Commentary - Luke 9:28-36

Bird's-eye view

The Transfiguration is one of those moments in the Gospels where the veil between heaven and earth is pulled back, and for a brief, terrifying moment, mortal men get a glimpse of reality as it actually is. This is not Jesus becoming something He was not before; it is a manifestation of the glory He had with the Father from before the foundation of the world. Coming just after Peter's great confession and Jesus' first, stark prediction of His suffering and death, this event serves as a divine confirmation of His identity and a profound encouragement for the road ahead. The glory of the Son is put on display, the entire Old Testament (represented by Moses and Elijah) shows up to testify that His coming death is the central point of all history, and the Father Himself speaks from heaven to ratify the whole business. It is a preview of the resurrection glory, a summit meeting of redemptive history, and a definitive command to hear and obey the Son above all others.

Peter, in his typical fashion, immediately tries to manage the glory, to domesticate it. His suggestion to build booths is a clumsy attempt to prolong the moment and, significantly, to place Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. The Father's response from the cloud is a swift and absolute course correction. This is not a committee of prophets; this is the beloved Son. The lesson for the disciples, and for us, is that the path to glory runs directly through the suffering of the cross, the "departure" at Jerusalem. You cannot have the mountaintop without the crucifixion, and you must listen to Jesus alone as your ultimate authority.

Outline

Context In Luke

This event is strategically placed by Luke. It occurs "some eight days after these words" (v. 28), the words in question being Peter's confession that Jesus is "the Christ of God" (Luke 9:20) and Jesus' subsequent, shocking teaching that He "must suffer many things and be rejected... and be killed, and on the third day be raised" (Luke 9:22). The disciples' heads must have been spinning. Their idea of the Messiah involved glory, power, and triumph, not rejection and execution. The Transfiguration, therefore, is God's object lesson to confirm both truths. Yes, Peter, you are right, this is the Christ in all His glory. And yes, Jesus, you are right, that glory must pass through the crucible of suffering and death in Jerusalem. It is a divine anchor for the disciples before their faith is subjected to the storm of the Passion Week.

Key Issues

The New Exodus

One of the most potent details in Luke's account is the topic of conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. They "were speaking of His departure which He was about to fulfill at Jerusalem" (v. 31). The Greek word for "departure" is exodon, or exodus. This is not a casual choice of words. Moses, the man who led the first exodus out of bondage in Egypt, is now here on the mountain discussing the final, ultimate Exodus that Jesus is about to accomplish. The first exodus was the great saving event of the Old Covenant, delivering Israel from slavery to Pharaoh. The new exodus, accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus, delivers God's people from their slavery to sin and death. All of the Old Testament, the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah), pointed to this moment. They were not there to give Jesus advice; they were there as witnesses, testifying that His impending crucifixion was not a tragic accident but rather the fulfillment of the entire story, the plan of God from the beginning.

Verse by Verse Commentary

28 Now it happened some eight days after these words, that taking along Peter and John and James, He went up on the mountain to pray.

Luke bookends this event with prayer. Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, and it is while He is praying that the glory is revealed. This is a consistent pattern in Luke's gospel; major moments of revelation and decision are saturated in prayer. Jesus takes His inner circle, the same three who will later be with Him in Gethsemane. Here they get a glimpse of the glory that is the reason for the agony to come. They are being prepared for both. The mountain setting is also significant. Mountains in Scripture are places of divine revelation, where God meets with man, from Sinai to Carmel. Jesus is ascending a new Sinai.

29 And it happened that while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.

This is not a reflection of light from an external source. The glory is coming from within Jesus. The humanity of Christ was the veil that concealed His divine nature, and for this moment, that veil is made translucent. The disciples are seeing something of the raw, unfiltered glory of the eternal Son. His face shone, reminiscent of Moses whose face shone after being in God's presence, but with a crucial difference. The glory on Moses' face was reflected and it faded. The glory of Christ is inherent and eternal. His clothes become "white and gleaming," or flashing like lightning. Luke is struggling for language to describe the indescribable sight of uncreated light.

30 And behold, two men were talking with Him, and they were Moses and Elijah,

Suddenly, Jesus is not alone. He is flanked by the two towering figures of the Old Testament. Moses, the great lawgiver, through whom God established the Old Covenant. Elijah, the great prophet, who stood for the word of God against total apostasy. Together, they represent the Law and the Prophets, the entirety of the Old Testament Scriptures. And what are they doing? They are attesting to Jesus. Their presence signifies that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything the Law commanded and everything the Prophets foretold. The whole Old Testament finds its "yes" and "amen" in Him.

