WWUTT 2367 The Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36)

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In Luke chapter nine, we have Luke's account of the transfiguration, when Jesus took

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Peter, James, and John up on the mountain and was transfigured before them. Luke gives us a few more details to this when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible teaching podcast that we may be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the

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Lord. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here once again is

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel according to Luke, we are still in chapter nine, and today we read of the transfiguration,

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Luke's account of when Jesus was transfigured before his disciples, Peter, James, and John on the mountain.

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So let me begin reading here verses 28 to 36. Hear the word of the Lord. Now about eight days after these sayings, he took with him

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Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white.

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And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

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Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

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And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here.

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Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said.

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As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them. And they were afraid as they entered the cloud and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen one, listen to him.

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And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

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Now it's interesting that in Luke's account here, we have a few more details than what we got in Matthew chapter 17 and Mark chapter nine, the other two chapters where we read of the transfiguration.

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Luke is also trying to point to something significant, whereas Matthew and Mark seem to be just a narrative account, recapturing that moment when

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Peter, James and John saw the transfiguration of Christ before them. But with Luke, he's got some markers in here to direct the reader.

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And I'll show those things to you as we go here. So let's come back to verse 28. Let me first go back to verse 27.

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Now remember that in Luke chapter nine, Luke is going back and forth between Jesus instructing his disciples and then

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Jesus revealing something about himself to his disciples. Yesterday we read Jesus telling his disciples to take up a cross and follow him.

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So that was obviously an instruction to his disciples. And in this section, we have Jesus being transfigured before them.

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So this is Christ revealing something about himself to his disciples. But in yesterday's instruction, in the exhortation that he gave to the disciples, we read in verse 27,

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Jesus say to them, but I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

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Now, Matthew and Mark also record Jesus saying that right before the transfiguration.

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And there are all kinds of teachers out there, at least they'll claim to be teachers, even just general skeptics and scoffers who will take a verse like this,

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Luke 9 27. And they will say, see Jesus thought that he was going to be returning during the disciples lifetime.

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So he was saying to the disciples that the return of Christ was gonna happen. They were going to see him. There was gonna be that rapture and the whole thing, however it is that we picture that with the return of Christ.

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And so Jesus was wrong even about his own return. There are some standing here who won't taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

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And yet the kingdom of God did not come in their lifetime. But it's very obvious in the placement of this statement in all three gospel accounts that what

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Jesus was talking about was his transfiguration. Now, I think it was more than that too. I think

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I mentioned this when we were in Mark, but Jesus is also pointing to the fact that they're going to see him die and rise again because he just talked about that.

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He charged them not to tell anyone that he was the Christ and verse 22 saying, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

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So they would witness that, they would see that. Jesus being crucified and he says, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

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Jesus rising from the dead, you've got the Holy Spirit coming, the gospel going forth, and then people coming to salvation as a result of the preaching of the gospel, the kingdom of God is expanding.

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And then John would have the privilege of even seeing the revelation of Christ. That's the book of Revelation.

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So he sees how all of this will wrap up and be summarized in redemptive history and rights of that.

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He's the one who's given the pen to write of the revelation of those things that are to come.

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So John even got to see all of that, but this really begins with Jesus being transfigured before them so that they would see that he is what

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Peter just professed. So Jesus, of course, congratulates

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Peter for saying that he is the Christ. That's not in Luke's account, that would be in Matthew's, but then

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Jesus even reveals himself to them in this very supernatural way.

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So they see and know this is the one by whom the kingdom of God is coming.

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So that statement is being fulfilled even at the transfiguration, not fully fulfilled, but we certainly see the beginning of its fulfillment in that Jesus reveals himself in this way.

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So verse 28 now, now let's get to verse 28. About eight days after these sayings, he took with him

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Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. Now we have two details in just this verse that's different than what we read in Matthew and Mark.

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First of all, Luke says that it was eight days after these sayings.

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Do you remember what Matthew and Mark said? They both said it was six days later.

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Well, that's quite a difference. You're talking about a difference of two days here. Why did they say six days?

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And Luke is saying eight days. Well, notice that he gives it as kind of an estimate sort of a thing.

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Matthew and Mark specifically said it was six days later. Luke says about eight days later.

