Matthew 17:4, commentary and pictures

On a high mountain apart Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John, His face shining as the sun and His garments white as light while Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Him, and answering that sight Peter declared it good to be there and asked leave to build three shelters, one for Jesus and one each for Moses and Elijah. He spoke overwhelmed with joy and awe, not fully understanding what he saw and heard because weariness and sleep had overcome the disciples. He mistakenly thought Elijah's coming fulfilled prophecy and Christ's kingdom was about to be established on earth, imagining Moses and Elijah would protect Jesus from death in Jerusalem and help establish His earthly authority. He thus forgot that salvation could be completed only through Jesus' suffering and death, whose necessity Moses and Elijah confirmed as they spoke of His coming death at Jerusalem and the completion of His mission for His glory and the Father's glory. The glory was manifested to strengthen Jesus for betrayal, crucifixion and His last sufferings, and to strengthen the faith of the three in Him as the Son of God and promised Messiah so they would not lose confidence in rejection, humiliation and the hour of darkness.

Mountain Setting and Events

Jesus took Peter, James and John apart into a high mountain, and there He was transfigured before them, His face shining as the sun and His garments white as light, while Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Him. It was James, John and Peter who witnessed Jesus glorified on that mount. Much concerning Christ may be learned from this account.

The transfiguration came after a wearying day of travel and teaching and a toilsome climb up the mountain apart, when Jesus and the disciples needed rest. Jesus stepped aside to pray with strong crying and tears for strength to bear the test for humanity. He prayed also that His disciples would be given a manifestation of His glory with the Father before the world was, and of His kingdom and divinity, to assure them He is the Son of God and that His shameful death is part of redemption and to strengthen their faith for His rejection, crucifixion and the hour of darkness. That night of prayer preceded the calling of the disciples up the mountain with Jesus before they went out on their mission.

The disciples first joined Him in prayer, but from weariness fell asleep. Waking, they saw Jesus in glory talking with Moses and Elijah, with heaven opened and holy radiance enshrouding Him. His soul-agony left His face, wonderful light surrounded Him, His garments became white and glittering like the noonday sun, and He stood in God-like majesty. His glory, veiled by His humanity while He was upon earth, shone forth with brightness flashing through His humanity while He conversed with heavenly visitants, His humanity hidden for a time by His divinity. The disciples beheld as much of His glory as humanity could bear, and Peter felt overpowered, as if heaven was on earth, not knowing where he was.

While Peter was still speaking his answer to the sight, a bright cloud overshadowed them. A voice from the cloud declared Jesus to be God's beloved Son who must be heard. The disciples fell on their faces sore afraid. Then Jesus touched and raised them, and they saw Jesus only.

The record of Matthew 17:1-21 is to be borne in mind, in which Christ opens future scenes before His disciples. Read together with Matthew 26:26-75 and Matthew 27 and 28 as Scripture on a risen Saviour, Peter's offer to make three tabernacles at the transfiguration stands within the sequence leading through the Last Supper, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. It was a brief revelation of Jesus' heavenly glory, with Jesus glorified on the mountain, speaking with heavenly messengers and proclaimed the Son of God by the Father's voice, before His descent to face human suffering. On the mountain the disciples saw Jesus in heavenly glory, in contrast with His later descent to save the suffering boy.

Peter's Proposal Explained

Answering the sight of Jesus in glory on a high mountain apart, Peter declared it good to be there and asked leave to build three shelters or tabernacles, one for Jesus and one each for Moses and Elijah. This was when Jesus took Peter, James and John and was transfigured before them, His face shining as the sun and His raiment white as light, while Moses and Elias appeared talking with Him. Christ there stood as the Majesty of heaven and King of glory who clothed divinity with humanity and let divinity shine forth, and while Peter was yet speaking a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice declared Jesus the beloved Son to be heard, after which the disciples fell afraid until Jesus touched and raised them to see Jesus only. The saying belongs to a glimpse of the future glory of the Saviour given to strengthen the three to endure test and trial and to bear testimony to the others so their faith also might be strengthened.

