After Peter and the disciples confessed that Jesus was the Messiah and were blessed, He told what the future held. That included that He would be handed over to sinners for crucifixion (Matt 16:21) and He also predicted that He would come back in the glory of the Father and will judge the world (Matt 16:27). In Matthew 17 Jesus did something amazing for three of His disciples.
“HE WAS TRANSFIGURED”
Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him up on a mountain.
Matthew 17:2 – And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
When Jesus was born of Mary, He set aside His glory to take on human form. Jesus was both fully God and fully human at the same time. To this point, the disciples had followed Jesus only ever seeing Him as a human. They saw Him do some amazing miracles and heard authoritative teaching that astounded them and others. They believed and knew who Jesus was as evidenced by Peter’s profession that He was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). But never had they seen Him like this! When Jesus “transfigured”, He showed them who He was, unveiling His glory for a moment. In this verse, it says His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as light! This must have been terrifying. But to add to it, Jesus was accompanied by two others.
Matthew 17:3 – And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Say what? Moses had been dead for some 1400 years and Elijah was taken to heaven 900 hundred years prior to this. As if seeing Jesus in His glorified form wouldn’t have been quite an experience, these two representing the law and the prophets of the past were seen on the mountain as well, talking with Jesus! As you would expect, this got a reaction.
Matthew 17:4 – Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Peter doesn’t know what to think so he just starts talking. Mark’s account of this (Mark 9:6) tells us that Peter was terrified! In fact, Peter places the two servants of God on the same level as Jesus, offering to make tents of worship (tabernacles) for each of them. While Peter was still talking, something else happened.
Matthew 17:5 – While He was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; Listen to Him!”
Peter is interrupted by God! In the form of a voice from what’s described as a cloud, God’s voice thunders out a one sentence message. He proclaims Jesus as His beloved Son and commands them to listen to Him. All of this proved to be too much to bear for the three men.
Matthew 17:6 – When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.
This was not an uncommon reaction to encounters with God’s glory. In fact, every time humans encounter God in His glory, the person is unable to stand.
ENCOUNTERING GOD
This isn’t the first time that a man encountered Jesus in His glorified state. In Ezekiel 1 and 2 we see the prophet Ezekiel standing at the edge of a river and he witnesses the full glory of the Son. It’s a much more complete description of His glory, but it’s clear the prophet is trying to put something indescribable into words. At the end of this wonderful description, the prophet says:
Ezekiel 1:27-29 – I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him . As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.
The prophet Ezekiel fell on His face. Peter, James and John also fell on their faces. This is the only possible response to the awesome glory of the Lord. It was an automatic reaction. It wasn’t just them being humble and worshiping, it was automatic because what caused this reaction was fear. They had never seen anything like this, and it was truly awe inspiring.
Going back to Ezekiel we see that it took intervention from the Holy Spirit to get him back on his feet.
Ezekiel 2:1-2 – Then He said to me, “Son of man , stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.
At the mountain where Jesus transfigured before the three disciples it took Jesus Himself to stand them back up and bring out of their shock.
Matthew 17:7-8 – And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid .” And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
What a wonderful picture. The disciples got to see the terrible, majestic, fearsome reality of the glorified Lord. Something human faculties can’t handle and eliciting an uncontrollable reaction of falling in fear and worship on the ground. Followed by the gentle, kind, comforting hand of Jesus lifting them up and telling them not to be afraid. Just like the Spirit did with Ezekiel.
THE DISCIPLES QUESTION
After Jesus restored the disciples, they began to make their way back down the mountain. The disciples have a big question. But before they ask their question, Jesus gives them a command.
Matthew 17:9 – As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”
It seems this statement would create some questions from the disciples. Why can’t we tell anyone? Did you just say you’re raising from the dead?! But instead, the disciples have another question instead.
Matthew 17: 10 – And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first”?
The disciples have a nagging question. Old Testament prophecy foretold that Elijah would come before the Messiah. The disciples are completely convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, how could they not be. But Malachi 4:5 says that Elijah would come first as the herald to the Messiah. But Jesus responds and tells them in verses 12 and 13 that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecy. He was the forerunner, the herald foretelling the coming of Messiah.
Jesus answers their big question. But what about Jesus’ other statement. Why didn’t He want others to know about the transfiguration?
CONCLUSION
Jesus was for certain, the Messiah. But His time had not yet come. What the disciples and other followers’ thought was that Jesus was here to set up His kingdom on earth right now. But Jesus is trying to tell them that first He must suffer and die for the sins of the world. He’s also communicating to them that He would raise from the dead, victorious over sin and death. And in that victory, salvation for those that place their sins on His account! The disciples aren’t getting what Jesus is teaching them, yet. They will eventually. But the reason Jesus told them not to tell what they had seen, is because the time had not yet come. The time for the crucifixion wasn’t right yet, and neither was it time to set up the earthly kingdom. Jesus is doing the will of His Father and doing it all perfectly on His timeline.