******************************
Jesus
often went apart to pray. Prayer was an important part of His life. When
praying, He often sought a time when He could have privacy. Cf. Matt. 14:23;
Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; Matt. 26:36ff.
On this
particular occasion, Jesus went up on a mountain to pray. With Him were Peter,
James, and John. These three apostles seem to be the most prominent or
frequently mentioned in the accounts of Jesus' life. Several times these three
played important roles when others are not mentioned. Cf. Matt. 26:36ff; Mark
5:37 (see also Mark 13:3).
As He
prayed, He was "transfigured" (Mark 9:2). This means His countenance
or facial appearance was changed. His clothes became white and glistening.
Cf. Ex.
34:29-35 where the skin of Moses' face shone when he had been in the presence
of God to receive the law (2 Cor. 3:7-18; cf. Acts 6:15). This was a miracle,
which surely proved God was with and working through the one whose appearance
was so altered. Perhaps it even symbolized that Jesus would be a law-giver as
Moses had been (Heb. 1:1,2).
As this
happened, there also appeared Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Moses was
the giver of the Old Testament law. Elijah was one of the most noteworthy prophets
of the Old Testament. When thinking of the Old Testament law, these are two of
the men Jews would think of first and with greatest prominence.
Moses
and Elijah discussed with Jesus about Jesus' coming death in Jerusalem. What
was the relationship between Jesus' death and the work of Moses and Elijah? His
death ended the force of the laws revealed and taught by these Old Testament
prophets (Col. 2:14-17). Note, however, that these men were not antagonistic
toward this event, but freely discussed it with Jesus. This shows that Jesus'
work was not a contradiction or a violation of what they had done, but rather a
fulfillment of it, completely in harmony with God's plan as revealed through
the Old Testament prophets.
Note
also that we have here one of many references showing that Jesus' death was
part of God's will, purposed and understood long before it happened. Moses and
Elijah here discussed it with Jesus. Evidently they understood the necessity of
it, and did not in any way view such an event as contrary to Old Testament
teaching.
Peter's proposal
*************
As on
other occasions, the disciples were sleeping while Jesus was praying (Matt.
26:40-45). Note how much we miss when we sleep through great opportunities for
spiritual work. This is a general tendency for all people, some worse than
others. We seek our own physical ease and leisure, when there are opportunities
for spiritual work.
However,
this does not mean the event here was simply a dream that did not physically
occur. When the disciples saw the event, they were "fully awake."
Then they saw the glory of Jesus' transfiguration, and they saw Moses and
Elijah with Him.
Moses
and Elijah, having talked with Jesus, were about to leave. But Peter suggested
they made three tabernacles (or dwelling places) -- one for each of these three
great teachers.
The
accounts says, however, that in saying this Peter did not know what he was
saying. Mark adds that he did not know what to answer, "for they were sore
afraid." Clearly, what Peter said here is a mistake. Had he fully
understand the significance of these events, he would not have said it.
Peter
was often the one to make impetuous mistakes. He seemed to always think
something had to be said or done, so without sufficient thought he proceeded.
He often made mistakes as a result, but sometimes he also said and did great
things as a result (Matt. 26:31-35,69-75; 1613-18; 14:22-33; John 20:1-10;
chap. 21; Acts 2,3,4).
What
was his mistake? Note that Moses and Elijah were leaving, but Peter introduced
his suggestion by saying, "It is good for us to be here." Likely this
means Peter realized some great historic event was occurring. It was wonderful
to have these 3 great teachers together. So let Moses and Elijah not leave (as
they were about to do). Rather, let them make three places where they can just
stay. The prophets would not have to leave, but could stay and people could
continue to benefit from their teaching. (Another possibility was that Peter
was suggesting three memorials, one to honor each of these men.)
Perhaps
Peter is here putting Moses and Elijah on an equal with Jesus -- each one gets
a dwelling place. In any case it is clear that he wanted to keep Moses and
Elijah here on earth -- don't let them go away, but we will continue to benefit
from their teachings. That this is not God's will is shown by God's reaction in
answer to Peter's mistake.
Even as
Peter was making this statement, God responded to it. A cloud overshadowed
them, causing the disciples to fear as they entered into it. Clouds had other
times indicated the presence of God (Ex. 13:21,22; 33:9,10).
Listen
to Jesus.
*************
A voice
spoke from this cloud, which was obviously the voice of God the Father, for it
referred to Jesus as His Son.
He
referred to Jesus as "My beloved Son." Matt. 17:5 adds "in whom
I am well pleased." This is what the Father had said from heaven when
Jesus was baptized (Matt. 3:17).
Then He
said to "hear Him." When the cloud and voice were gone, only Jesus was
left present -- i.e., Moses and Elijah were gone. What is the significance of
this?
God had
caused the change of Jesus' appearance and the presence of Moses and Elijah as
a sign that God was speaking through Jesus. This was a miraculous confirmation
of Jesus' work. God was speaking through Jesus, just as surely as He had in the
past spoken through prophets like Moses and Elijah (Heb. 1:1,2). It was the
purpose of all miracles to provide confirmation of a message as being from God
(Acts 2:22; Mark 16:20; Heb. 2:3,4; Acts 14:3; etc.). Having seen this, the
disciples should never again doubt that, when Jesus spoke, His words were from
God. Their later recounting of this event would likewise testify to others of
Jesus' approval by God (cf. 2 Peter 1:16-19).
However,
Peter went further than God intended; he assumed things that were not what God
meant for them to conclude. Peter appeared to be honoring Moses and Elijah
equally with Jesus, or at least to want to hold on to the authority of Moses
and Elijah as well as that of Jesus. This was not God's intent, so God removed
Moses and Elijah, left Jesus only, and emphasized that people should hear Him
-- Jesus, not Moses and Elijah.
Hence,
the lesson is that Jesus is a lawgiver and prophet, as surely as were Moses and
Elijah (Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 3:18-24; Col. 1:18; Phil. 2:5ff). But He is not a
giver and prophet of the same law as they were, nor is He on a par with them
(Matt. 16:13-18). God does not speak to us by the Old Testament prophets today,
but by His Son (Heb. 1:1,2). Today, we do not listen to the Old Testament law
and prophets, but to the gospel revealed by Jesus (Heb. 10:9,10; Col. 2:14-17;
Eph. 2:14; Gal. 3:26,27; Rom. 7:1-7; etc.).
The
mistake made by Peter was repeated by many later Jews, even in the church. They
wanted to hold to both Moses and Jesus -- both the Old Testament law and the
New Testament law (Gal. 2; 5:1-6; Acts 15). Many people today make the same
mistake. They want to bind the New Testament and also parts of the Old Testament.
But from the very first time this mistake was made, God corrected it by
removing Moses and Elijah and leaving Jesus only.
Jesus'
message is not in conflict with that of Moses and Elijah. But neither is it
just an addition to their words. His message replaces theirs. We do not follow
the commands given through Moses and the commands given through Jesus. Rather
we should listen to Jesus only. Moses and Elijah are removed. Their law is no
longer in effect.
For
further study I encourage the reader to go to www.gospelway.com/instruct/
and study our free online article about
the old law for today. You may also be interested in the free article about the
claims of Jesus.