Peter spoke overpowered by the glorious manifestation, overwhelmed with joy and awe and not knowing where he was, feeling as if heaven was on earth. He heard only part of what passed between Christ and Moses and Elijah about His suffering and death at Jerusalem, because sleep had overcome the disciples. Failing to watch and pray left them without the light God desired to give of Christ's sufferings and the glory to follow, showing them slow of heart to believe and little appreciative of Heaven's treasure and losing the blessing of sharing His self-sacrifice.

He mistakenly believed Elijah's coming fulfilled prophecy and thought Christ's kingdom was about to be established on earth. He imagined Moses and Elijah as heavenly visitants would protect Jesus from the death awaiting Him in Jerusalem and help establish His earthly kingly authority. In this he forgot and failed to understand that salvation could be completed only through Jesus' suffering and death as necessary to accomplish the plan of redemption.

Apart from this, the transfiguration is set forth as fulfilling the promise that some would see the kingdom of God come with power, showing Jesus' majesty with Moses representing those to be raised from the dead at the second coming and Elijah representing those to be changed to immortality and translated without dying. In that setting Peter's proposal to make three shelters is left without further explanation. The emphasis falls instead on the strengthening of the disciples' faith, and on Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus about His sufferings and death.

Strength for Coming Suffering

On the mount Jesus was glorified by His Father, and the talk with heaven about the completion of His mission comforted Him and strengthened Him to meet betrayal and crucifixion and the last dreadful sufferings ahead. The same pattern holds for members of His body as they approach their last conflict, the time of Jacob's trouble, who will grow up into Christ and partake largely of His Spirit. As the third message swells to a loud cry with great power and glory attending the closing work, the faithful will partake of that glory as the latter rain reviving and strengthening them to pass through trouble, with faces shining with the light attending the third angel.

The manifestation of divine glory there was given to strengthen the faith of Peter, James and John in Jesus as the promised Messiah and Son of God, to remove doubts and to help them understand that His shameful death was part of redemption. It was meant to fortify them to endure test and trial of faith, rejection, humiliation, crucifixion and the hour of darkness without losing confidence when sorrow and disappointment came. Christ there is the Majesty of heaven and King of glory who clothed divinity with humanity and let divinity shine forth in glorious brightness, flashing through humanity as much as humanity could bear. God recognized Him as Son, lifted Him above humanity to commune with Him, received Him with honor and glory from the excellent glory, and publicly testified to Him as at His baptism, giving clear evidence of His divine character as Messiah and a visible sign of divinity and symbol of His kingdom.

The presence and words of Moses and Elijah confirmed that His sufferings and death at Jerusalem were necessary for His glory and the Father's glory and for humanity to share that glory, as part of God's plan of redemption. They were sent to speak with Him of His coming sufferings and to comfort Him as co-laborers sharing His longing for the salvation of souls. Failing to watch and pray left the disciples with only partial hearing of what passed between Christ and Moses and Elijah, because sleep overcame them, and without the light God desired to give of Christ's sufferings and the glory to follow. They thereby lost the blessing of sharing His self-sacrifice and showed themselves slow of heart to believe and little appreciative of Heaven's treasure. Because they missed this lesson, when His predictions came to pass they could not endure the proving, Peter denied his Lord before His enemies, and their faith failed as they beheld the Son of God dying on the cross, where rays of hope from the mount would have lighted the darkness and sustained them.

The glimpse of future glory was given to strengthen the three to bear testimony to the other disciples so their faith also might be strengthened. As eyewitnesses of majesty on the holy mount who with their own eyes saw His honor and glory received from the Father and with their own ears heard the voice from the excellent glory declaring Him the beloved Son, Peter and the others were qualified to make known Christ's power and coming with certainty and not as cunningly devised fables. This seen and heard experience gives a more sure word of prophecy to heed as a light in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in hearts.

Moses and Elijah Present

The two who stood with Jesus in glory were Moses and Elijah, the men most favored above all others who lived on earth, sent by the Father to bring Heaven's glory to His Son. Moses was the man who talked with God face to face amid the thunder and lightnings of Sinai and who stood in the place of Christ as leader of Israel. Elijah was the prophet who did not see death but was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire and who represented Christ in His work as prophet to Israel.

