What is a theophany?
Transfiguration, 1520, unfinished at his death. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 17:1–8 “He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” ( v. 2 ). The Holy Spirit enabled Peter to confess Jesus as the Messiah, but this is not the only revelation the apostle received while he and the other disciples traveled with Christ in and around Caesarea Philippi . As today’s passage indicates, Peter, along with James and John, was privileged to witness our Lord ’s transfigured glory only days after Peter’s great confession ( Matt. 16:13 – 17:8 ). As background to the transfiguration, we must consider the many theophanies recorded in sacred Scripture. Our English term theophany finds its roots in the Greek word for “God” ( theos ) and the Greek verb “to appear” ( phainein ); thus, we can see that theophany basically means “an appearance of God.” Theophanies were visible manifestations of the Creator and were usu