31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to fulfill at Jerusalem.

They too appear "in glory," sharing in the splendor of the moment. And Luke, alone among the Gospel writers, tells us the topic of their conversation. They were talking about His "exodus." This is the theological heart of the passage. They are discussing His impending death, burial, and resurrection in Jerusalem. The cross is not plan B. It is not a tragedy that interrupts the mission. It is the very purpose for which He came, the great act of deliverance that the first exodus only foreshadowed. The greatest figures of the old covenant are here to affirm that the way of the cross is the way of glory.

32 Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.

Here is a touch of profound realism. In the face of this earth-shattering revelation, the disciples are fighting off heavy eyelids. This is a picture of our own spiritual dullness. Glory is breaking out all around us, and we are often drowsy and inattentive. The same three will later fall asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. But they do shake it off, they become "fully awake," and they see. God in His grace broke through their weakness and allowed them to be witnesses of His glory.

33 And it happened that as they were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three booths: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”, not realizing what he was saying.

As the heavenly scene begins to fade, Peter speaks. He wants to preserve the moment, to build something permanent. His suggestion to build three "booths" or "tabernacles" was likely a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles, a festival that celebrated God's presence with His people in the wilderness. Peter's impulse is understandable; it was a glorious thing to witness. But it was also profoundly wrong. First, he puts Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah, offering to build three equal structures. He fails to see the infinite gap between the servants and the Son. Second, he wants to stay on the mountain. He wants the glory without the cross, the crown without the thorns. Luke adds the charitable comment that he did "not realizing what he was saying." He was speaking out of a mixture of awe, fear, and profound misunderstanding.

34 While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

As Peter is still talking, God the Father interrupts him. The cloud is the Shekinah, the visible manifestation of the presence and glory of God that filled the tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament. This is holy ground. The disciples are enveloped by it, and their reaction is appropriate: fear. This is not the cowering fear of a slave before a tyrant, but the creaturely awe and terror of a sinner standing in the presence of the all-holy God.

35 Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

This is the climax. The Father Himself speaks, and His words are a direct rebuke to Peter's theological error. He does not say, "These are my three great prophets." He singles out Jesus. "This is My Son." This echoes the declaration at Jesus' baptism. He is unique, divine, begotten of the Father. He is "My Chosen One," the Messiah, the one anointed to accomplish salvation. And then comes the command that settles all questions of authority: "Listen to Him!" Not to Moses, not to Elijah, but to Him. The old covenant was glorious, but it was preparatory. The law and the prophets were the word of God, but now the Word Himself has come. Jesus' authority is ultimate and final.

36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

The cloud lifts, Moses and Elijah are gone, and only Jesus remains. The vision is over. The point has been made. The representatives of the old have faded away, leaving only the reality of the new. The disciples are left with Jesus alone, which is exactly where they needed to be. Their silence is understandable. What could they say? How could they explain what they had just witnessed? They were commanded to keep it quiet until after the resurrection, because only in light of the empty tomb could the glory on the mountain be properly understood.

Application

The lessons from the Mount of Transfiguration are foundational. First, we must have a right view of Jesus Christ. He is not simply a great teacher or another prophet in a long line of prophets. He is the eternal Son of God, full of an inherent glory that is, for now, mostly veiled from our sight. Our worship, our obedience, and our entire lives must be oriented around this central fact. He is not one of three booths; He is the temple itself.

Second, we must embrace the path that Jesus lays out for us, which is the path of the cross. Like Peter, our natural inclination is to seek out the glorious mountaintop experiences and to build a permanent camp there. We want the triumph without the trial, the resurrection without the crucifixion. But the message of the Transfiguration is that the "exodus" at Jerusalem is the non-negotiable path to glory. Discipleship means coming down the mountain with Jesus and setting our faces toward our own Jerusalems, the places of suffering and self-denial where we die with Christ in order to live with Him.

Finally, we must listen to Him. We live in a world that is screaming for our attention, a world full of would-be Moseses and Elijahs, all offering their own laws and prophecies. The church itself is often a cacophony of competing voices. But the command from the Father is clear and simple: "Listen to Him!" The word of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Scriptures, is our sole, supreme, and sufficient authority for all of life and faith. When the clouds of confusion descend, and the voices of the old age fade, we must find ourselves, like the disciples, with Jesus alone.