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An exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change in form or appearance.

the-transfiguration-article

The LORD Jesus transfigured before three of His disciples on the mountain by the presence of Moses and Elijah. It is an event that has not and will not happen again in the history of all mankind. There will be no one on earth that can transfigure into God before people’s eyes, so they would see him with the naked eye in a concrete physical way; neither in a dream nor in a vision. Only the LORD Jesus is capable of that, and He is still able to manifest Himself to His loved ones whenever He wills and to whomever He chooses.

The Transfiguration has become a feast five hundred years after the resurrection of the LORD Jesus, as it was determined by the Catholic Church, and then followed by the Orthodox Church. Today, we find that these denominations celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration on different days. The Greek Orthodox and the Catholics celebrate on the 6th of August, while the Copts celebrate on the 19th of August, and if you ask them about this difference, they will answer that the celebration should be forty days before the Crucifixion. But what does the Crucifixion have to do with August or September?
They say that the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is in September, but what does the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross have to do with September if the Crucifixion of the LORD was on Easter, i.e. approximately in April? They do not know, so we should not be concerned with feasts and rituals, but rather with the significance and essence of the Transfiguration.

The Transfiguration was mentioned in (Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9). The LORD Jesus foretold His disciples that He would be delivered into the hands of the priests, crucified, buried, and then raised. Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to pray alone with them where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became shining, exceedingly white such as no fuller on earth can whiten them. Suddenly the prophets Moses and Elijah appeared.

In short, this incident was a result of dozens of questions:
Why did the LORD transfigure? Why, of all the prophets of the Old Testament, did the prophets Moses and Elijah specifically appear? Why there were only three disciples and not all of them? Why Peter, James and John exactly?

Why did the LORD transfigure?
This incident shows the divinity of the LORD Jesus Christ, and His ability to manifest Himself to His followers, as He proved to them that He is God even before the Resurrection. If it were not for the transfiguration, it would have been possible for many heresies to claim that Christ became God after the Resurrection, but before that, he was a normal human being. After the transfiguration, no one can deny the divinity of Christ.
Another great thing that the transfiguration shows, which is that six days before the Crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples that He would be crucified, taken from them, buried and then resurrected. The concept of “resurrection after death” was basically a very strange notion for the disciples, and the idea that they will lose Him, was also catastrophic for them. Six days later, He showed them His glory as a God so they, along with the whole world, would know that the LORD Jesus Christ was not crucified against His will, but that the crucifixion was His choice. For 2000 years, Satan and his followers have been repeating the same thing, such as: (Where is His father and why wouldn’t He help Him? What could He do? How is He the Son of God and yet was crucified?)
He was Crucified because He wanted to. His will is to be crucified and to offer himself as redemption for humanity to reconcile us again with the God the Father and to bring us back to the bosom of grace.

Why did He take with Him three of the disciples?
It was stated in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 19:15) that at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall the matter be established, so these three are the witnesses, before everyone, to what they saw of Christ’s divinity before crucifixion.
Why are Peter, James and John specifically without the rest of the disciples?
It was not mentioned why these three specifically, but we can deduce the reason from several events, for example, when the dead girl was raised, the LORD Jesus permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, John and the girl’s parents (Mark 5:37). There are also many places in the Holy Bible where we find Peter, James and John with the LORD (Mark 14:33), and sometimes Andrew too (Mark 13:3)
In order to know why these three in particular, we must examine their personalities. There are things that all the believers in the LORD Jesus have in common, and which these three figures represent:

Peter, the loving and the very zealous for the LORD, the one who is ready for the martyrdom, the prepared sword, word and service, yet he had sinned six days earlier when the LORD foretold them of His crucifixion; Peter rebuked the LORD, so He said to him: “Get thee behind me, Satan” (Mark 8:33)
Here is the answer for anyone who wonders: “Is it possible for the LORD to manifest to me?”
Yes. He manifested Himself to Peter even after Peter had sinned. There are many mistakes we make unintentionally out of our great love for the LORD, poor choice of words or wrong way of praying, but the LORD knows exactly who loves Him, who adores Him, and who is really ready to die in His way.

James; he had come with his brother John to the LORD shortly before:
Mark 10:37 “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.”
James also represents some believers who love the LORD, but they want to be favored in certain ways over the others. Those too are loved by the LORD, for He knows that when necessary they will be like James who was one of the first martyrs of Christianity; James was killed with the sword (Acts 12:2). He remained steadfast till the end, knowing for whose name he was to be martyred, and realizing the wreath of victory and the Kingdom that are awaiting for him. How many of us there are, who love the LORD but also seek for gains sometimes, however at the end they are ready to die for the name of the LORD Jesus Christ asking only for His satisfaction and His Kingdom.
John, also called the beloved, is the same person who leaned back on Jesus’ breast the night of the Supper (John 13:25).

We can see that those three had things in common:
1- The absolute faith
2- The absolute dependence
3- The complete trust in the LORD
4- The fervent testimony
5- The willingness to be martyred for the name of the LORD Jesus Christ.

