Chapter 68
THE TRANSFIGURATION
Matthew 17:1-8
Let us begin our study with the following prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before You in the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Holy Father we pray and ask You to please open our eyes, ears, and heart so we can better understand and comprehend the revealing that took place during Jesus’ transfiguration. Help us to not only understand what took place but also cause it to forever transform our lives.
Amen
INTRODUCTION
We begin our study by reading from,
[1] Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; [2] and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. [3] And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. [4] Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” [5] While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” [6] And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. [7] But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” [8] When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
For this study we will review the following three observations,
1. Moses and Elijah are alive.
2. Moses, Elijah and Jesus represent God’s plan for our salvation.
3. Jesus Christ fulfilled all what the Old Testament was pointing to.
The first observation of the account of Jesus’ transfiguration is that,
MOSES AND ELIJAH ARE ALIVE
Even though Moses and Elijah died over 2,000 years prior to this account, we find them talking with Jesus. This is clearly described in,
Matthew 17:3
[3] And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
We also discover that all three of Jesus’ disciples, who were Peter, James and John, saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. This is recorded in,
Luke 9:32-33
[32] But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. [33] Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
Let us notice the following verses,
32 … It was when Peter, James and John were fully awake they saw Jesus with the two men. Thus, this was not a dream or a trance.
33 … Peter recognized that the two men talking with Jesus was Moses and Elijah. Presumably James and John also recognized the men.
The Gospel of Luke also reveals to us that, during Jesus’ transfiguration, both Moses and Elijah appeared with Him in glory. To see this we read from,
Luke 9:30-31a
[30] And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, [31] who appeared in glory …
This is a vivid illustration of what happened to the true Old Testament believers in God.
As a side note, Jesus taught this truth when He rebuked the Sadducees for not believing in the resurrection. To read what Jesus said we go to,
Mark 12:26-27
[26] “But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? [27] He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”
To read an illustration as to what will happen to the born-again believers who have already passed away when Jesus returns, let us read what occurred after His resurrection. To do this we go to,
Matthew 27:51-53
[51] Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, [52] and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; [53] and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, ...
To amplify what will occur we go to,
Philippians 3:20-21
[20] For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, [21] who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
In other words, when the born-again believer in Jesus Christ physically dies, they are not destroyed. Instead, when Jesus returns, their soul and spirit will then re-inhabit their mortal or physical bodies that have been transformed to be like the resurrected body of Jesus Christ.
The second observation of the account of Jesus’ transfiguration is that,
MOSES, ELIJAH AND JESUS REPRESENTED GOD’S PLAN FOR OUR SALVATION
To see this we begin with,
MOSES AND JESUS
It is interesting to note that during Jesus’ transformation Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Bible, was the representative of the Law; whereas Jesus was the representative of God’s Grace and Truth. To see this let us read the following witness of John the Baptist as recorded in,
John 1:15-18
[15] John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” [16] And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Let us notice the following verses,
15 … John the Baptist’s witness teaches us that Jesus is of higher ranking than John. In addition, his witness teaches us that Jesus existed before John was even born. What is interesting to note is that in the Gospel according to Luke, John the Baptist was born prior to Jesus’ physical birth through the Virgin Mary.
17 … The Law was given through the hand of Moses. However, God’s Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 … John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus Christ to be the only begotten Son of God.
This brings us to that main purpose of the Law. Specifically, it was put in place to lead us to Jesus Christ. To see this let us read the following excerpt from Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia.
Galatians 3:23-24
[23] But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. [24] Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Now that we see that the Law and God’s Grace/Truth were represented during the transfiguration, let us move on to,
ELIJAH
During Jesus’ transformation, Elijah was the representative for all the Old Testament prophets and prophecies. Let us remember, it was through His prophets God foretold the arrival of Jesus Christ and the salvation He would purchase for us. To see this we go to,
1 Peter 1:10-11
[10] Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, [11] searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
Let us notice the following verses,
10 … The prophets of the Old Testament foretold of the grace that would come to us.
11 … The prophets diligently searched for what or what time the grace they prophesied about of would come. Also note it was the Spirit of Christ (Who is also the Holy Spirit) within them Who spoke of the sufferings of Christ and all the glories that would follow.
It is interesting to note that during the transfiguration of Jesus this was what they were talking about. Specifically, the Bible teaches us that Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about the physical death He was about to incur for the salvation and redemption of our souls. To see this let us read the following excerpt from Luke’s account of the transfiguration.
