And Peter answering says to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we should be here; and let us make three tabernacles, for thee one, and for Moses one, and for Elias one.
Peter speaks first on the mountain, while Moses and Elijah stand there with the transfigured Christ. His words are part delight and part mistake, and they raise the question the scene answers: where does Jesus stand next to the greatest servants God ever sent?
Peter was looking at three kinds of company at once.
In this picture of God's kingdom the Lord shows earthly things and heavenly things brought together, though never mixed up. The glorified are there, in Moses and Elijah. The men in their still unchanged natural bodies are there too — Peter, James, and John. At the centre is the Lord, the Head of all things above and below. So it will be one day. The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will no longer be a testimony in words from those who saw His majesty. It will be made good and displayed in the day of the Lord.
The three accounts of this moment do not use the same word for how Peter addressed Jesus.
In the account of the Transfiguration, Mark 9:5 has "Rabbi," Matt. 17:4 "Lord," Luke 9:33 "Master." It is easy to see that with these a simple difference of translation may arise.
So the difference between the accounts is one of translation.
Something real had gripped Peter. The glory had crowded out everything he had lived for up to that hour.
He would gladly stay there, forgetting all he had known and valued before, all on the earth. I do not say that we have Peter's own heart to thank for what his lips said on the hill of glory. It was rather the power of the place that spoke in him. But this makes it all the more significant. The heavenly glory was so commanding that when it shone out it displaced everything.
Three shelters for three figures put three persons in one class. Writers agree this is where Peter went wrong. One of them names the root of the failure.
He completely forgot the personal dignity of Jesus. "Let us make three tabernacles," one for his Master and the other two for His servants, Moses and Elijah. Would he, then, put his Master, the Lord of all, on the same level with the head of the law and the chief of the prophets? Peter thought this would be great honour for Him! He was altogether astray. The root of all wrong is making little of Jesus. The power for all that is good is faith in His glory. So Peter, in a human way, seeking to honour Jesus, in reality lowers Him.
One writer takes Peter's sentence apart clause by clause. Each piece has its own fault.
First, he emphasizes "it is good for us to be here," instead of focusing on the greatness of his Lord. Second, he speaks of mere human work: "let us make three tabernacles." Third, this would only be building for earth. Fourth, to build a tabernacle for the Lord Jesus would in effect shut Him inside human limits. Fifth, his suggestion would give some glory to others, instead of rightly giving every honour to Him.
Peter had spoken against the cross once before. The same thought returns here in a new form.
Behind it hid another thought. The same effort to keep the Lord from obeying to the point of death on the cross appeared in the temptations in the wilderness. It lay hidden in Peter's "God be favourable to You." And it is made here once more. Peter would have a Christ in glory, and the kingdom set up there, without the cross. He is even willing to work for it with his two companions, for he says, "Let us make here three tabernacles."
Peter's mistake still has an edge for readers who admire great servants of God.
From the nation He had received dishonour and shame. From ignorant but true disciples He receives little more than the honour and glory they would give to Moses and Elijah. Peter would put the Lord on the same level with these great servants… Are believers today not in danger of forgetting that the Lord is supreme, however outstanding the devotion and spirituality of individual servants may be? They may change and pass away; but of the Lord alone can it be said, "You remain," and "You are the same."
- Sight. Peter saw a preview of the coming kingdom: glorified men, ordinary men, and Christ at the centre of both.
- Delight. "It is good that we are here" was true. The glory was so commanding that it displaced everything Peter had valued before.
- Slip. Three shelters made three equals. Peter meant to honour Jesus, but he lowered Him. Making little of Christ is the root of all wrong.
- Shortcut. Behind the plan lay the old wish for a kingdom without the cross, and human hands offering to build it.
- Supremacy. Great servants may change and pass away. Of the Lord alone can it be said, "You remain" — no servant, however great, shares His place.
For he knew not what he should say, for they were filled with fear.
Peter had just seen Jesus shining in glory, with Moses and Elijah beside Him, and he offered a plan. Mark tells us the state he was in: he had no idea what to say, and fear had gripped him and those with him.
Peter's plan put Christ, Moses and Elijah side by side. The mistake began with what Peter forgot about his Master.
Indeed, he did not know. It was sheer forgetfulness of the personal dignity of Jesus. "Let us make three tents," one for his Master and the other two for His servants, Moses and Elijah. Would he, then, put his Master, the Lord of all, on the same level with the head of the law and the chief of the prophets? Peter thought this would be great honour for Him! He was completely wrong. The root of all wrong is a low thought of Jesus. The power for all that is good is faith in His glory. So Peter, in a human way, tries to honour Jesus and in reality lowers Him. God the Father would never allow this, especially not in a disciple.
One short suggestion goes wrong at five separate points.
Peter was afraid and did not know what to say, yet he seems to have thought he should say something. How much better it would have been for him to be silent. First, he stresses that "it is good that we are here," instead of focusing on the greatness of his Lord. Second, he speaks of mere human work: "let us make three tents." Third, this would only be building for earth. Fourth, to build a tent for the Lord Jesus would in effect shut Him inside human limits. Fifth, his suggestion would give some glory to others, instead of giving Him every honour as it should.
