Dr Paul Allen

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 manifestation...

Russian Orthodox icon of the Transfiguration (Theophanes the Greek, ca. 1408). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses , who were talking with Jesus. MARK 9:2–4 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 th...

The Transfiguration Lodovico Carracci 1594 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The main body of Peter 's second epistle begins with Peter's replies to several objections to his eschatological doctrine (1:16–21). The first objection apparently raised by the false teachers is that Peter's eschatological teaching concerning the coming of Christ and of judgment is merely a myth (vv. 16–18). Peter assures his readers that the apostles did not follow cleverly devised myths, but were eyewitnesses of Christ's majesty. At the Transfiguration of Jesus , they were even witnesses to a foretaste of the glory to be revealed at the Second Advent (vv. 17–18). Peter also argues that the eschatological doctrine of the apostles is based on the writings of the Old Testament prophets (v. 19), men who spoke the very word of God (vv. 20–21). Peter introduces the main topic of his letter in 2:1–3a, explaining, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false...

Image via Wikipedia "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter , James , and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." ( Matthew 17:1-2 )   This remarkable transfiguration of Christ was shown to the three disciples so that they could actually "see |Him| coming in his kingdom" ( Matthew 16:28 ), as He will do someday when He returns to earth "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" ( Matthew 24:30 ). This would ever afterward be an unforgettable experience which would strengthen the disciples for their critical future ministry.   James would become the first martyr, but his brother, John, would survive to bear the testimony far and wide for almost seventy more years. "And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father" ( John 1:14 ). Peter also wrote of the amazing event: "For...