Luke 9:30-31
[30] And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, [31] who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
This now brings us to the third observation which is that,
JESUS CHRIST IS THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL GOD’S PROMISES TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS AND GATHER US TO HIM
For us to review all of God’s promises and see how Jesus Christ has and/or will fulfill them would take a fair amount of time and reams of paper. Thus, for this study we will only review one of the prophecies given through Ezekiel. The particular prophecy for this study is the one about the coming of the true shepherd. It is recorded in,
[11] “For thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. [12] As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. [13] And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. [14] I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. [15] I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD. [16] “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; ….”
To see that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the above prophecy let us examine three of its key elements.
The first key element of the above prophecy is that.
GOD, LIKE A SHEPHERD, WILL SEARCH FOR HIS LOST SHEEP
This is clearly revealed in,
Ezekiel 34:11-12
[11] For thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. [12] As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.”
Let us notice the following verses,
11 … God made it clear He will search for those who belong to Him.
12 … It is extremely important to note that God was not going to send someone in His place. No, it will be Him who does the search for His lost sheep, who are the people who belong to Him.
To see that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the above prophecy, we will find that: (1) Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd and (2) Jesus and God the Father are one.
We begin with the fact that,
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd
To see this let us read what Jesus said about Himself as recorded in,
John 10:11-16
[11] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. [12] But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. [13] The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. [15] As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. [16] And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”
Let us notice the following verses,
11 … Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd.
12-13 … Since the sheep do not belong to a hired hand; he really does not care for them as the owner of the sheep does.
14 … Jesus knows who are His and they know Him.
15 … Jesus loves His sheep/people so much that He laid down His earthly life for them. In fact, the Old Testament’s animal sacrificial system was a foreshadowing to teach us about Jesus Christ’s death and the shedding of His blood to save and redeem us from our sins.
16 … Those who are not of this fold was referring to those who are not Jewish. These are the Gentiles, such as you and me, who also belong to Jesus.
Let us now recall that God made it a point to say that it would be He, God, who would be the Good Shepherd. Thus, to be sure that Jesus Christ is truly the Good Shepherd spoken of in Ezekiel’s prophecy let us now see that,
Jesus and the Father are One
To do this we go to the time of the Jewish Feast of Dedication. It is here that Jesus also made it clear as to exactly who He is. To read what occurred we read from,
John 10:22-30
[22] Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. [23] And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. [24] Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” [25] Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. [26] But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. [27] My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. [28] And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. [30] I and My Father are one.”
Let us notice the following verses,
24 … The Jewish people, who came for the feast, gathered around and asked Jesus to clearly tell them exactly who he was.
25-26 … Those who do not belong to Jesus do not believe who He really is. These are those who have heard the message and are aware of all He did but still refuse to accept Him as their Lord and Savior.
27 … Those who belong to Jesus, who are the true born-again believers in Him; these people not only hear and listen to Him but also follow Him.
28-29 … This is one of the most precious promises a born-again Christian can receive. Specifically, those who belong to Jesus, who are the true born-again-believers, have eternal life. Furthermore, NO one, including Satan, can take us away from Jesus and the eternal life He purchased for us.
30 … Jesus and the Father are One.
After reading what Jesus said one might ask; “Did the Jews really understand what Jesus said?” To address this question let us continue to read what occurred during this Feast of Dedication and go to,
John 10:31-33
[31] Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. [32] Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” [33] The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
Let us notice the following verse,
33 … The Jews who heard Jesus clearly knew what He told them. Specifically, they were trying to stone Him because Jesus claimed He was God.
The second key element foretold was that,
GOD WILL FEED HIS PEOPLE
To refresh our memory let us read from,
Ezekiel 34:13-15
[13] “And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. [14] I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. [15] I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD.
To see that Jesus is the fulfillment of this portion of Ezekiel’s prophecy we will read that Jesus Christ provides us with: (1) spiritual bread and (2) spiritual drink.
We begin by noting the Bible teaches us that,
Jesus is the Bread of Life
To see and realize this, let us read an excerpt from what Jesus said after, with only five loaves of bread and two small fish, He fed 5,000 men along with the women and children. The Scriptures of interest for this study are,
John 6:30-35
[30] Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? [31] Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” [32] Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [34] Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” [35] And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
Let us notice the following verses,
31 … The Jews told Jesus that Moses gave them bread from Heaven. This was referring to the time when God fed their ancestors with a bread substance called Manna. This is recorded in,
Exodus 16:31
[31] And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32-33 … Jesus told the Jews and now us that the true Bread of God is the Person who came from Heaven and gives life to you and me.
35a … Jesus is the Bread of life.
35b … Whoever comes to Jesus will never hunger. The hunger Jesus was talking about is a spiritual hunger not a physical one. Consequently, Jesus did not mean we are to feast on His physical body. No, what He meant was we are to daily feast on His Word (the Bible) and during periodic celebrations of the Last Supper; we are to partake of the bread that symbolizes His body.