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So he doesn't necessarily pin it on exactly eight days. And you can fit eight days into Matthew and Mark's six days.

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How so? Well, you put the day that Jesus made those sayings in that number, now you have seven days, and you have the day that he was transfigured before them, and now you have eight days.

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If you're just talking about the days in between Jesus making the sayings and his transfiguration, then you have six days.

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But you add the day that he said those things and the day that he's transfigured, and now you have eight days.

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So it still works. But why does Luke make it eight when Matthew and Mark said six?

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Because surely Luke knows of these other gospel accounts. Matthew's for sure preceded

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Luke. There could be some debate over whether Luke or Mark came first. Most likely it was

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Mark. I think this is the order in which they were given that we have in New Testament canon.

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Matthew was first, then Mark, then Luke, and then John. I think that is the order. But anyway, so Luke says eight days.

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Why would he say eight days, even knowing that Matthew at least had written six days?

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Well, remember that the number eight has significance in Scripture. It is often the number of new creation.

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You think about the created order being in six days. In six days, God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.

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And then on the seventh day, he rested, right? Well, oftentimes when you see the number eight, it is signifying a new creation, just think about the fact that Jesus comes into Jerusalem on a donkey on a

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Sunday with Palm Sunday, and then he's crucified and rises again from the dead on Sunday morning, that's eight days.

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So Sunday to Saturday is seven days, that's a week. You add in Sunday and now you have eight days.

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So it's eight days later after Jesus comes into Jerusalem that he rises from the dead and now you have a new creation number.

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So here, Luke, instead of using six, like Matthew and Mark did, he says eight because he is through this account of the transfiguration showing that it is through Christ, we will see a new creation.

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So eight days after these sayings, he takes with him Peter, James and John and went up on the mountain to pray.

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There's another detail that Matthew and Mark don't include. Neither of those two other gospels say that they went up on the mountain to pray, but Luke does.

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It wasn't just to take them up there to be transfigured before them, although that's the principal reason why they are there, but before that happens, and even while they are praying that happens.

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So they pray and then it's in the midst of their prayer that Jesus changes.

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Verse 29, as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white.

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Now remember what happened to Moses when he was up on the mountain talking with God.

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He changed too, his face changed. So the appearance of his face was altered, his clothing became dazzling white.

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Remember that Moses' face was shining so brightly that nobody could look at him and he had to put a veil over his face until the light dimmed.

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And so here, Jesus' face is now glowing before his disciples and this is showing that the mountain that they are on is a new

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Sinai. So there is something new that is happening and this is not going to be the giving of the law as what happened at Sinai, but rather the giving of God's grace through his son.

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Then verse 30, and behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah.

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And this is pointing to a new Testament or a new covenant because you have the prophets of the old covenant, the two most principal prophets being

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Moses and Elijah. It was during the ministry of those two men that the most number of miracles were done.

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Moses did an incredible number of miracles. Elijah did some, though maybe not as great as Moses, but these two men show the old covenant.

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And here is Christ who's gonna bring in the new covenant. And so while Moses and Elijah give a testimony to the law,

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Jesus and the voice of the father who is gonna speak will give a Testament to the covenant, the new covenant of grace.

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Then we have in verse 31, Moses and Elijah appeared in glory. They spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

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So what are they talking with Jesus about? And this is another detail that's not included in Matthew and Mark.

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Neither of those two gospels talk about what Jesus and Moses and Elijah talked about. Now, back in those accounts,

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I can't remember which one this was, whether it was when we were in Matthew or in Mark, but I mentioned that a growing theory, it's not necessarily a common theory, but it is a growing theory concerning the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus is that some sort of like warp is happening there.

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Some sort of bending of time in which Peter, James, and John are there with Jesus and seeing

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Moses and Elijah, it's almost like they are looking through tunnels of time. And they are seeing things that have happened in the past that are actually happening all at once there in the mountain to them because of whatever is happening during this transfiguration.

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It's like they're able to look into a window to see when God had spoke with Moses on the mountain and looking at another window to see when

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God had spoken with Elijah on the mountain. Because remember that's something that both Moses and Elijah have in common.

