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.
Note: quotes from Matthew 17:2 3:17 17:5 3:16 17:2 3 (NET)