How was Jesus's glory revealed?
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| Russian Orthodox icon of the Transfiguration (Theophanes the Greek, ca. 1408). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Recorded in three of the Gospels (Matt. 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8; Luke 9:28–36), and evidently planned by Jesus for Peter, James, and John to see and, later, to testify to (Matt. 17:9; cf. 2 Pet. 1:16–18; John 1:14), the Transfiguration was a significant event in the revelation of Jesus’ deity.
The transformation that the divine-human Lord underwent as he prayed (Luke 9:29) was from one standpoint a taste of things to come: it was a momentary transition from the concealing of his divine glory that marked his days on earth to the revealing of that glory when he returns and we see him as he is. It was a transition too from humanity as it is in us now to what it will be on Resurrection Day (Phil. 3:20–21).
The bright light that shone from Jesus through his clothes as his face changed (Luke 9:29) was the glory intrinsic to him as the divine Son, “the radiance of God’s glory” (Heb. 1:3). The voice from the cloud confirmed the identification that the vision had already given.
The Transfiguration was also a significant event in the revelation of God’s kingdom (i.e., the kingdom of the Messiah, God’s prophesied Savior-King, in terms of whom God’s kingdom is defined). Moses and Elijah represented the law and the prophets’ witnessing to Jesus and being superseded by him. The “departure” (Greek: exodos) of which they and Jesus talked (Luke 9:31) must have been his death, resurrection, and ascension. This was not just a way of leaving this world but also a way of redeeming his people, just as the exodos from Egypt that Moses led was to redeem Israel from bondage.
Following the Transfiguration, Jesus veiled his glory and went down from the mount to minister once more, and in due course to suffer for our salvation. Comments F. B. Meyer: “The door through which Moses and Elijah had come stood open, and by it our Lord might have returned. But he could never, under those circumstance, have been the Saviour of mankind. He knew this, so he set his face toward Calvary.”
Packer, J. I. (1993). Concise theology: a guide to historic Christian beliefs. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
The bright light that shone from Jesus through his clothes as his face changed (Luke 9:29) was the glory intrinsic to him as the divine Son, “the radiance of God’s glory” (Heb. 1:3). The voice from the cloud confirmed the identification that the vision had already given.
The Transfiguration was also a significant event in the revelation of God’s kingdom (i.e., the kingdom of the Messiah, God’s prophesied Savior-King, in terms of whom God’s kingdom is defined). Moses and Elijah represented the law and the prophets’ witnessing to Jesus and being superseded by him. The “departure” (Greek: exodos) of which they and Jesus talked (Luke 9:31) must have been his death, resurrection, and ascension. This was not just a way of leaving this world but also a way of redeeming his people, just as the exodos from Egypt that Moses led was to redeem Israel from bondage.
Following the Transfiguration, Jesus veiled his glory and went down from the mount to minister once more, and in due course to suffer for our salvation. Comments F. B. Meyer: “The door through which Moses and Elijah had come stood open, and by it our Lord might have returned. But he could never, under those circumstance, have been the Saviour of mankind. He knew this, so he set his face toward Calvary.”
Packer, J. I. (1993). Concise theology: a guide to historic Christian beliefs. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
