The Significance of the Mt. of Transfiguration

CharismaticLady

Well-known member
Matthew 17:1-9
Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” 8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”

Moses and Elijah represented the Law and the Prophets, respectively. Now God is telling the disciples about Jesus to "Hear Him." Then Moses and Elijah disappeared and only Jesus was left. The meaning should be clear, but not to everyone. The New Covenant replaces the Law and the Prophets because Jesus fulfilled all.

The disciples were to tell no one until after Jesus rose from the dead. Up until then the New Covenant was not in effect. We who are born again with the moral laws of God written on our hearts are to now keep the Commandments of the New Covenant,

1 John 3:23-24
23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Though the Laws of the Ten Commandments are still in effect for sinners to be judged by, those who abide in Him and walk by His Spirit are no longer under the Law. The law is for sinners, but Jesus has taken away the sin nature out of those who have been born again of the Spirit of God.

1 John 3:5-9
5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

Romans 6:6-16
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
 
Yes, that is fact. Now, what is the significance. What was God trying to say?
Howzabout that the Old Testament scriptures (that's what the Law and the Prophets was. The Hebrew Bible) pointed to Christ. They weren't on a par with the Messiah, they were simply a harbinger of his coming.

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17 NASB

He didn't come to tear up the contract, he came to fulfill it. The Old Covenant is still there, it still offers us proof of who Jesus was and why he came, but it is no longer in effect. The contract between the Packers and Aaron Rogers that ended after the 2021 season is still around, but Rogers isn't playing under that contract now. That old contract was fulfilled. Many of the conditions in the old contract may be very similar to the new one, but if Rogers doesn't meet those conditions, it is the new contract that determines what happens, not the old one.

Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:19-29 NASB

The Law could not, cannot impart life. Righteousness is not based upon the Law. The Law is the Ministry of Death engraved on stones. Its purpose was to lead us to Christ so that we could be justified by faith. Look at what Paul says. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
 
Yes, that is fact. Now, what is the significance. What was God trying to say?

Firstly, thanks for the thread. It sparked a new connection for me.

I think the author of Hebrews echoes your thoughts as part of the introduction.

Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets (Moses and Elijah) at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (listen to him now, not Moses and Elijah), whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (the transfigured person they saw), sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

They symbolically saw the law and the prophets roll up and blow away (as Christian SDA alluded) and now they were supposed to listen to Jesus. God doesn't say much in the NT, but what he does say is important and at the transfiguration is one of the few times where he speaks.

5 . . . a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!
 
Firstly, thanks for the thread. It sparked a new connection for me.

I think the author of Hebrews echoes your thoughts as part of the introduction.

Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets (Moses and Elijah) at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (listen to him now, not Moses and Elijah), whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (the transfigured person they saw), sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

They symbolically saw the law and the prophets roll up and blow away (as Christian SDA alluded) and now they were supposed to listen to Jesus. God doesn't say much in the NT, but what he does say is important and at the transfiguration is one of the few times where he speaks.

5 . . . a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!

Yay!!! You got it on the nose, and I like Hebrews 1:1 you posted. I'm going to connect those two verses in my Bible. I look up the verse and write the other scripture address next to it, and visa versa.

There are many today that believe that the New Covenant is actually a continuation of the Old Covenant represented by Moses. The New Covenant as seen in 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Galatians 4:22-31, and 1 John 3:21-24 shows new commandments and 1 Corinthians 11:25 is our new sign of the Covenant, voiding the old sign of the Old Covenant, Deuteronomy 31:13.
 
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