is recorded what is commonly called Christ's transfiguration. It is found in Matt. 17 : 1–9; Mark 9 : 2–9; Luke 9 : 28–36. In each evangelist it is found in the same setting. Jesus had related to His disciples that He must suffer many things; that He would be rejected, betrayed, killed, and buried, and after three days rise again. Some of the disciples could not bear this, and Peter especially rebuked his Lord for declaring it. This led to the stern reproof of Jesus, and His restatement of the principles of His kingdom, and the prediction of His coming glory, closing with these words: 'Verily, I say unto you, There are some of them that stand here, who shall in nowise taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom' (Matt. 16 : 28); 'the kingdom of God come with power' (Mark); 'the kingdom of God' (Luke). Then the next thing recorded in each case is the account of the Transfiguration, a week later. Why? Many things must have taken place worthy of note during that week. The reason is obvious, the Transfiguration was a fulfilment of the prophecy of Jesus that some would not taste death till they saw Christ come in His kingdom. The Purpose of the Transfiguration
therefore, was to reveal to His chief disciples who could bear it a miniature representation of His kingdom. For this only three persons and a change of condition were necessary, namely, the King and His subjects at His coming, and the glory of that kingdom. The King was Christ Jesus, whose 'face did shine as the sun, and His garment became white as the light.' As the disciples gazed upon the unveiled glory of the Master, as He will appear when He comes, two other persons, Moses and Elijah, appeared. They talked with Jesus of His death He was soon to accomplish at Jerusalem, to confirm the words of the Master. Altho the disciples were heavy with sleep, it was no dream; 'but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him.' Luke 9 : 32. Then came the overshadowing cloud, the Father's voice in the approval of His Son, and the disciples were alone with Jesus. A Revelation of Christ's Coming.
Now, this scene was a revelation of Christ's coming into His kingdom with power. He Himself will be the glorified King. He will be met and welcomed by two classes, and only two classes of His people. One class will be the righteous dead of all ages who will come forth from their graves at the voice of the Son of God; the other class will be His living witnesses on earth when He comes. 1 Thess. 4 : 16, 17; 1 Cor. 15 : 51–54. The first of these classes was represented by Moses, the second by Elijah, who was translated. The Resurrection of Moses.
But was Moses raised from the dead?—Emphatically we could say, yes; for Moses died, and the Lord buried Him, and the only way he could live again was by a resurrection from the dead. But we have other evidence of this. In reproving those who speak against dignities, Jude refers to the example of Michael the Archangel, as the Son of God was known before He came to this earth. 'Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil He disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him [the devil] a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.' Even so was Satan vanquished by the name of the Lord on another occasion. Zech. 3 : 1–5. We could conceive no other reason why dispute should be held between Christ and Satan over the body of Moses, except in the matter of his resurrection. The Son of God is the Life-giver; Satan is the prison-keeper at the gates of death. The Life-giver had not yet overcome the enemy in the fullest, fiercest struggles, but with faith in the Father, we can believe no otherwise than that the 'Lord rebuke thee' was sufficient, and Moses the servant of God was raised from the dead. But is not Christ called the first-fruits of those who sleep?—Yes. So He was in purpose, even as He was 'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,' tho He actually died thousands of years later. But 'first-fruits' or 'first-born' does not always mean first in point of time, but first in pre-eminence. So Ephraim and Jacob are called the first-born, tho Manasseh and Esau were older. So Jesus is called the first-fruits; for by virtue of His death and resurrection, determined in His character, all others are raised from the dead, and are victors over the power of death, as was Moses, Enoch, the Shunnamite's son, Lazarus, and others. Therefore the term 'first-fruits' applied to Jesus in no way precludes the prior resurrection of Moses. But is not the transfiguration scene called a 'vision?'—It is, but 'vision' simply means 'seeing.' The disciples saw Jesus, a real person. They saw and heard talking with Jesus Moses and Elijah, as truly real persons, the one a resurrected saint, the other a translated one. One more testimony as to the purpose of the revelation in showing the kingdom of Christ and His coming, and that from one of the participants, Peter: 'We did not follow cunningly-devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' And then he refers to the scene on the holy mount, where he was an eye-witness of His majesty, and heard the Father's voice. 2 Peter 1 : 16, 17. To characterize the scene as a mere trance5vision, or to use it as an account of a spiritualistic seance in proof of disembodied immortal souls, is to do violence to the Word of God, and to rob the glorious event of its chief purpose in assuring the disciples of Christ in all ages that the Master is coming again in power and glory to redeem both sleeping and waking faithful ones.