Matthew 17:1–8

So, "After six days" (a type of the ordinary span of work down here), "Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves" (v. 1). That is, He takes chosen witnesses. It was only a testimony to the kingdom — the sample of what He had referred to when He said, "There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

The glory of the kingdom, as we saw, depends on His being the Son of Man. He is the exalted Man who had once suffered, and all glory is committed into His hands. He had at every cost retrieved the honour of God, and He is to make the blessing of man effective.

Matthew writes from a Jewish point of view, where the seventh day is the day of glory. So he says "After six days". Luke looks at things from another angle, the resurrection aspect that the eighth day shows. So he says "about eight days". Both are correct. Matthew does not include the two end days, while Luke does. Exactly six days — complete days — came between the prophecy and its fulfilment. There is no discrepancy or mistake in this, or in any other Scripture.

The "after six days" that opens the account, here and in Mark, points, I believe, to the final character of what this scene pictures. It comes after the time of work and of overcoming is finished.

John, Peter and James were the three witnesses Peter has in mind — they were on the holy mount, the mount of transfiguration. These three disciples were the eyewitnesses whom Satan tried to remove. He wanted to stop any divine and perfect testimony about the prophetic word, for that is the point before us.

What I said about the transfiguration was that those three men were going to be pillars (see Gal. 2), and that this was to clear and strengthen their faith.

The other word is ἀναφέρω, 'to bring up', and so 'to offer up'. In Matt. 17:1, Jesus 'brings up' Peter and the others; and in Luke 24:51 the Lord was 'carried up' into heaven. Hebrews 7:27 uses this word both of the high priest 'offering up' sacrifices and of Jesus who 'offered up' Himself.

The Lord takes only three disciples up with Him to witness it. They show us that if we want such disclosures, we need a closeness to Him that only a few have. The "high mountain" was most probably Hermon, near Caesarea Philippi. But it is not named, and even if we were sure, we could base nothing on it. Earth in fact has no knowledge of the heights where such visions of the future may be enjoyed.

The Lord Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John with Him. He brought them up into a high mountain apart, to show them a sample of His future glory. That sight would strengthen their spirits against the trying scenes through which both He and they had yet to pass.

When He went up the mountain with His disciples, He was, to all outward appearance, only a man among men. To the natural eye there was nothing to distinguish Him from Peter, James, or John... But on the mountain this amazing change (called transfiguration) happened. What was its nature? May we not say this? It was His essential purity or holiness breaking out and flooding the vessel that held it. So He stood before His disciples as a being of light. For "his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light." This vessel — His body — screened these rays of His beauty and glory at other times. But now nothing held them back. They shone through and lit up both His body and His clothes, so that He stood there truly glorified before their eyes.

In the middle of His service of humiliation our Lord was for a little while transfigured. It was not like Moses, whose face shone because he had been near the divine Presence. Our Lord was with His own here below... "His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him." It is a small picture of His kingdom. In that kingdom there will be risen and changed saints, along with others in their natural bodies, and the Lord at the centre of it all.

"His face shone like the sun" would suggest a place of supreme power and authority. "And his clothes became white as light" would refer to His intrinsic purity. He had always moved in the light, and there was no darkness in Him at all.

The Saviour's face shone like the sun. As the Sun of righteousness He will yet rise upon this poor earth (Mal. 4:2). The sun is the emblem of supreme authority, which God will before long put into the hands of the Crucified. His clothing, too, became white as the light. It suggested the absolute purity of His coming rule.

If that is so, Christ, as He was in His transfiguration, is the presentation of what believers will be when they are glorified with Him... Christ on the mountain shows us what His people will be when He comes to receive them to Himself; but this mighty change is morally begun in them while here. So in Rom. 12:2 the apostle says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (transfigured) by the renewal of your mind"... This Scripture shows that our transfiguration must begin from within... But how is this to be done? Passing now to 2 Cor. 3:18, we find the answer... "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord"... it is by beholding that we "are being transformed (transfigured) into the same image from one degree of glory to another."

The whole purpose of the vision was to show the church her portion in the glory. The God of all grace has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, and that is what this scene showed. So the transfiguration passed on the Lord, on Moses and Elijah — they all appeared in the same glory. Moses and Elijah were no longer what they had once been on earth, and neither was the Lord Himself. Their lowly bodies had been made like His glorious body. He appeared for a little while in glory, and they appeared in glory with Him.

