While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
Jesus was revealed to be the Son of man from the prophecy of Daniel, dazzling with the brightness of the Ancient One, who received from him dominion, glory, and kingdom that would never be taken away or destroyed. Peter testified to the significance of this moment for him when he wrote, "we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty". They saw Jesus receive honor and glory from God the Father, glory that the Father was giving the Son from all eternity, now bestowed in time, along with the words, "This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased".
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
The face of Moses shone with glory after he conversed with God on Mount Sinai. But Jesus did not merely reflect the light of another. Rather he was radiant with glory which came from within, that he himself possessed. Moses and Elijah appeared, not to stand alongside Jesus as his equals, but to defer to him and bear witness to his arrival as his forerunners as those who had prepared for his coming, since, "[t]o him all the prophets bear witness" (see Acts 10:43). Though Moses had famously led the exodus of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land it was actually Jesus who would lead the true exodus from slavery to sin and death to freedom and the resurrection to eternal life. This was what "many prophets and righteous people longed to see" and to hear but did not see or hear (see Matthew 13:17). But as representatives of the Law and the prophets Moses and Elijah were privileged to bear witness to it then on Mount Tabor as the veil separating heaven and earth was briefly pulled back.
As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is good that we are here;
let us make three tents,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
To Peter the revelation of that glory felt like something he wanted to savor as long as possible. What more was needed, after all? Couldn't they just stay there in that place savoring the glory of the revelation of Jesus, enjoying the consolation of seeing with their eyes that which had previously only been known by faith? But consolations, even the greatest of consolations, are not destinations, not while the exodus journey of our mortal lives continues. They give us strength for the journey, and fortify our hearts so that when the hour of suffering comes and it seems that the powers of darkness are ascendant we can cling to the consolations for strength. They can provide an anchor for us to which we can return even if we stumble and fail in our walk of discipleship as Peter and the others did. But for this to happen we cannot treat them as trivial or be ready to forget them and move on. They are exactly the sorts of things that we must treasure in our hearts if that are to retain their power to inspire and motivate us. We can't always speak about them with others, since sometimes they will seem too disconnected from reality before the resurrection for others to appreciate. But we must at least remember them in our thanksgiving to God.
While he was still speaking,
a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,
and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
Perhaps we haven't experienced a Mount Tabor type event in our own lives yet. Obviously to receive one isn't something we can provoke or precipitate. But we should be open to the idea that Jesus could at any moment want to show us more truly who he is, that his Father would delight to reveal his Son more fully to us. The Transfiguration is proof the consolation and revelation, though not the whole story, are at least part of the plan, to be welcomed and celebrated, in order that we might live our own walk as disciples with all of the fervor and strength God intends for us.
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