In the Gospel of Luke 9:28-36, we read about the transfiguration of Jesus. This transfiguration experience describes the moment when Jesus reveals his divinity to his inner circle, Peter, John, and James. We find this encounter in three of the Gospels, and I’m looking at Luke’s account in this article.
This story has an air of mystery that’s more than just, “you had to be there.” The disciples were there and they didn’t know what to think about it either. We see the way Peter just starts saying things because he doesn’t know what else to say. This wasn’t an everyday experience just because they had proximity to Jesus. It was extraordinary even for them.
Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in this transfiguration experience. These were two great men from Israel’s history, but there’s more to why they’re present than just name recognition. The work of Jesus is similar to that of Moses and Elijah, but Jesus is doing something greater.
Moses brings the people to freedom
Similar to Jesus, Moses was born within a context where he escaped execution at birth. Moses was saved from that decree by his family and he was raised by Egyptian royalty. He later led Israel’s exodus from Egypt. This is the great story of salvation, the rescue of God’s chosen people from oppression and enslavement. This story encourages us to remember that God sees our oppression, God’s cares, and is powerful to save. The annual Passover meal remembers and celebrates this Exodus.
In preparation for the exodus, the people of Israel were to remain awake and alert. When it was time to leave they passed through the Red Sea into freedom. God performed miracles through Moses to lead the Israelites out of their oppression. This escape was something they weren’t capable of doing on their own.
The people traveled through the desert, and then Moses had the responsibility to teach them God’s law. This was another experience that took place on a mountain. Later Moses led them in building a tabernacle so that the people would have a place to worship God. When it was ready, the spirit of God’s presence would come down into the tabernacle when they worshiped. The faithfulness of Moses made it possible for the people to know what God wanted them to do.
The saving work of Jesus
Moses is present in this transfiguration event. He’s talking to Jesus, who has come to do the redemptive work of God. Similar to the Egyptian enslavement, sin enslaves humanity. In a new kind of exodus, Jesus leads people out of the slavery of sin and death. He leads people home to their promised inheritance—the new, redeemed creation.
The sacrifice of Jesus brought the possibility of new life to humanity. In his work on the cross, Jesus defeats evil and offers us freedom that we receive by grace alone. We can’t become holy just by imitating the life of Jesus. Jesus saves us by his perfect life, his death, and resurrection. He creates a miraculous path to God that we could never walk on our own.
Now instead of sending his spirit into a tabernacle, God sends his spirit to be with everyone who follows him. Instead of writing God’s law on stone, God writes his law on our hearts, through the transformative work of the spirit.
Elijah opposed the powerful
Elijah was a prophet that lived at a time when the people were not following God. He spoke to the people about what God wanted and confronted people who were doing evil things. His life was often in danger because the king of Israel didn’t like Elijah’s message of repentance.
We find one of the well known stories about Elijah in 1 Kings 18. In this text, Elijah challenges the prophets of Ba’al to see whose god is most powerful. After they try and fail, Elijah calls down fire from heaven to consume his offering for God. This story portrays God’s power and it left an impression on the people of Israel.
The belief about Elijah is that he was the one who would announce the coming of the Messiah. He would usher in the end of time when God brings peace to the earth. Elijah was the prophet who would one day turn people’s hearts back to God.
Jesus leads with mercy
Jesus acknowledged these understandings about Elijah and takes it a step further when he compared John the Baptist to Elijah. John the Baptist proclaimed the ministry of Jesus and he was living a prophet’s life. This understanding of Elijah’s role was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. Unlike the life and message of Elijah, the teachings of Jesus often speak of mercy, rather than the swift and lethal judgment that we see in Elijah’s confrontations. Over and over we see how the people following Jesus had a hard time grasping this message of mercy.
In Luke 9:51-56, shortly after this transfiguration experience, James and John asked Jesus if they could call down fire from heaven. Maybe the disciples thought of this because they had just seen Elijah on the mountain. Maybe that experience reminded them of Elijah’s way of addressing opposition. They might have assumed Jesus was going to overturn their oppressive government in a similar way that Elijah opposed the government of his day. Jesus made it clear to James and John that they are not going to kill the people who oppose them.
Meeting God on a mountain
Through the scriptures and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have more access to God than the prophets. Moses and Elijah both had experiences with God on a mountain. Moses asked to see God’s face when he was receiving the ten commandments. God told him no, nobody could see God’s face and live. But God did let Moses see a glimpse of his back. He passed by the rock where Moses was sitting while he waited for the commandments. This encounter had a physical effect on Moses. When he finally came down from the mountain, his face was shining so bright the people couldn’t look at him.
After Elijah challenged the priests of Ba’al, he ran in fear and hid on a mountain. The king and queen were killing the prophets and now they were after him. Elijah was sure he was going to die and asked to hear from God. He waited and listened. God wasn’t in the storm, the earthquake, or the wind. Then there was a silence and that is when Elijah heard from God.
In this story, the three disciples get to witness a conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. The three are transfigured before the disciple’s eyes and their appearance was dazzlingly bright. Peter starts to speak up out of fear, but God’s voice breaks through and says, “…this is my son, listen to him.” Peter didn’t know what to say, this whole experience was probably overwhelming.
Living in the presence of God
It can be easy to read this story and wish we had such an encounter. Maybe life’s difficulties would be easier to navigate if we could witness something so miraculous first hand. We have to remember we have more than a first hand experience. We have the benefit of reading these Gospels with more information about what’s going on. Through these scriptures, we get a more detailed message than Moses or Elijah had. More importantly, we have the Holy Spirit to counsel and guide us.
In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about how we have greater access to God. That should encourage us because God’s power and strength are as close as the Holy Spirit in our lives. Paul writes about this to encourage the church in Corinth.
Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory?
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:7-8, 12-13, 17-18
Where is the ministry of Jesus surprising you today?
Photo credit: by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash