The Transfiguration - Matthew 17

[HisHomeMaker]

The Transfiguration
Matthew 17 - Passage Lookup - The Message - BibleGateway.com

I'm struggling with these questions:

What was there about the transfiguration appearances that seemed to Peter to confirm his (false) conceptions?

Why might it have been important for Peter to see a vision of Elijah?

 

[HisHomeMaker]

Is there any Old Testament prophecy connected with this event?

 

[n2thelight]

The Transfiguration
Matthew 17 - Passage[bless and do not curse]Lookup - The Message - BibleGateway.com

I'm struggling with these questions:

What was there about the transfiguration appearances that seemed to Peter to confirm his (false) conceptions?

Why might it have been important for Peter to see a vision of Elijah?

Hope this helps

Matthew 17:2 "And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light."

Jesus Christ's transfiguration let these three disciples know that through the resurrection the flesh body will be transfigured, rather then left. These three have witnessed before the fact that Christ's body will be transfigured. Meaning that the flesh shall not be left behind, whereby the unbelievers could say, He didn't go anywhere. There is the flesh.

Every time a person dies there is an immediate removal of the soul back to the Heavenly Father, and the flesh is left to rot. The unbeliever simply can't understand that because the body is laying there on the slab. The persons beautiful spiritual body returns to God that gave it.

In this case, there had to be a transfiguration to stop the talk, and have witnesses to the fact, so no one could deny that He arose.

Matthew 17:3 "And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him."

Many teach that these two men that were with Christ have been in the grave for quite some time. All souls, including Satan himself, are with God at this time awaiting judgment, or awaiting to be taught in the millennium age. Satan's evil spirit is on earth, but he is the accuser before the throne in heaven. Revelation 12:7-9 tells us that this is a war that will take place, and that war will end with Michael and his angels casting Satan and his angels to the earth. When Satan comes it will mark the end of this earth age, with the great deception of the tribulation.

Why would Jesus appear with Moses and Elias? Moses was the law giver. The law that God gave mankind for the sake of living with one another on earth. It was the yardstick to show man that he was not perfect. When Christ dies on the cross, it will pay the price for man's transgressing of the law.

These two, Moses and Elias [Elijah] were mentioned in the last three verses in the Old Testament.
Malachi 4:4-6; "Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. [4] Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:" [5] And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." [6]

Moses stood for the law, and his presence represents those to be raised from the dead. This will occur when Christ is resurrected and brings the souls along with Him to heaven.

Christ's transfigured body was symbolic of that Second Advent. What Jesus is saying to the disciples is that this is the First Advent, these events with Moses and Elijah present do not take place until the end of the sixth dispensation. That is when the hearts of the fathers are turned the children, and the children to the fathers. The "fathers", two of them are Jesus Christ and Satan, and the time is called the Great Tribulation [Deception]. Jesus Christ is the Father of His own, and Satan is the father of his own seed, the Kenites.

So these disciples watched as these three stood in their supernatural bodies, showing that Christ was supernatural. This shows the body that Christ would posses after the crucifixion, and after the tomb. Jesus allowed this time of the transfiguration to happen, so people would not run around saying that Christ did not rise from the tomb. He did it in this manner to where there would be no doubt to where His body was. It was changed.

Matthew 17:4 "Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."

Peter watched this supernatural event and he missed the whole point, the first thing Peter wanted to do was to broadcast the event. Peter still doesn't know here that the only reason he was brought was to be a witness to the transforming of Christ's body, following the resurrection.



http://www.theseason.org/matthew/matthew17.htmhttp://www.theseason.org/matthew/matthew17.htm

 

[dcyates]

The Transfiguration
Matthew 17 - Passage[bless and do not curse]Lookup - The Message - BibleGateway.com

I'm struggling with these questions:

What was there about the transfiguration appearances that seemed to Peter to confirm his (false) conceptions?

Why might it have been important for Peter to see a vision of Elijah?

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I don't know if this will help, but it's from a paper I wrote a couple years back on this very subject.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]With regard to Jesus' transfiguration (Matt 17.1-13//Mark 9.2-13//Luke 9.28-36), I think the use of the word ἔξοδος (exodos; Luke 9.31) should tip the reader off as to the significance of certain exodus events regarding this narrative; the number of echoes between this and Israel's Sinai experience seems undeniable. There's the mountain setting (Exod 24.12- 15), the mention of "six days" (Exod 24.16), Moses and Jesus both taking three people along to accompany them (Exod 24.1-9; although the Exodus account mentions three specific individuals accompanying Moses: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who are paralleled by Jesus' entourage of Peter, James and John—and, interestingly, in each instance two of the three people are brothers—it should be noted that along with them were seventy chosen elders to represent the nation of Israel as a whole), both Moses' and Jesus' faces shining (Exod 34.29-35; Matt 17.2 ) and the dazzling appearance of Jesus' clothes (cf. T. Levi 4.3; T. Jud. 24.1; T. Zeb. 9.8, where we find that the awaited Messiah will radiate like the sun and is described as "the light" and "son of righteousness" in whom "will be found no sin"), Peter's otherwise peculiar suggestion concerning their setting up σκηνάς (skēnas; 'tents'), the disciples' fearful response (Exod 34.30), a voice from the "overshadowing cloud" (Exod 24.16; cf. 40.35), the descent back down the mountain to be met by a γενεὰ ἄπιστος (genea apistos; 'unfaithful generation', Mark 9.19; Deut 32.20 LXX), and finally, the fact that the only mountain on which God spoke from a cloud with either Moses or Elijah was Sinai. Taken all together, and considering this is the second instance in the Synoptic Gospels where we find the divine voice attesting to Jesus' status in relation to YHWH (the first being at Jesus' baptism), where the words used are virtually identical to each other (i.e. "This is my beloved Son"), if Jesus' baptism reflects a new exodus-style crossing of the yam sûph, then it would seem Jesus' transfiguration stands as a new Sinai.[/FONT]

 

[sensational]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I don't know if this will help, but it's from a paper I wrote a couple years back on this very subject.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]With regard to Jesus' transfiguration (Matt 17.1-13//Mark 9.2-13//Luke 9.28-36), I think the use of the word ἔξοδος (exodos; Luke 9.31) should tip the reader off as to the significance of certain exodus events regarding this narrative; the number of echoes between this and Israel's Sinai experience seems undeniable. There's the mountain setting (Exod 24.12- 15), the mention of "six days" (Exod 24.16), Moses and Jesus both taking three people along to accompany them (Exod 24.1-9; although the Exodus account mentions three specific individuals accompanying Moses: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who are paralleled by Jesus' entourage of Peter, James and John—and, interestingly, in each instance two of the three people are brothers—it should be noted that along with them were seventy chosen elders to represent the nation of Israel as a whole), both Moses' and Jesus' faces shining (Exod 34.29-35; Matt 17.2 ) and the dazzling appearance of Jesus' clothes (cf. T. Levi 4.3; T. Jud. 24.1; T. Zeb. 9.8, where we find that the awaited Messiah will radiate like the sun and is described as "the light" and "son of righteousness" in whom "will be found no sin"), Peter's otherwise peculiar suggestion concerning their setting up σκηνάς (skēnas; 'tents'), the disciples' fearful response (Exod 34.30), a voice from the "overshadowing cloud" (Exod 24.16; cf. 40.35), the descent back down the mountain to be met by a γενεὰ ἄπιστος (genea apistos; 'unfaithful generation', Mark 9.19; Deut 32.20 LXX), and finally, the fact that the only mountain on which God spoke from a cloud with either Moses or Elijah was Sinai. Taken all together, and considering this is the second instance in the Synoptic Gospels where we find the divine voice attesting to Jesus' status in relation to YHWH (the first being at Jesus' baptism), where the words used are virtually identical to each other (i.e. "This is my beloved Son"), if Jesus' baptism reflects a new exodus-style crossing of the yam sûph, then it would seem Jesus' transfiguration stands as a new Sinai.[/FONT]

As in the infancy narratives it seems the author is showing OT parallels. Reflecting on the significance of who Jesus is.