Their fear did not come from danger. Glory itself was too much for them, as it was for Jacob and for the prophets.
The mind of Peter on the hill was very much that of Jacob at Bethel. In one sense it was delight to him beyond expression... "Master, it is good that we are here," tells the unforced, necessary joy and satisfaction which the spot and the occasion inspired. But then the occasion was a little too much for him. He feared, just as Jacob at Bethel, feeling that he was at the gate of heaven, and yet saying, "How awesome is this place!"... But glory has always proved itself too much for man. Man needed to be set free before he could be at ease in its presence, as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and others show us.
One thing would have steadied them, and they did not yet know it.
And here too we learn the secret of the disciples' fears in the presence of this excellent glory... Only one thing will strengthen us to stand assured in the presence of the glory: the knowledge of the humiliation of Christ. Peter and those with him did not know this then. His humiliation is the only ground of fellowship with even the excellent glory, and it is a sure and most blessed one. It gives us this assurance. This glory would otherwise have found things in us to judge and consume. But all of it has already been judged and put away in Him who bore all our shame. And the disciples received this assurance on that very occasion. Jesus came to them, amazed and confused as they were, and restored them with the voice and the touch of the Son of Man.
Mark's note about Peter carries a warning for anyone about to speak.
This only shows how dangerous a thing it is for a believer to speak unless he has the assured sense that he has the Lord's mind in what he says.
This raises a question that still matters: what place do honoured servants have next to Christ?
His personal glory is maintained as the One who is supreme. From the nation He had received dishonour and shame. From ignorant but true disciples He receives little more than the honour and glory they would give to Moses and Elijah. Individual servants may be outstanding in devotion and spiritual life. Yet in our day, are believers not in danger at times of forgetting that the Lord is supreme? Servants may change and pass away. Of the Lord alone can it be said, "You remain," and "You are the same."
- Fear — Glory has always proved too much for man. Peter stood at heaven's gate and was afraid, just as Jacob was at Bethel.
- Ignorance — Peter spoke without knowing what to say. His words forgot the personal dignity of Jesus and put his Master on a level with two servants.
- Silence — He felt he had to say something, so he said the wrong thing. Better to stay quiet than to speak without the Lord's mind.
- Assurance — Only the knowledge of Christ's humiliation steadies a man in the presence of glory. All that glory would judge in him is already put away in the One who bore his shame.
- Supremacy — Servants may change and pass away. Of the Lord alone can it be said, "You remain" — so never let an honoured servant share His place.
And there came a cloud overshadowing them, and there came a voice out of the cloud, *This* is my beloved Son hear him.
On a mountain, three disciples saw Jesus transfigured, with Moses and Elijah beside Him. Peter offered to build three tents — and this verse is the Father's answer.
One writer explains what the disciples would have recognised in the cloud — and what was new.
These Jewish disciples knew well what the cloud meant. It told them of the Shekinah glory that long ago filled the dwelling place of God and spoke of the presence of God. In the days of their wilderness journey the cloud was over Israel, but they never entered the cloud. Here on the mountain these disciples enter the Father's house. They enter on the ground of the death Christ was about to die, and in the company of a glorified Christ. And in the Father's house they hear the Father's voice. That voice declares the Father's heart... the Father does not say, This is the Son whom you ought to adore and admire, but He tells us His own thoughts about Him.
Peter meant to honour his Master by giving Him one tent among three.
"Let us make three tents," one for his Master and the other two for His servants, Moses and Elijah. Would he then put his Master, the Lord of all, on the same level as the head of the law and the chief of the prophets? Peter thought this would be great honour for Him! He was completely wrong. The root of all wrong is belittling Jesus. The power for all that is good is faith in His glory. So Peter, in a human way, seeking to honour Jesus, in reality lowers Him; and this God the Father would never allow.
The Father had already used this title at Jesus' baptism. The Gospel writers do not all record the same word for it.
Mark 9:7 — "Beloved Son." Compare Mark 1:11 and 2 Peter 1:17; the same word stands in Matthew 17:5. But in Luke 9:35 the reading scholars prefer is "chosen." In Semitic languages that is much the same as agapetos, "beloved." In the Greek of that day it was a synonym of monogenes — only-begotten.
At the baptism the voice named the Son but gave no command. Peter's words draw out the command here.
He did not say "listen to him" at the baptism of Jesus by John. He took it for granted, so to speak, that when He declared Him Son of God, everybody would listen to Him. But when Peter would put the Saviour on the same level as the Lawgiver and the Reformer, the Father steps in at once and sweeps Moses and Elijah off the scene. Do not forget this. Moses is gone, because the law could not save you. Elijah's day is over, because reforming your life could not meet your need.
Setting the Son above the two great figures of Israel's past is not a verdict against them.
"Listen to Him," is the Father's demand. It is no longer, Listen to Moses, or Listen to Elijah, but "Listen to HIM." Could anything be more startling to a Jew? All must give place to the Son. The dignity of the others is not denied, nor their due position slighted. To assert the glory of the sun in the heavens is in no way to despise the stars.
