Amy C Walters

The Transfiguration | Luke 9:28-36

The story of the Transfiguration can be rather mysterious. While Jesus is on a mountaintop praying, his face changes and he begins to glow! Looking at a few Old Testament passages connects Jesus’ shining glory to God’s presence.

For a long time, this story has baffled me. I knew it was important, but I didn’t really understand why. It seems very foreign to us, this mountaintop experience, a cloud, Jesus glowing, two dead people appearing with him. What is going on? 

The story starts off with, “Eight days after Jesus said this.” Said what? This story is connected to the things that have happened so far in Luke 9. The chapter starts with Jesus sending out the 12 disciples to preach in the villages and do miracles (Luke 9:1-6). 

Then in verses 7-9, Herod shows curiosity about who Jesus is. People around him respond that some say Jesus was John the Baptist (whom Herod had beheaded), some say Elijah, and others say another one of the prophets.

Then we have the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 (Luke 9:10-17), followed by Peter’s confession of Christ (Luke 9:18-20). Jesus is praying, and he asks his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And their answer was very similar to what Herod was told.

Then Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter says, “You are the Christ of God.” Jesus affirms that confession, and then he goes on to explain more of what that means.

So it is in light of these statements about who Jesus is, that we find this mountaintop experience. 

Jesus goes to the mountain, taking three of his disciples–Peter, the one who made that confession, and John and James. And they’re up there on the mountain, and Jesus is praying. But the disciples are sleepy.

As Jesus is praying, he starts to change. It’s almost like Luke doesn’t have the words to describe what’s happening. He says, “The appearance of his face was altered,” and Jesus’ clothing becomes “dazzling white.” 

Then two other people appear with him, Moses and Elijah, two vitally important prophets in Israel’s history from long ago, representing the law and the prophets. They are also described as appearing in glorious splendor. And they are talking with Jesus.

The disciples are finally fully awake. And when they wake up, it says that they see Jesus in his glory. And that seems to be the main point of this story, and our key truth for today, that Jesus is glorious. Now, it might be easy to conclude that’s the main point, but we often struggle with knowing how that should impact us. We have a hard time grasping what Jesus’ glory means. 

Maybe we think of glory as fame, being known and recognized by a lot of people. But glory is something very different here. 

If we look back at a few key passages in the Old Testament, I think that’ll help us understand the importance of this revelation of Jesus’ glory on the mountaintop. You see, when God wanted to make his presence known among his people, he would often appear as a cloud or as a bright light, because it was impossible to look at God and live. God’s glory was so overwhelming and incredible and great that if anyone saw God, they would die. 

When God is leading the Israelites out of Egypt, during the day he appears as a pillar of cloud to guide, shield, protect, and shade them. At night, he appears as a pillar of fire to light their way and give them warmth and safety (Exodus 13:21). 

When God gives Israel the law in Exodus 33 and 34, Moses meets with him up on Mount Sinai, and a cloud covers the top of the mountain. The Israelites down below grow tired of waiting for Moses so they create a golden calf and worship it. 

This breaks God’s heart and he is angry with the people. But Moses mediates for them and then asks to see God’s glory. “And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:21-23). 

Just seeing God’s back is enough to change Moses forever. From that point on, Moses’ face glows. The glow fades over the years, but initially, it’s so bright that he has to wear a veil over his face so that people can look at him. 

Moses is also up on Mount Sinai for 40 days without food, water, or sleep because God’s presence and glory sustain him. 

Another OT example of God’s glory is in Exodus 40 when Israel erects the tabernacle. God’s glory descends on it like a cloud. When it’s time for the Israelites to move, the cloud is taken up and moves, and the Israelites follow that cloud. 

So what do we learn from these Old Testament examples of God’s glory and presence? For one thing, Moses did not want to go anywhere that the cloud–God’s presence–was not. He was desperate for God’s presence. 

Moses was sustained by God’s presence and was changed by it. Others could see the reflection of God’s glory on Moses’ face. And God’s glory was a visible representation of his presence and his greatness and his power.

Even in the New Testament, we have similar stories. At Advent, the veil is pulled back just a tiny bit when the angels appear to the shepherds. They light up the night sky singing glory to God in the highest (Luke 2:8-20)! 

And now we’re in this story, on this mountain. The three disciples get a chance to see the glory that has been there all along, but has just been veiled in his humanity. Because Jesus is God’s glory. He is the visible manifestation of God’s majesty and power and presence right there on earth. 

The disciples, too, are forever changed by this revelation. Even though they didn’t immediately tell anyone what had happened. But later on, Peter writes about this experience. In 2 Peter 1:17-18, Peter writes about being an eyewitness of Jesus’ majesty and how the voice spoke from the cloud confirming who Jesus was. For Peter, that was a crucial moment and something he looked back on to remind himself that this is really true, that Jesus is the chosen one of God.

So in this story, we get an answer to the questions that are swirling around: Who is Jesus? He is glorious. He is the glory of God, the representative of God on earth. He is the chosen one.