Week 27 Matthew 17
Jesus did a lot of exceptional things in the gospels but his transfiguration is one of the really unusual & unique ones.
The Lord had gone up onto a mountain with Peter James & John and then he was transfigured before them (quite a few bible versions use that term: transfigured. Others use a more common word: changed).
The Lord’s baptism is the one similar event in the gospels. In both cases a voice came from heaven and said more-or-less the same thing:
Baptism: this is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight
Transfiguration: this is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!
But the two events are also different. When Jesus was baptized: just as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. But at the transfiguration his physical appearance was actually altered (it seems more like a dramatic enhancement than a complete makeover). Matthew describes that metamorphosis: his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
Another (stupefying) difference: Moses and Elijah also appeared before them (the disciples), talking with him (Jesus). A couple of old paintings of the transfiguration have the disciples lying on the ground with their hands in front of their faces. Which seems about what you’d expect given the circumstances.
Note: quotes from Matthew 17:2 3:17 17:5 3:16 17:2 3 (NET)