The Miracles of Jesus

The Transfiguration

A high mountain · Midway to Jerusalem · Matthew 17:1-9

Six days after promising his disciples would see the kingdom, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. There he was transfigured before them, his face shining like the sun and his clothing white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with him, and Peter offered to build three shelters. Then a bright cloud overshadowed them, and the Father's voice declared, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.' The disciples fell down in fear until Jesus touched them and told them to rise. Unlike his other signs, this is not a wonder done to someone else but a brief unveiling of Jesus' own glory as the Son of God.

The scene

The moment came at a turning point in Jesus' ministry. He had begun to tell his disciples plainly that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and rise again, and Peter had recoiled from the very idea. Six days later Jesus took three of them, Peter, James, and John, the inner circle who would also be near him in Gethsemane, and led them up a high mountain by themselves, away from the crowds and the other disciples. There, in that quiet and high place, something happened that the Gospels struggle to describe in ordinary words.

The word transfigured means his form was changed before their eyes. For a moment the veil of his ordinary humanity was drawn back, and the glory that was always his shone out from within. His face blazed like the sun, his garments turned white as light itself. And he was not alone. Two of the greatest figures of Israel's history appeared and stood talking with him.

What Jesus did

It is important to see that in this sign Jesus does nothing to anyone else. He does not heal, feed, or calm a storm. The wonder is the unveiling of who he already is. Moses, who gave the law, and Elijah, the greatest of the prophets, stand with him, for the law and the prophets alike point to him and find their meaning in him. Peter, overwhelmed and not knowing what to say, blurted out that it was good to be there and offered to build three shelters, one for each of them, as though the three belonged on the same level. The Father himself answered that suggestion.

The bright cloud is the presence of God, the same glory that once filled the tabernacle and the temple. Out of it came the Father's own testimony, singling out Jesus alone. Moses and Elijah are honored servants, but only Jesus is the beloved Son, and it is to him that the disciples must listen. Overcome, the three fell on their faces in fear, and Jesus came and touched them with a tenderness that runs through the whole scene.

What the sign reveals

The Transfiguration reveals the true and eternal glory of Jesus, the glory he had with the Father before the world was and had veiled in taking our flesh. His other signs point beyond themselves to who he is; this one shows it directly. For a few moments the disciples saw with their eyes what faith confesses, that this carpenter from Nazareth is the radiant Son of God, the One in whom the fullness of God dwells. The shining is not borrowed light falling on him from outside, as it fell on Moses' face long ago. It rises from within him, for the glory is his own.

The Father's voice completes the revelation. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. The same words were spoken at Jesus' baptism, but now a command is added: hear him. Above Moses and Elijah, above the law and the prophets, the Son is the final word of God to whom all must listen. And the appearance of the two men matters. Luke tells us they spoke with Jesus of his coming departure at Jerusalem, that is, his death. So the glory and the cross are held together. The One who shines like the sun is the same One walking deliberately toward Calvary, and his suffering will not be a defeat but the very work the law and prophets foretold.

Its place in the Gospel

Matthew sets the Transfiguration at the hinge of his Gospel, just after Peter has confessed Jesus as the Christ and just after Jesus has first foretold his suffering. The disciples are reeling from the news that the Messiah must die. The Transfiguration is God's confirmation, given to steady them, that the road to the cross is the road of the true and glorious Son. Jesus had said that some standing there would see the kingdom coming with power, and six days later these three were given a glimpse of it, a preview of the glory that belongs to him and will one day be revealed to all.

The scene also gathers up the whole story of Scripture. Moses and Elijah, law and prophets, appear and then withdraw, and when the disciples lift their eyes they see Jesus only. That is Matthew's message in a picture. Everything that came before was preparation, and now it gives way to Christ alone. He charged them to tell no one the vision until the Son of man had risen from the dead, because it could only be rightly understood on the far side of the resurrection.

How it meets us

There are mountaintop moments in the life of faith when the presence of God becomes almost tangible, and like Peter we want to build shelters and stay. But the Transfiguration was given for the valley, not the summit. The three were shown the glory of Jesus so that when they saw him bloodied and abandoned they might remember who he really was and not lose heart. We are given the same gift. When the way grows dark and the suffering of Christ, and our own, seems to contradict his glory, this vision assures us that the crucified One is the beloved Son, and that the darkness is not the whole truth about him.

The heart of what this scene asks of us is caught in three words from the cloud: hear ye him. Not merely admire him, not add him to a list of great teachers as Peter almost did, but listen to him above every other voice. When we are overwhelmed and fall on our faces, it is his touch and his word that raise us, arise, and be not afraid. He does not leave us prostrate in fear before the glory of God. He comes down the mountain with us and walks the ordinary road, and he asks only that we keep listening to him as the final word of the Father.

Where it points

The Transfiguration points straight to the cross and the resurrection, and it cannot be understood apart from them. Jesus forbade the disciples to speak of it until he had risen, because the glory on the mountain and the shame of Calvary belong together. The One who shone like the sun would let that light be hidden again as he was lifted up to die, bearing our sin in darkness. The vision was a promise held in reserve, that the suffering Son was the glorious Son all along, and that death could not be the end for the One the Father called beloved.

On the third day the glory glimpsed on the mountain broke out of the tomb for good. The face that shone before three frightened men is the face of the risen Lord, and the resurrection is the Father's public and final vindication of the voice from the cloud. What the disciples saw for a moment, all who trust him will one day see forever, for he has promised that his people will share his glory and be changed into his likeness. You can meet him and begin to hear the beloved Son, and read of the day the veil was torn away for good at the resurrection.

Can these things really happen?

Many honest readers ask whether miracles can happen at all. Since the Enlightenment, some have argued that the laws of nature rule them out, that a report of a wonder is always less likely than a mistake or a legend. Christians answer that the laws of nature describe how the world normally runs; they do not forbid the God who made it from acting within it. A miracle is not nature breaking down but its Author drawing near. You do not have to settle that question before you read; you only have to read honestly and ask what best explains the witness before you. We look at this more fully in miracles and the laws of nature.

Frequently asked questions

What is the meaning of the Transfiguration?

It is a brief unveiling of Jesus' own eternal glory as the beloved Son of God, confirmed by the Father's voice from the cloud. Coming just after Jesus foretold his death, it assures the disciples that the road to the cross is the road of the glorious Son.

Where in the Bible is the Transfiguration?

It is recorded in Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36. It takes place on a high mountain roughly midway through Jesus' journey toward Jerusalem, witnessed by Peter, James, and John.

Why did Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus?

Moses represents the law and Elijah the prophets, and both point forward to Christ and find their fulfillment in him. Luke tells us they spoke with Jesus about his coming death at Jerusalem, joining his glory to his cross.