Moses was the man through whom God gave the law. Elijah was the great example of the prophets, who called the people back to the law of Jehovah. They were the pillars of the Jewish system. Every true Israelite looked back to them with the deepest reverence. One of them was the only Jew taken to heaven without passing through death. The other had a singular honour: Jehovah Himself buried him, so that he should not become an object of worship after his death.

The law and the prophets are the two great witnesses. They come in here for this reason: everything was about to disappear, and Jesus would be left alone. At the end everything goes. Moses is gone, Elijah is gone, and Christ alone is left, and remains for evermore.

It is a miniature of His kingdom. In it will be the risen and changed saints, along with others in their natural bodies, and the Lord the centre of all.

Elijah represents the saints who have been caught up to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:11). Moses represents those who have died and been raised again — though Moses himself had not been raised. In what body he appeared we do not know. Peter, James and John illustrate the earthly side of the coming kingdom.

They "spoke of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem." Just before the scene on the Mount, and again just after it, the Lord speaks of His death, but we read "they understood not." On the plain the disciples are dull of hearing. On the Mount there is divine intelligence in the mind of heaven and the heart of Jesus. There Moses and Elijah share with Christ what fills His heart. They lose sight of the enmity of men; they no longer think of the death of Christ as something wicked hands brought about, but of "His decease which He should accomplish."

Surely this will be our joy for ever, when we are in glory with Christ — to dwell on this theme: His decease accomplished at Jerusalem.

And of course Moses and Elijah were known. Their individuality was not swallowed up by death, or by removal from the earth without death. This should settle the question people often ask: shall we know each other in resurrection glory? Of course we will. The disciples easily recognised Moses and Elijah; in the same way every saint will be known.

The moment anyone puts Moses and Elijah on a level with Jesus, they both disappear. A voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son; listen to Him." It does not say, "Listen to them," but "Listen to Him." Christ in His wondrous grace shows Moses and Elijah as His companions in the glory. But the moment Peter speaks the thought that would place them on an equality with Christ, they must both vanish from the scene.

Moses loses Canaan through speaking rashly with his lips. But does that change God's intention to bless him for ever?... We afterwards see Moses on the mount of glory, with the Lord, at the transfiguration. There he could surely look back and see the path along which the goodness of the Lord had led him, and the links of the chain that we cannot see.

As the scene of glory burst on him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here: if you will, let us make here three tabernacles; one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Luke adds, "not knowing what he said"; while Mark reads that "he did not know what to say, for they were terrified." This shows how dangerous it is for a believer to speak. He must first be sure he has the Lord's mind in what he says.

Peter counted it a great thing to see His Master with saints so renowned and glorious. ... He made the natural but fatal mistake of equalising all three. Yet only a short time before, he had confessed His Master to be not only the Messiah, but the Son of the living God. He ought not to have gone so wrong.

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 for these a mere difference of translation may arise.

It was sheer forgetfulness of 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 depreciation of Jesus. The power for all that is good is faith in His glory. Thus Peter, in a human way, seeking to honour Jesus, in reality lowers Him.

Behind Peter's words lurked another thought. It was the very same attempt to keep the Lord from obeying to the point of death on the cross. That attempt appeared in the temptations in the wilderness. It hid in Peter's "God be favourable to You." Here it comes once more. Peter would have a Christ in glory and the state of the kingdom there without the cross, and he is even willing with his two companions to work for it, for he says, "Let us make here three tabernacles."

Instead of deeply admiring the Lord Himself, he says, "Lord, it is good for us to be here." Then he adds his own proposal: "if you will, let us make three tabernacles." Are we not also too quick to propose what we should do for the Lord? In such a case, man's natural desires will come to the fore, for a present kingdom with man exalted. The Lord had before spoken of His death, not of dwelling in tabernacles.

So God rebuked the thought of Peter to make three tabernacles — "One for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." There was only One whom they should honour in this way. He alone is the centre of His people: "This is My beloved Son, hear Him." Do you think no man could ever be made a rival centre where God intends unity? Then read the first chapter of 1 Corinthians: "Each one of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ," which the apostle rebukes with: "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"

Peter was full of joy in the presence of this glory, and he wanted to stay there. Such was the delight his soul was taking in the scene. This may give us some idea of the blessedness of Israel and the nations in the kingdom of the Son of Man, when this glory of His appears. But all this was merely incidental. The single purpose of the vision was to show the church her portion in the glory.

