“AND He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured bore them.”
Not only was Jesus transfigured, with His raiment shining white as snow, but there also appeared Elias (Elijah) and Moses, talking with Him. In Luke’s account we learn that they talked of the forthcoming death of Jesus. What an awe-inspiring sight this must have been! But alas, Peter who was so slow to learn is once more out of tune with his surroundings. He “wist not what to say” but, thinking he should say something appropriate, exclaims: “Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”
Peter little understood what he witnessed. This was the very evidence of the kingdom of God come with power that the Lord had spoken of six days earlier. Those who were present on the mountain spoke plainly of the coming day when the kingdom, so long promised, would be set up. First, there was Jesus Himself, transfigured to display His kingly place, in brilliant radiance and power (no longer the humble Servant); then there were the two who had been called down from heaven — a type of the heavenly saints who will accompany the Lord when He comes to set up the kingdom; and finally, there were the three disciples who were yet residents of Palestine and spoke of the earthly remnant of faithful Jews who will enter into the millennial period. Furthermore, this transfiguration scene takes place on a high mountain which, together with every other detail, completed the display of the long-promised day when the earthly kingdom will be set up, as promised by the Old Testament prophets.
One such prophecy that should have been familiar to the disciples, is: “His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem.... And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one.” Zech. 14:4, 94And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4)
9And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9). The disciples should have rejoiced to see this wonderful sight and if Peter had stopped to think before speaking, he would have realized that a plan to set up a permanent residence for Jesus, Moses and Elias, was entirely improper. The Jewish nation had already rejected their Messiah, and Jesus had told His own that He must soon suffer death. It was not yet a time for the kingdom to come in its fullness. Furthermore, in Peter’s proposal, he blundered in placing his Lord on an equal basis with Moses and Elias (a mistake which those two men did not make, for they spoke only of Him and not of themselves). Peter’s outburst interferes with this amazing scene and he is silenced by God’s voice: “This is My beloved Son: hear Him.” May we too prove the importance of listening to that blessed One and not let our thoughts and expressions interfere with what He would say to us.
It was not a time to tell this experience to the unbelieving Jews and Jesus therefore instructs the three, as they come down from the mountain, to keep it to themselves until after He should rise from the dead.
ML-10/27/1963