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They both were on mountains speaking with God and God passed before them.

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Remember that Moses had requested to see God's face. God said, no one can see my face and live, but I will hide you in the cleft of the rock and I will pass by you.

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And then God even proclaims himself as he is passing by Moses. Elijah goes up on a mountain.

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He hears the still small voice, remember that? And there was the whirlwind, there was the fire, but God was not in those things.

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And he passes before Elijah. So in both of these instances, you have Moses and Elijah on a mountain and God passing before them.

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So as the theory goes, maybe what Peter, James and John are seeing are those moments when

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God is passing before Moses and Elijah and all of that is being laid out before them.

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They're seeing Jesus, but it's as if Jesus stands in a realm of time or a realm rather that is not governed by time in which he can also be speaking to Moses in the past and Elijah in the past and his disciples in the present.

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So, like I said, this is a growing theory. It's not one that I accept. I don't believe, even though I've probably repeated it at some point, though I may have just repeated it only as a theory because it is said here exactly what

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Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah about. And was he really speaking with Moses and Elijah in the

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Old Testament hundreds of years before about him going to Jerusalem and being put to death and rising again?

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And that's very unlikely because of the way that Luke words it here. They appeared in glory and spoke of his departure.

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So Moses and Elijah are even talking with him about what he is about to go do, which he was going to accomplish at Jerusalem.

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So because that's the conversation, I highly doubt that there's some sort of warp happening here.

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But really it is Moses and Elijah from their eternal states in glory that are standing right there with Jesus and Peter, James, and John are able to witness this.

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And this is for their benefit. This is so they may see this and know something about Christ.

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Now, something else, another detail that's included here in Luke's account that's not in Matthew or Mark is that the disciples were very tired.

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Now that seems to be their reputation when it comes to praying for a long time. Remember the Garden of Gethsemane, which is coming up later.

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Jesus wanted them to pray with him. And he says, could you not even pray with me one hour? They kept falling asleep instead of staying awake and praying.

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So they're heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory.

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And the two men who stood with him. So likely their eyes are getting heavy. They're getting tired. They're laying down on the ground.

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It's like, you're just gonna catch a quick nap here. Maybe if I have my eyes closed when I'm praying, Jesus won't even see that I've fallen asleep.

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You know, whatever's going through their minds. But then with the transfiguration happens, well, now we're awake.

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Now we see it. And as the men were parting from him, verse 33. So Moses and Elijah are leaving.

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This can't be that the portals are closing, right? It says that Moses and Elijah are departing.

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So they are probably walking back into this cloud that is coming over them. That may be where the two of them are going.

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But as they're leaving, Peter said to Jesus, master, it is good that we are here.

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Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said.

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There were other accounts that said the same thing. Peter was just talking, but not really knowing what it was that he was talking about.

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Now, even though Luke answers the question about what were Peter, Moses, or sorry, not

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Peter, what were Jesus, Moses and Elijah talking about? When he's standing there with Moses and Elijah, what sort of conversation are they having?

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Well, Luke tells us that. They were talking about Jesus going to Jerusalem and the things that were gonna happen to him there.

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Matthew and Mark don't tell us that. So even though Luke answers that question, what is still not answered for us, and not one of the three gospel accounts tells us this, how did

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Peter, James, and John know that that was Moses and Elijah? I mean, surely there would have been introductions of some kind.

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Jesus saying, hey guys, I want you to meet my buddies. This is Moses, this guy's Elijah. Because it's not like they had a prophet yearbook that they could look at and know what their faces look like.

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Oh yeah, you know, though Elijah was around several hundred years ago, this is what he looked like here. I recognize him from his prophet yearbook.

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You know, they didn't have social media back then, no Facebook, anything else. So how did they know that was

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Moses and Elijah? That still puzzles me, and the gospel accounts don't tell us that.

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But yeah, it surely would have been an introduction of some kind. Jesus telling them this is who this is, or they picked it up from the conversation.

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I don't know. However it plays out, that's what Peter gathers about these two.

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He knows it's Moses and Elijah, and he wants to make tents for them.

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Now, these tents, it's as if it's signifying a new tabernacle.

