The Transfiguration Of Jesus

Questions This Sermon Answers:

1. What is the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-13?

The Transfiguration is the event in which Jesus took Peter, James, and John "up on a high mountain by themselves" and "was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:1-2, NKJV). For a moment the eternal Son let His divine glory shine through His true humanity. The Reformed tradition reads it as a brief unveiling of the majesty Christ had all along, given to strengthen the disciples before the cross.

2. Why did Jesus' face shine like the sun?

His face shone because the glory of His divine nature, ordinarily veiled in His humanity, was permitted to break through. Scripture says, "His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:2, NKJV). This was not borrowed radiance, as with Moses on Sinai, but glory proper to the Son. The Westminster Confession (8.2) teaches that the eternal Son took human nature into union with Himself, so the One who shone is true God and true man in one person.

3. Why did Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus?

"And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him" (Matthew 17:3, NKJV). Moses represents the Law and Elijah the Prophets, and both testify to Christ. Luke records that they spoke of His "decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31, NKJV). Their presence shows that all of the Old Testament points forward to Christ and His saving work, and that He is the One in whom the Law and the Prophets find their fulfillment.

4. What did Peter mean by building three tabernacles?

Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4, NKJV). However well-meant, the proposal placed Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. The Father's interruption corrects this. Mark notes Peter "did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid" (Mark 9:6, NKJV). The scene teaches that Christ is not one teacher among equals but the Son above all.

5. What does "This is My beloved Son" mean?

From the cloud the Father declared, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" (Matthew 17:5, NKJV). This is the Father's own testimony to the deity and authority of the Son, echoing the words spoken at Jesus' baptism. The Reformed tradition hears here the supremacy of Christ over Moses and Elijah. The command "Hear Him" identifies Jesus as the Prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15, whose word must be obeyed above all others.

6. Why did the disciples fall on their faces in fear?

"And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid" (Matthew 17:6, NKJV). The voice of God and the manifest glory provoked holy fear, the right response of sinful creatures before the holiness of God. Yet Jesus "came and touched them and said, 'Arise, and do not be afraid'" (Matthew 17:7, NKJV). The same Christ whose glory terrifies also draws near to comfort, showing that in Him the holy God meets His people in mercy.

7. How does the Transfiguration prove the deity of Christ?

It displays Christ's divine glory shining from within, sets Him above the greatest figures of the Law and Prophets, and brings the Father's audible witness, "This is My beloved Son" (Matthew 17:5, NKJV). The Westminster Confession (8.2) confesses the Son as "very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father." The Transfiguration is a visible confirmation of that truth, a moment when His true and eternal majesty was briefly seen.

8. What does "Hear Him" teach about the supremacy of Christ?

The command "Hear Him" (Matthew 17:5, NKJV) places Christ's authority above Moses and Elijah, that is, above the Law and the Prophets. Moses had said God would raise up a Prophet "like me from your midst... Him you shall hear" (Deuteronomy 18:15, NKJV). The Father confirms Jesus as that final Prophet. The Reformed tradition affirms that Scripture finds its center and fulfillment in Christ, whose voice is the supreme authority for faith and life.

9. How is the Transfiguration a foretaste of Christ's coming glory?

The event previews the glory Christ now possesses and will display at His return. Peter later wrote that he "was an eyewitness of His majesty" on "the holy mountain" (2 Peter 1:16-18, NKJV). Jesus had just said some would "see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom" (Matthew 16:28, NKJV). For believers it is a pledge of hope, for those united to Christ will share in His glory, "that you also may be glorified together" (Romans 8:17, NKJV).

10. Why did Jesus speak of Elijah and John the Baptist afterward?

Coming down, the disciples asked why the scribes said Elijah must come first. Jesus answered that "Elijah has come already, and they did not know him" (Matthew 17:12, NKJV), and "the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist" (Matthew 17:13, NKJV). John came "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17, NKJV), fulfilling Malachi 4:5-6. His rejection foreshadows the suffering the Son of Man would endure before entering His glory.