Matthew 17:2

“He was transformed before them.”

Matthew is reporting on an event that he did not personally participate in, when earth and heaven met, when Jesus spoke openly with Moses and Elijah, and they with him, on a high mountain, a most intimate and meaningful conversation, and how God’s voice from heaven rang through the skies.

My mind asks the meaning of this scene that has been called, “The Transfiguration.”  I want to know what Jesus wanted to show three of his most intimate disciples. It is one of the most dramatic moments recorded in the Scriptures.  What can we learn?

For one, the most obvious reason was so that Peter, James and John could see the over-arching redemptive plan of God and Jesus’ role in it.  If they had any doubt about the central role of Jesus in God’s plan, this scene must have certainly chased that doubt.

If Peter, James and John had any doubts about their friend, Jesus, the voice from heaven said it all, “This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.”  Moses and Elijah emphasized that point. Jesus was the center of it all.  Moses and Elijah might have something to contribute but Jesus was obviously the center of it all.

Jesus of Nazareth is (listen carefully) THE Son of God. We may well ask, are we not all God’s children? A case could be made for that. Even that thought is mystery of mysteries.

But, to grasp the truth that Jesus is not only God’s Son but the only one, leaves me speechless. If that is true, that brings everything into sharp focus.  Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the long-anticipated hope of salvation.  God almighty is pleased with him.  He is pleased that Jesus, in face of coming trials, never deviated from the path of divine obedience, no matter how difficult the path ahead appeared.  On that day on the mountaintop Jesus and all of heaven, including his Father, saw clearly what lay ahead. It shook the soul.  The Cross loomed huge.