The Transfiguration
Lk 9:27-36 is the passage we typically call the Transfiguration. See Matt 17:2. To see all that’s connected with this event, we’ll check the cross references in the other gospels. We’re going to study what Peter, John, and James saw and what they heard.
Peter, John, and James saw:
The kingdom of God – Lk 9:27. More specifically, they saw “the Son of man coming in his kingdom”. Mark said, “… till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power”, Mk 9:1. Between the time of Jesus’s resurrection and the time of his return, Jesus said that the kingdom of God cometh not with observation but is within you, Lk 17:20-21. However, when he returns with power, we’re going to “see” him coming in his kingdom.
Jesus’s countenance altered and his raiment glistering – Lk 9:29. At the transfiguration, these disciples saw Jesus the way he will look when he returns in his glory. His face shone as the sun, Matt 17:2. And his raiment was white as the light, exceeding white as the snow, Mk 9:3. The word glistering means shining with flashes of brilliant light.
Moses and Elias – Lk 9:30. Moses was taken to heaven by Michael the archangel, after Moses died, Jude 9. And Elijah was taken to heaven by a whirlwind in 2 Ki 2:11. These are the two witnesses who will be here during the Tribulation right before Jesus returns at his Second Advent, Rev 11:3-12.
This is why they appeared with Jesus on this mountain at this time. For more evidence that Moses and Elijah are the two witnesses, see The Two Witnesses.
They appeared in glory and talked with Jesus about his “decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem”. They confirmed what Jesus had told his disciples in Lk 9:22. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established”, Matt 18:16.
Jesus’s glory – Lk 9:32. It is interesting that before they saw his glory, they had fallen into a deep sleep. This is exactly what Daniel did when Gabriel spoke to him about the time of the end, Dan 8:18, and when the man clothed in linen came to make Daniel understand “what shall befall thy people in the latter days”, Dan 10:14, 9. So, they weren’t just being lazy.
They saw Jesus just like he will appear when he comes in a cloud with power and great glory, Lk 21:27. Peter said they were “eyewitnesses of his majesty”, 2 Pet 1:16. And that cloud in which he will come is the same as the cloud in which he was taken up in Acts 1:9-11.
A cloud overshadowing them – Lk 9:34-35. This cloud that came to overshadow them is like the cloud Moses entered in the mount, when the Lord proclaimed the name of the Lord to him, Ex 34:4-5. The Lord descended in the cloud and then spoke to him. In the transfiguration, the disciples heard a voice speaking out of the cloud. The voice said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him”. Matthew adds, “in whom I am well pleased”, Matt 17:5. God spoke to them out of that cloud at the transfiguration.
Jesus alone – Lk 9:36. After hearing God speak, the disciples were left alone with Jesus on the mount. He told them to “tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead”, Matt 17:9. And they obeyed. Just imagine how hard it was to keep that secret. What a sight to behold!!
Peter said:
Let us make three tabernacles – Lk 9:33. Peter wanted to make one tabernacle each for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. You can hardly imagine why he would have even said that. Mark wrote that they were afraid and “he wist not what to say”, Mk 9:6. Luke wrote that Peter said it, “not knowing what he said”. In other words, what he said was significant, but he just didn’t understand what it meant. It signifies the time of Jesus’s return.
Without going into too much detail, we notice that the three feasts of the Old Testament, when the men were to be gathered together, overlap specific events in the New Testament.
Lev 23:5, the passover, is when Jesus was crucified.
Lev 23:15-16, the feast of weeks, is Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given.
Lev 23:34, the feast of tabernacles, is when Jesus will return.
Peter, John, and James heard:
A voice out of the cloud – Lk 9:35. Peter said of this voice that it came from the excellent glory and from heaven, 2 Pet 1:17-18. So, the Lord came down from heaven in the cloud to speak with the disciples like he did when he spoke to Moses.
And Peter said, comparing written scripture, 2 Pet 1:20, to God speaking to then in the mount, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy”, 2 Pet 1:19. Reading these words is “more sure” than hearing them spoken by God from heaven out of a cloud. You have quite a book in your hands. Are you listening to it?