 

[dcyates]

As in the infancy narratives it seems the author is showing OT parallels. Reflecting on the significance of who Jesus is.

Right.
But that isn't to say it didn't happen.

 

[granpa]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I don't know if this will help, but it's from a paper I wrote a couple years back on this very subject.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]With regard to Jesus' transfiguration (Matt 17.1-13//Mark 9.2-13//Luke 9.28-36), I think the use of the word ἔξοδος (exodos; Luke 9.31) should tip the reader off as to the significance of certain exodus events regarding this narrative; the number of echoes between this and Israel's Sinai experience seems undeniable. There's the mountain setting (Exod 24.12- 15), the mention of "six days" (Exod 24.16), Moses and Jesus both taking three people along to accompany them (Exod 24.1-9; although the Exodus account mentions three specific individuals accompanying Moses: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who are paralleled by Jesus' entourage of Peter, James and John—and, interestingly, in each instance two of the three people are brothers—it should be noted that along with them were seventy chosen elders to represent the nation of Israel as a whole), both Moses' and Jesus' faces shining (Exod 34.29-35; Matt 17.2 ) and the dazzling appearance of Jesus' clothes (cf. T. Levi 4.3; T. Jud. 24.1; T. Zeb. 9.8, where we find that the awaited Messiah will radiate like the sun and is described as "the light" and "son of righteousness" in whom "will be found no sin"), Peter's otherwise peculiar suggestion concerning their setting up σκηνάς (skēnas; 'tents'), the disciples' fearful response (Exod 34.30), a voice from the "overshadowing cloud" (Exod 24.16; cf. 40.35), the descent back down the mountain to be met by a γενεὰ ἄπιστος (genea apistos; 'unfaithful generation', Mark 9.19; Deut 32.20 LXX), and finally, the fact that the only mountain on which God spoke from a cloud with either Moses or Elijah was Sinai. Taken all together, and considering this is the second instance in the Synoptic Gospels where we find the divine voice attesting to Jesus' status in relation to YHWH (the first being at Jesus' baptism), where the words used are virtually identical to each other (i.e. "This is my beloved Son"), if Jesus' baptism reflects a new exodus-style crossing of the yam sûph, then it would seem Jesus' transfiguration stands as a new Sinai.[/FONT]

It can also be compared to the vision of revelation

 

[GloriousWords]

Are you familiar with something in the Bible representing a greater fulfillment? Its usually referred to as the system of type/anti-type.

Example:

The sacrificial lambs and the Spotless Lamb of God. (1 Peter 1:19, John 1:29)

Christ said that there were some standing with Him who would not see of death until they saw the Son of Man coming in glory. Jesus' transfiguration was a representation of the Second Coming. Peter and many of the Jews of his day were sadly mistaken in their beliefs. They believed that Jesus would establish His kingdom upon the earth and reign with majesty and glory and exalt the nation of Israel. This can be seen in their statements and questions.

Example:

Acts 1:6 "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"

The disciples maintained some of their flawed views even after the resurrection.

For Peter to see Elijah and Moses standing with Christ only would have confirmed his mistaken beliefs. Elijah and Moses were national heroes. Moses was the great law giver and Elijah you could say was the greatest prophet the nation had ever seen. He was translated directly to heaven.

If we continue with the reasoning that the transfiguration represented the Second Coming then we have a mold set up here. We have Christ in glory. We have Elijah representing the saints who will be taken to heaven alive. We have Moses representing those who have died in Christ who will also be taken to heaven at the second coming.

*Humbly written...God Bless*