We do not know if the rest of the disciples were like Peter, James and John, but we know that after the Resurrection they all became apostles of the LORD.
Add to that an important reason: Could all the disciples maintain the responsibility? For the glory of the LORD God was by hiding what happened, therefore the LORD had asked them not to tell anyone till after His resurrection.
We do not know if the rest of the disciples could do that. If Judas was present then, he might have delivered the LORD before the time.

Add to it, that the LORD alone knows which one of them his mind can withstand seeing the Transfiguration without getting afflicted with vanity; as it is possible for Satan to inflate the person with vanity because he has seen the LORD with his own eyes.

Why Elijah and Moses?
Why not Enoch or Jeremiah or Daniel? As there were many prophets in the Old Testament.

The answer:
There are also things in common between Moses and Elijah, they symbolize all the prophets and believers who had fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection in the LORD Jesus Christ.

Both Moses and Elijah are among the most prominent and powerful prophets of the Old Testament, and they have great intercession with the LORD God.
Moses talked with the LORD God, divided the sea and performed many miracles (Exodus).
As for Prophet Elijah, no prophet like him has come till this day. He also has great intercession with the LORD God, as he was able with a word to stop the rain for three years, and when he wanted it to rain, it rained. He made fire come down from the heaven and consume 50 people, up to resurrecting a dead person; he is too a great prophet (The First Book of Kings).

We notice that in the Old Testament both of them had saved the people of the LORD from false worship. Moses had saved the people from the hand of Pharaoh and from worshiping the Egyptian gods. And Elijah had saved the people from worshiping Baal and also from the prophets and priests of Baal.

There is a difference that makes them represent two types of believers. Moses was known to be very meek, while Elijah was very zealous like a burning fire.

The two prophets brought together the entire Old Testament. The prophet Moses represents “the law”, and the prophet Elijah represents “the prophets”.

Let’s examine the scene of the Transfiguration and notice:
1- The divinity of the LORD Jesus Christ was revealed, and the matter was settled. No one was able to say that: “He is a human being with the Holy Spirit upon him” or “he is a prophet through whom the Holy Spirit works.”
He manifested Himself as the God of the Old and New Testaments, to Moses and Elijah (the Old Testament) and the disciples (the New Testament). As if He had combined them both to say that He is the LORD of the two Testaments together, announcing the completion of the Old Testament in the New Testament, and indicating that the prophecies of the Old Testament about Him have been fulfilled.
2- He combined the prophets of the Old Testament (the deceased) with the apostles of the New Testament (the living) to say: I am the LORD of the living and the dead.
3- The filiation of Christ to the Father:

(Matthew 17:4) Peter suggested to make tabernacles (tents) for the LORD and His guests, just as the Jews used to do in the Feast of Tabernacles; that is, the Tabernacle of Congregation in which the LORD was meeting with the people coming out of Egypt. Peter wanted to make tabernacles as a way of honoring the guests, and while he was talking a cloud overshadowed them, as a sign that the booths and the greater shade come from above from the LORD, and we are all waiting for the everlasting habitation to gather us all. During the Transfiguration, everyone entered the cloud, and the voice of God the Father came from the cloud saying,
Matthew 17:5 “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
As if the LORD God is telling us through this whole scene that He does not want earthly booths nor temples made with hands, for He is the one who can shade us, and He only asks us to listen to His beloved Son, whom He sent. When we listen to the Son and follow Him, we will reach the Father, for Christ is the only way to salvation.

There are hundreds of miracles and events in the Holy Bible that prove the lordship and divinity of Christ, and on the top of them is the Transfiguration, which tells us that Christ is the LORD.

Why did Peter want to make tabernacles?
We read in Luke 9:33 “And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.”
Peter did not know what he was saying due to his fear of the power and greatness of the miracle that had happened. Such a thing happens with many believers, as when one of them sees the LORD he becomes like a young child, who stammers and does not know what to say.

Also what happened with Peter is that he liked to do something we all do: he wanted to make tabernacles for the LORD Jesus and his guests, Moses and Elijah. How many Christians believe that they can obtain the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the LORD God with material things they do; so you will find that who makes a temple in his house, or someone who puts statues, pictures, candles and incense, and another who repeats some physical movements. While from the miracle of Transfiguration we learn, that the LORD does not need the earthly tabernacles of Peter, as He does not need artifacts and temples, because the LORD’s temple is within us.

How does The LORD Jesus manifest Himself in our lives?
There is a very important thing that the Holy Spirit gave to the disciples and apostles in order to summarize it for us in the Holy Bible.
The Holy Bible tells us in (Matthew 17:1), that Jesus took the three disciples up into a high mountain (apart by themselves to pray).
This is the answer to whomever asks:
Why don’t the LORD Jesus Christ manifest to me? To whom does the LORD manifest? Does the LORD choose people over others?

We need to pray alone, that is, to separate ourselves from the world, as going up the mountain to meet the LORD means being separated from the earth. We have to separate ourselves from the earth to connect with the heaven and then the LORD will manifest to us.
So we learn from the Transfiguration incident, that it is up to you to decide your place among the children of the LORD according to the place of the LORD in your life, and how much you love Him.
Do you have Peter’s zeal? Are you ready to be cut off by the sword for His sake, like James? Do you follow Him with absolute love without any fear, down to crucifixion, like John?
When we answer these questions, then we have the right to ask for the LORD’s manifestation in our lives.

Aug / 7 / 2021