This was not the crushing rebuke of the Lord, who knew that in a ruined world all blessing for man and all glory for God hung on His being rejected. It was the Father's voice out of the excellent glory. The Father then displayed His jealousy for the honour of His Son. He would not allow the law-giver or the law-restorer to stand on such a level. They were servants, to be honoured in the place He gave them. But His beloved Son! — there were His delights.

"There came a bright cloud and overshadowed them" — the well-known sign of God's presence, which had led Israel through the desert long ago and lived in the sanctuary — "and behold a Voice out of the cloud which said: This is My beloved Son; in whom I am well pleased; hear Him." No wonder that "when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified." In fact, the Most Holy Place stood open before them. They were standing where only the high priest could stand, and only once a year, with incense to cover him and the blood of atonement. And they were ordinary men, with no sacrifice in their hand and no incense to cover them.

Now Peter and the others had entered into the cloud; and so we get the wonderful fact that saints may stand in the glory the voice comes from, and there, in that glory, share the Father's delight in His beloved Son. God calls us not only into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ, but into fellowship with the Father. The Father lets us share His own satisfaction in His beloved Son.

It is not, This is your Messiah — He was that, of course, but He brings out the grand New Testament revelation of Jesus. He reveals Him as His own beloved Son, and His unqualified delight in Him.

As one has said, "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." We are not simply reminded that Christ is our Beloved, as the bride in the Song of Songs can say, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." We hear the Father saying, "This is My Beloved."

And that same voice, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," sounds a second time. It was heard on the holy mountain as it was on the bank of the Jordan — on the day of the transfiguration as at the baptism. The transfiguration was a pledge and picture of the Kingdom, as the baptism was His entry on His ministry and witness. But the same delight stirs in the heart of the Father, where the Son lay. It stirs whether God's eye follows Him along the lonely path of Jesus the Servant in a defiled world, or sees Him on the heights as King of glory in the coming kingdom.

He did not say "hear him" at the baptism of Jesus by John. He took it for granted, so to speak, that once He had proclaimed Him Son of God, everybody would listen to Him. But when Peter would put the Saviour on the same level with 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, for the law could not save you: Elijah's day is gone by, for reformation could not meet your case.

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. God set Moses in his place, and Elias in another, as He saw fit; but what were they compared with His Son?

They were far from knowing yet His love; but He, who brought it in His own person, was at hand to strengthen their hearts. "And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not afraid."... Can you say that you have heard the voice of Jesus by faith, and that you are "not afraid"? This is His will, not only for the three who then heard, but for all that believe the gospel of God.

Peter's hasty, shallow, and irreverent proposal drew out the lesson "listen to Him." He wanted to make three shelters here, one for the Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. For, as Mark adds, and Luke too, he did not know what to answer, because he was frightened, as the others were too. Their fear could only be increased by the bright cloud (the tent of God's presence) that overshadowed them. They entered it, and out of it the Father's voice said in gracious rebuke, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." Moses and Elijah disappeared.

No wonder that "when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified." It was, in fact, the holiest of all unveiled. Only the high priest might stand where they stood, once a year, and only with covering incense and atoning blood. And they were only men of the people. They had no sacrifice in their hand and no covering incense. Yet the glorious Presence was truly here — the Presence that had long been absent from the temple, and had never appeared since the captivity in Babylon. He whom none could see and live had drawn near to them. They heard His voice, as the people had heard it long ago, when in their fear they prayed that they might never hear it again.

Yet everything else was changed from the time of the shaking mountain. What was proclaimed to them now was not the Law — a law that brought only the knowledge of sin, and was indeed its "strength" (1 Cor. 15:56). This Voice pointed them only to the Son of God. Peter had just confessed Him as exactly that, their own gracious Master. The Voice put Him in His rightful place, and separated Him from all their misconceptions.

I suppose "they fall on their face" would imply they paid homage. They recognised they were in the presence of the glory that required homage, and they feared greatly.

The disciples, confused by what they heard, fall on their faces and are greatly afraid. There was no communion with it yet. For the present they enter into it only slightly, though it was afterwards recalled to them by the Spirit of God.

When the disciples heard the Father's voice, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. They were far from knowing His love yet; but He, who brought it in His own person, was at hand to strengthen their hearts... Can you say that you have heard the voice of Jesus by faith, and that you are "not afraid"? This is His will, not only for the three who then heard, but for all who believe the gospel of God. Perfect love casts out the fear that has torment, and creates the fear of reverence.