They were chosen rather than angels because as men they had known human sorrow, suffering and earthly trials and could sympathize with Jesus and comfort Him. As co-laborers with Christ they shared His longing for the salvation of souls, and they honored Him while speaking with Him about His coming sufferings and death at Jerusalem and the completion of His mission. Their talk confirmed that His death was part of God's plan of redemption and bore God's glory to Him.

Their presence meant they represented the law and the prophets, showing that the teachings of the Old Testament are not done away by the preaching of Christ's gospel but are fully in accord with the New, with the new dispensation embracing the Old. Moses represented those who will be raised from the dead at Christ's second coming. Elijah represented those who will be living then and changed from mortal to immortal and translated to heaven without dying.

Preview of Coming Kingdom

The mount fulfilled the promise that some standing by would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God come with power, for there Jesus was clothed with heavenly glory and proclaimed by the Father's voice to be the Son of God. His changed and radiant appearance, with Moses and Elijah seen talking with Him, displayed His majesty before the waking disciples. It was a brief revelation of heavenly glory given before going back down to face human suffering. In that light Moses stood for those who will be raised from the dead at the second coming, and Elijah stood for those who will then be living and changed to immortality and taken to heaven without dying.

What the three beheld was Christ's kingdom in miniature and in symbol, a glimpse of the Saviour's future glory. It was in miniature the kingdom of the redeemed, revealing the power and coming of the Lord and God's purposes concerning the human race and the kingdom of God. There He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came from the excellent glory declaring Him the beloved Son in whom God is well pleased, which Peter heard with his own ears while with Him in the holy mount. It was given as a visible sign of His divinity and a symbol of His kingdom, to strengthen the faith of the three for test and trial and to help them understand His mission, including that His death was necessary for His glory and the Father's glory and that humanity might share that glory. That seen and heard experience qualified them as eyewitnesses of majesty to bear testimony to the others so their faith also might be strengthened, and to make known His power and coming with certainty and not as cunningly devised fables.

That eyewitness certainty gives a more sure word of prophecy to be heeded as a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the day star arises in hearts.

Call to Valley Service

Beholding Christ's glory on the mount is not an end in itself, for those who have seen His beauty as chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely until the soul becomes radiant with His glory are sent by the Master to arise and shine. They are to go down from the mount to the valley and plain, where demon-possessed souls and those enslaved by Satan wait for the word of faith and prayer to set them free. That going means living and laboring and sacrificing even unto death for the saving of humanity in the spirit of Christ's self-sacrificing love. The disciples were called up the mountain with Jesus after a night He spent in prayer and before they went out on their mission. The ascent itself represents the demanding path of service, self-sacrifice, and spiritual growth to which believers are called, as set forth for woman in the image of the Mount of Transfiguration.

Peter's words on seeing Jesus with Moses and Elias, that it was good to be there, express the joy believers may feel when Christ's presence and the Spirit of God are with them in their gatherings. The glory seen and the divine voice heard from the cloud on the mount were later remembered when the disciples saw heavenly glory again with Jesus in Gethsemane. There the bright vision of the angel ministering to Jesus dazzled their eyes, and they saw the same glory revealed again in the garden. They concluded from it that God had taken Jesus in charge and that a mighty angel was present to protect Him from His foes, so they had no further fear for their Master.

As Jesus was glorified by His Father at the transfiguration before His betrayal and crucifixion to strengthen Him for His last dreadful sufferings, so the same pattern holds for the members of the body of Christ as they approach their last conflict, the time of Jacob's trouble. They will grow up into Christ and partake largely of His spirit. As the third message swells to a loud cry with great power and glory attending the closing work, the faithful people of God will partake of that glory. That glory is the latter rain reviving and strengthening them to pass through the time of trouble, so that their faces will shine with the glory of the light attending the third angel.

John was one of only three disciples permitted to witness Christ's glory upon the mount of transfiguration. As the disciple whom Jesus loved he enjoyed Christ's friendship in a pre-eminent sense and received special tokens of His confidence and love. James, with Peter and John, was likewise one of the three brought into the closest relationship with Christ.