Matthew 17:5

“This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.  Listen to him.”

I try to place myself in the shoes of the disciples. Is what they are seeing real?  Three quite ordinary fishermen of Galilee, cousins, see Moses and Elijah!  Hadn’t Moses died about 1,700 years before that and Elijah about 900 years before?

Time collapsed on that mountaintop into one wondrous moment. It was a holy “now.”  Not only had time collapsed but the vail that separates heaven and earth was ripped apart. In a sense, Peter, James and John had their feet on the soil of Palestine and at that same time their heads in another world – in the heavenlies, in eternity itself.  Past met future.   Time met eternity.  Heaven met earth.  The living met the hallowed dead.  Law (as in Moses) met miracle worker (as in Elijah.)  Old testament became New Testament.

I believe this is one of the most dramatic scenes in all of Scriptures. Peter must have thought so as he suggested preserving the scene in physical form, by building houses, one for Moses, one for Elijah, one for their friend, Jesus, none for himself.

When I think about the meaning of all this I recall that Moses represents the Law and nation and Elijah represents spiritual power and authority.  They were two revered historical figures that all Jews knew very well.  I suppose, to the disciples, this was such a dramatic scene that they almost forgot about the Greatest of All, Jesus, who was in the midst of the scene.  I imagine the disciples were so overwhelmed by seeing Moses and Elijah that they almost forgot their friend, Jesus.

In the excitement of it all, God spoke. He spoke of one thing only, Jesus.  God certainly spoke through Moses in his day and Elijah in his.  But now, just days before the crucifixion God spoke not of law and miracles – but of Jesus, his Son, the center of attention in heaven and on the earth.

As God spoke a cloud descended to cover the scene.  God’s concluding word in the darkness clarified it all – “Listen to him.”  As the cloud lifted Moses and Elijah were gone. Jesus, alone, stood there shining in divine glory.  That scene ushered in a new day, the day of the Kingdom of our Christ, the Kingdom of God on the earth.

I do well to live in the reality of this revelation, every day and forever.