Only one thing will strengthen us to stand assured in the presence of the glory: knowing the humiliation of Christ. Peter and those with him did not yet know it. His humiliation is the only ground of fellowship with even that excellent glory, and it is a sure and most blessed ground. It assures us of this: everything in us that this glory would otherwise judge and consume has already been judged and put away in Him who bore all our shame. In His grace He gave the disciples that assurance on this very occasion. For Jesus came to them, amazed and confused as they were, and with the voice and touch of the Son of Man He restored them. These were the signs of His humiliation. The voice and the touch could tell them that He who was in the form of God was found in the likeness of a man like themselves. They need not fear.

Jesus, to whom this glory and this voice were natural, encourages them, as He always did when on earth, saying, "Be not afraid." Being with Him who was the object of the Father's love, why should they fear? Their best Friend was the One who made God known on the earth; the glory belonged to Him.

They were far from knowing His love yet; but He who brought it in His own person was at hand to strengthen their hearts. "And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not afraid." Now, even more than then, Jesus makes His word come home in the power of redemption to those who believe... Can you say that you have heard the voice of Jesus by faith, and that you are "not afraid"? This is His will, not only for the three who heard Him then, but for all who believe the gospel of God. Perfect love casts out the fear that has torment, and creates the fear of reverence.

They felt that they had missed God's mind entirely. But "Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid." Are you troubled, trembling and anxious because you have missed the mind of the Lord? Have you missed blessing by not hearing Him and loving Him? He has not changed. He is the same Jesus now. He filled their hearts with peace, not fear.

The disciples, confused by what they heard, fall on their faces and are greatly afraid. There was no fellowship with the glory yet... "And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only." The heavenly vision had passed away for a time. They were on the mountain alone with Jesus. What a joy! — if it vanishes, He abides.

The vision of glory overpowers the apostle: he fell at the Lord's feet as though dead, and the Lord laid His right hand on him, saying, "Fear not." How the Christ of the gospel comes out here! What words are more characteristic of Him than this, "Fear not"? "Perfect love casts out fear," and that love belongs to Him who speaks. He says it not to John alone, but to everyone who feels His majesty more than His grace. Such people would push Him back into the distance and darkness He has come out of to reach us.

At the mount of transfiguration, the moment there is any question of putting Moses and Elijah on an equal footing with Jesus, they both disappear... The words are not "Hear them," but "Hear Him." Christ, in His wonderful grace, shows Moses and Elijah as His companions in the glory. Yet the moment Peter foolishly speaks the thought that would place them on a level with Christ, they must both vanish from the scene.

How could God have a servant working at the same time as His Son? As He has no equal, so this Servant needs no helper. Even Moses and Elijah must vanish as soon as Simon Peter tries to class them with Jesus. So he and his astonished companions see "no one but Jesus only," which teaches them and all people that the Son is beyond compare.

The law and the prophets are these two great witnesses, and they come in here for this reason: everything was about to disappear, and Jesus would be left alone. At the end everything goes. Moses is gone, Elijah is gone, and Christ alone is left, and He remains for ever. This will bring to your mind that scripture, "The Law and the Prophets were until John" (Luke 16:16).

The law and the prophets were excellent forerunners, and not the smallest part of them can fall to the ground unfulfilled. But the Son of God comes, and He must take first place over all... Almost every working of unbelief in Christianity today comes down to lowering Jesus to the level of the law and the prophets, or at least to the level of man, the first man. No one born of God would treat the law and the prophets lightly. But it is one thing to accept that they have divine authority, and quite another to put them on a level with the Son of God.

Note we said "laying aside", not "giving up", for those things will still have their answer in the coming day of glory... What Moses and Elijah said, in the words of this vision, was the truth but not all the truth. Much has come to light through Christ becoming Man which Moses and Elijah knew nothing of... We do not take our teaching about the kingdom from the law and the prophets, but from all that the Son has brought to light.

The heavenly vision had passed away for a time: they were on the mount alone with Jesus. What a joy! — if it vanish, He abides!

The lesson they had to learn here was that, though those two might disappear, Jesus remains... Moses may go and Elijah may go, but if you still have Jesus you have everything your heart can desire.

God's people disappear, but Jesus remains. The words, "they saw no one but Jesus only," are very significant. If any of us come near to that in our own experience... Jesus will fill the picture as far as we are concerned, and man will fade from view.

It does great damage to our souls in the things of God if we say "we see Jesus" only because we know we should have no other object... Is it true of me that I see Jesus? That is the question. If I do, if I see Him at all, He must become the all-absorbing object of my life.