The command is not only a rebuke for one moment on a mountain. One writer sees the whole New Testament growing out of it.
The New Testament is the unfolding — if I may say so — of this little word, "Listen to him." It is God unfolding the glory of the Son to us... whatever the blessedness of Moses and Elijah, of the law and the prophets, they have their place, but their best place was to bear witness to Him. And now it was no longer only a witness about Him. It was Himself; He had come. So anyone with a true sense of the glory of the Son of God would not care to listen to servants talking about Him, now that he could hear Him Himself.
Mark's Gospel presents Jesus in lowly service, so testimony to who He is matters all the more.
There is a double witness from on high. At the baptism in Jordan a voice out of the heavens declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11), a testimony repeated from the "excellent glory" on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:7). There was also a double witness from beneath. Unclean spirits fell down before Him, saying, "You are the Son of God" (Mark 3:11).
- Cause. Peter's plan gave Jesus one tent among three. The Father broke in, because putting the Son on a level with servants lowers Him.
- Cloud. The cloud was the known sign of God's presence. Israel followed it but never entered it; here the disciples go inside.
- Voice. From inside, they hear not a demand to admire the Son but the Father telling them His own thoughts about Him.
- Command. The Father did not say "Listen to Him" at the baptism; He says it now, and Moses and Elijah step off the scene — their dignity intact, like stars beside the sun.
- Result. That short command opens out into the whole New Testament: God unfolding the glory of the Son to us.
And suddenly having looked around, they no longer saw any one, but Jesus alone with themselves.
Peter has just offered to build three shelters — one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. The two visitors vanish instead, and commentators read that as the Father's answer to Peter, and as a lesson about who alone the disciples must hear.
The Father has just spoken from the cloud. What vanishes next says as much as what stays.
This gives special emphasis to Christ's title as Son. It also stresses the Father's will that they should listen to Him — not now to Moses and Elijah, whom Peter's thoughtless haste had put on a level with Him. The sudden disappearance of those who represented the law and the prophets seals the divine word too. Only Jesus is left with the disciples.
Moses stands for the law and Elijah for the prophets. Their leaving marks the end of a whole era in God's dealings.
Moses and Elijah were taken away, and Jesus is left alone. Law was gone, prophecy gone, and Christ is alone, and He was going to be crucified... Peter would have had the three set up together, all treated alike — "Let us build three tents." But at that moment Moses and Elijah disappear, and the voice says, "This is My beloved Son; listen to Him." It is now the righteousness of God, apart from law, in Jesus... Every word of law and prophets is the truth of God, but they lasted only until John the Baptist.
Peter had put his Master on a level with two great servants. One writer turns that mistake on the reader.
However great they were in their day, they must give place to Christ. He keeps His personal glory as the One who is supreme... In our day, are believers not in danger of forgetting this? However outstanding the devotion and spirituality of individual servants may be, the Lord is supreme. They may change and pass away; but of the Lord alone it can be said, "You remain," and "You are the same."
One writer sets a limit on how far these two words may be pushed.
I believe there has been a misuse of those words "Jesus only." We must not forget the Father and the Spirit. But when it is a question of putting others on an equality with Him, honoured servants as they were, the Father soon puts it right... Here the meaning is "They saw Jesus," not in company, but "alone," since Moses and Elijah were no longer to be seen.
The verse does not only say the disciples saw Jesus. It says they saw Him with them.
They had just seen two men "with Jesus" in glory. Now they see Jesus "with themselves," on the path that leads to glory. It is good for us to realise the glory of the Person of Jesus — the One we shall be with in the glory, and the One who is with us on the way there.
Another writer looks at what the disciples were left with once the glory faded.
The time of the kingdom had not yet come... The disciples came back to the days before the kingdom, the days in which we live. Thank God, though the glory and the power, though Moses and Elijah passed from their sight, they had with them "JESUS ONLY," and He is enough. We have Him with us today.
One writer compares this moment to a blind man whom Jesus healed in two stages. At first the man saw people like walking trees. After a second touch he saw everything clearly.
Saints disappear, but Jesus remains. The words "they saw no one any more, except Jesus only" are very significant. If any of us come near to that in our spiritual experience, we shall no longer be like a man who sees people as trees walking, but like the man after the second touch, seeing everything clearly. Jesus will fill the picture as far as we are concerned, and man will be eclipsed.
- Alone by the Father's choice — Peter ranked Jesus alongside Moses and Elijah. The Father took them away and left the Son standing alone.
- Alone in authority — the law and the prophets gave their testimony and stepped aside. The Father's command is simple: listen to Him.
- Alone above servants — great servants change and pass away; only of the Lord can it be said, "You remain."
- Alone, not isolated — "Jesus only" does not shut out the Father and the Spirit. It means Jesus with no one beside Him on the mountain.
- Alone, and enough — the glory faded and ordinary days returned. The disciples still had Jesus with them, and so do we.