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We're gonna have a new tabernacle that we're going to dwell in. Well, it's not that we have a new tent to dwell in, but rather that God dwells with us.

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He tabernacles with us, and that's really what the tabernacle meant. That's why it was called the tabernacle, to dwell with, that God would dwell with his people, that he would tent with his people.

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And so now God is dwelling with us once again, not in a tent where the

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Ark of the Covenant is, and then the presence of God comes down upon it, but rather we are the tent, the dwelling, that God dwells in, giving his

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Holy Spirit to us. So with Peter talking about these tents, let us make you tents, he kind of had the right idea, but the wrong application.

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Though this does, according to Luke's account, point us to a new tabernacle with Christ who will dwell with us when he sends his

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Holy Spirit to live within us. Now, verse 34, as Peter was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

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Now, you know, no idea what this looks like. Was it the glory of God that was just kind of growing and it was enveloping them all?

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Was this like the cloud of glory that came down into the temple when God came down and filled that place after Solomon had asked that the presence of God would dwell in the temple there?

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Would it be like the cloud that Jesus is going to disappear into at the end of Luke 24 when he ascends out of their presence?

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That's another possibility, but whatever this could have been, they are being enveloped by this cloud.

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They're afraid as they enter the cloud. I mean, who wouldn't be? There's a strange cloud coming over us. I have no idea what's about to happen.

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In verse 35, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen one, listen to him.

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And so now we're given a new revelation. We have a new revelation of Christ.

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And then verse 36, when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone and they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

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So at least for the time being, they didn't tell anybody else. And we know from Mark's account, Peter, James, and John did not even tell the other disciples but of course they would speak of these things later after Jesus had risen from the dead.

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Of course they would, because here we have the account. So as Luke lays this out, as I said in the beginning, he gives us certain markers that are pointing to certain things so that we would learn something about Jesus.

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So first of all, we have a new creation with the reference to eight days in verse 28.

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Number two, we have a new Sinai with God coming down to his people with Jesus taking

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Peter and John and James up on a mountain. And that's where he has transfigured before them. And this

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Sinai is not the giving of the law, but it is the grace of God through his son,

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Jesus Christ. Number three, we have a new Testament that is given. The old is passing away,

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Moses and Elijah. And even as they are walking into this cloud and vanishing from them. So the old is going, the new is coming, the new covenant that Jesus brings in by his blood.

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And he's gonna talk about that at the last supper that will be later in this gospel account as well.

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Okay, then number four, we have a new tabernacle. Peter making the request to make them tents.

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And this is even pointing to how God is gonna dwell with us and we will be the tent and Jesus will dwell within us through his

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Holy Spirit, whom he will send. And finally, number five, we have a new revelation. It is the father saying, this is my son, my chosen one.

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This is the Messiah. So even though Peter had made this declaration back in verse 20, you have the testimony of the father above himself saying, you're right.

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And remember, according to Matthew's account, Jesus said, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

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And so the father showing that he is the revealer of the identity of Christ saying, this is my son, my chosen one, the anointed one, the

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Messiah to whom you will listen. And this is the new revelation that has been given to us.

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And so through this, we come to know that Jesus is the Christ. He is the son of God.

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He is the one who will take away the sin of the world. He is the one who dwells within us.

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All who follow him, God dwells with us. He is our God.

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We are his people. And he tabernacles with us in an even more profound way than he tabernacled with Israel.

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For in Israel, they couldn't go to the place where God dwelled. Only the high priest could go in there and only once a year.

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But now that we as followers of Jesus have been made to know that he tabernacles, that his spirit would dwell within us, we can go to God anytime.

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And so my friends know that as followers of Jesus, God is with you and be comforted by that today.

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Heavenly father, we thank you for this account that we have read. And I pray that it would remind us of who

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Jesus is, what he came to do and what he came to accomplish. That the old is gone and the new has come.

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And even our old self, we put away that we might walk in newness of life. We who have become followers of Jesus Christ.

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We look to him for all things. We go after not our own ways, but we desire holiness just as we prayed yesterday with Jesus' instruction to take up a cross and follow after him.

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Let us put our own desires, our passions of our flesh to death and help us to walk in the way of Christ.

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It is in his name that we pray, amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

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You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.