35c … Jesus also said to them and now us that whoever comes to Him will never thirst. This is not a physical thirst for a liquid but a spiritual thirst for righteousness, holiness and for God.
Thus, we find that,
Jesus also fills us with Living Water
To see this, let us now go to one of the Jewish Feasts of Tabernacles and read what Jesus said on the last day of the feast. The passage of interest is in,
John 7:37-39a
[37] On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. [38] He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” [39] But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, ...
It is noted that when a person repents of their sins, comes to Jesus for forgiveness and accepts Him as their Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit will come into them and dwell with them. This is the new birth.
The third key element foretold was that,
GOD WILL SEEK THE LOST AND BIND UP THE BROKEN
To refresh our memories let us read again,
Ezekiel 34:16a
[16] “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; ….”
To see that Jesus also fulfilled the above prophecy, we will: (1) Read what Jesus said when He explained that He is the fulfillment of a similar prophecy given through the prophet Isaiah and (2) Read one of the many accounts of how Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.
We begin by reading that Jesus said,
He (Jesus) fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah
To do we begin by reading from,
Luke 4:16-21
[16] So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. [17] And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: [18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; [19] To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” [20] Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. [21] And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
To see how Jesus Christ fulfilled these prophecies, let us read an account of one of the many,
Works of Jesus Christ
A representative example of Jesus’ works is provided in a summary of what He did while travelling through Galilee. This is summary recorded in,
Matthew 4:23-25
[23] And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. [24] Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. [25] Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
All that we have covered thus far is good and valuable information. However, the questions arise as to: “What is the point?” “What is the message?”
This brings us to,
THE MESSAGE OF JESUS’ TRANSFIGURATION
To fulfill all the promises He made, God sent His only begotten Son, in human flesh, to save and deliver us from our sins and trespasses against Him. He did this to gather into His Kingdom those who believe, trust and has faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. To see this let us read from,
Colossians 1:13-14
[13] He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, [14] in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Thus, the first message of the transfiguration was that,
JESUS IS GOD WHO CAME IN HUMAN FLESH
To see this we return to the transfiguration and read from
Matthew 17: 5b-7
[5] … behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” [6] And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. [7] But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”
To verify that Jesus Christ was true God and true man let us read about His birth as recorded in,
John 1:1-5
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. [4] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Let us notice the following verses,
1a … The “Word” is another name for Jesus Christ. To see this let us read an excerpt from the vision God gave John with respect to the end times. The passage of interest is,
Revelation 19:13b
[13] … and His name is called The Word of God.
Let us now move on to John chapter 1 verse,
1b … The Word, who is Jesus Christ, is God.
2 … In the beginning Jesus was with God.
3 … All things were made through Jesus Christ. Thus, He is also the Lord of all.
With the above in mind let us now read from,
John 1:14
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The second message of the transfiguration is that,
JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE AND WELL
As we saw earlier, even though Moses and Elijah had passed away from this earth, they are still alive. Thus, we can surely be confident that Jesus, who is the second person of the God Head, is also alive. To verify this we go to the book of Revelation and read the following excerpt of what Jesus told John.
Revelation 1:18
[18] I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
The third message is that,
JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF WHAT THE LAW AND PROPHETS WERE POINTING TO
After Jesus death and resurrection He came to two men who were on their way to a village called Emmaus. At this time the men did not recognize Jesus. In fact, because of Jesus’ questions, they thought He was a stranger. Thus, they began to share with Him about the death and disappearance of Jesus’ body. With this background let us read Jesus response to the two men as it is recorded in,
Luke 24:25-27
[25] Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” [27] And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
The fourth and last message for this study is that,
THE TRUE BORN-AGAIN BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST HAVE BEEN GIVEN ETERNAL LIFE AND WILL NEVER DIE
As Abraham, Moses and Elijah are still alive so it is and will be for those who have and will place their entire faith and trust in Jesus Christ. To see this let us read what Jesus said to Martha after He raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead. To do this let us go to,
John 11:25-26
[25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. [26] And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Let us notice the following verses,
25 … The true born-again believers in Jesus Christ, who physically passed away from this earth, shall live.
26a … The true born-again believers in Jesus Christ, who are still alive when Jesus returns to earth, will continue to live.
26b …”Do we really believe this?”
As we read earlier, this will be the time when we will receive our new immortal resurrected body.
CLOSING
As we reflect upon this awesome promise, we, as it was with Paul, may become overwhelmed.
With is in mind we close our study by reading what Paul wrote in,
Romans 11:34-36
[34] “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” [35] “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” [36] For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.
Amen and Amen