Transfiguration Essay

There is a lot of speculation around story of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-13. When you first read the story, many questions pop out such as why Jesus picked the particular disciples that he picked to go up to the mountain with him, what mountain it was on, and why this particular event happened. Many parallels between the transfiguration and other passages in the New Testament as well as the Old and the comparison of Jesus and Moses have been found. The transfiguration part of Jesus’ story is very symbolical in a sense that it is where past and the future meet; connecting them both in the same place on that high mountain.

In Matthew 7:1-13, Jesus took Peter, James and John up to a mountain. Up on that mountain Jesus’ face shone as bright

The story of the transfiguration is recorded in the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Transfiguration is a major event because it signifies the beginning of a new time. Moses and Elijah symbolize the Law and the Prophets, and both were very important to the Old Testament Jews, but when God said “[t]his is my Son. Listen to him”, he made it clear that Jesus is above both the Law and the Prophets. It signifies the way of the new replacing the old. It is also quite interesting that in the Old Testament, both Moses and Elijah meet God on the same mountain, but at separate times. When Moses came almost “face-to-face” with God, he was left glowing like the sun, and people were unable to look at him. When God spoke to Elijah on the mountain it was described with winds, and earthquakes, and fire. But God wasn’t in any of them. God’s voice was like a gentle whisper. After Moses and Elijah left, Jesus hinted of his sufferings, death and resurrection in the near future by telling his dis not to tell anyone of what they have witnessed until the Son of Man has been raised from the grave. Even though the passages of transfiguration are in all three books, none of them are completely identical. The passage in Luke talks about the “exodus from this world” that shall occur in Jerusalem, whereas the other two recordings of transfiguration in Matthew and Mark do not

Matthew 17:2 reports that Jesus’ face “shone”, Exodus 34:29-30 twice mentions that the skin of Moses’ face shone from him having spoken with Yahweh on the Mountain. Moses reflected Yahweh’s own glory, while Jesus possessed it. Jesus’ glory was like that of the sun - Moses’ like that of the moon, it reflects the light. The visual transformation of Jesus is not so much a physical alteration as an added dimension of glory; it is the same Jesus, but now with an awesome brightness “like the sun” and “the light”. Others might say that the dullness of earthly conditions temporarily stripped away, so that the true nature of God’s “beloved son” can for once be seen. The transfiguration of Jesus is underlined by the appearance of Elijah and Moses, whose earthly lives have ended in supernatural ways. The life of Elijah was concluded in him being taken up into heaven without having to die, while the circumstances surrounding the death of Moses on Mount Nebo are still unknown.

The story of the transfiguration is similar to the baptism of Jesus. During both stories a loud voice coming from the clouds said “[t]his is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 17:5, Matthew 3:17, Luke . But the difference between the baptism voice and the transfiguration voice is that the Father is speaking to the disciples when Jesus is transfigured “[t]his is my Son whom I love; with him I am well pleased, listen to him”,