We Believe In Jesus: The ChristSample

Jesus’ Transfiguration: Mark 9:2-4

“Transfiguration” is the name theologians have given to the event when Jesus was revealed to his disciples in glory. It refers to the fact that his appearance was radically transformed, revealing a portion of his divine glory. This event is recorded in Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36. It’s also referred to in 2 Peter 1:16-18.

In summary, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray. And while they were there, Jesus’ appearance changed. His face shone with glory and his clothes became dazzlingly white. While Jesus’ appearance was altered, Moses and Elijah appeared with him, and God’s voice was heard from heaven, affirming that Jesus was his Son. And when Peter suggested that the disciples build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, God singled out Jesus as being worthy of the greatest honor and obedience. This was significant because Moses was the lawgiver and liberator of God’s people, and Elijah was the faithful prophet that called the nation of Israel back from apostasy. It meant that Jesus stood in continuity with the law and the prophets and that he was fulfilling the expectations set by the greatest leaders of Israel’s past. But it also meant that he was the greatest anointed one of all, the final Davidic heir who was bringing God’s kingdom to earth.

The transfiguration is this amazing scene where Jesus goes up on the mountain, and his disciples, just three of them, go with him. And they get this display of the glory of Christ. And so, first we get a glimpse of these two natures of Christ, where this man, nevertheless, is transfigured, and we get a display of his glory that had always been true of him, but as that Christmas hymn says, was “veiled in flesh,” but we see the Godhead. We get this blinding display of his glorious presence, so glorious that the disciples come down off the mountain, and they themselves are glowing. When we think about the fulfillment of the covenant, that’s powerful, because who does he meet with in the transfiguration? He meets with Elijah and Moses. And so in this we see Jesus as the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law, and the fulfillment of the prophetic office, fulfilling his messianic identity in these ways. So the old covenant is coming to its fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah, as he meets with the giver of the Law, Moses, and then the fulfillment of the great prophetic office in Elijah. Jesus here comes, meets with them, and establishes his messianic identity in that amazing transfiguration. – Dr. K. Erik Thoennes