Luke 9:27-36
Lesson Focus
Once again, Jesus reveals himself as the One who brings about God’s salvation for the world.
Lesson Outcomes
Through this lesson, participants will:
Understand the Old Testament allusions found in the Transfiguration story.
Understand that our understanding of who Jesus is is often clouded by our ideas regarding what salvation should look like.
Be encouraged to embrace the salvation that comes to us through Jesus’ suffering and death.
Catching Up on the Story
This week, we’re skipping ahead a few chapters to chapter 9 in Luke’s story. Jesus has been moving about the countryside, preaching, healing, teaching, and even feeding large crowds. The Pharisees, who are the Jewish religious elite, don’t like Jesus one bit, and they often engage Jesus in arguments, seeking either to test Jesus or trap him in some way so that they might have cause to get rid of him. As any good teacher does, Jesus takes advantage of his conversations with the Pharisees and everyday life events to help his followers understand better who he is and what he’s doing.
For their part, the disciples are a bit slow on the uptake. It’s easy to be hard on these men, thinking they’re a little dense, but that’s probably not entirely the case. Just like everyone else that Jesus comes in contact with, they have a lot of unlearning to do about who they think Jesus is and what they think he’s come to do. And more often than not, I think we need to do the same thing.
The Mountain
There’s nothing about today’s passage that isn’t strange. There’s a temptation for me, anyway, to try and explain every little detail to you so that you might fully understand and catch the significance of what’s happening here. But the world of Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and Peter is just so far away from us. I’d almost venture to say that it’s virtually hopeless for us to understand what’s happening on this mountain with Jesus. After all, Peter, who has been with Jesus for so long, witnesses the event and can’t truly comprehend its meaning. Perhaps the best approach to take is to sit with its foreignness awhile, to soak in the mystery of transfiguration, dazzling white clothing, and the appearance of ancient men before our eyes. So, that’s what we’re going to do.
In Luke’s narrative, it’s been eight days since Jesus had a conversation with his followers about his identity. It’s been eight days since Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, albeit without truly knowing what that means. It’s been eight days since Jesus told his followers that he must suffer and die. I must tell you that absolutely no one, it doesn’t matter what year it is or on what continent, no one wants to hear that their leader, the one in whom they have placed so much hope for the future, that he’s going to suffer and die. More than that, no one wants to hear that to truly follow this leader, they might be called to suffer and die, too. But that’s what Jesus says. With that backdrop, Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John, set out on a little journey by themselves.
Besides the other disciples, Jesus and these three men hike up a tall mountain. We could spend some time wondering about where the exact location of this mountain, but that might be to miss the point. However, it does bear mentioning that throughout Israel’s history, mountains have been significant. Instead, important things happen in the mountains. World-changing things happen in the mountains. So there they are the four of them, up on the mountain. Luke tells us that the men are on the mountain to pray. If important things happen on mountains, and if, as we’ve learned, important things happen after Jesus’ prayers, what follows must be super important. While Jesus was praying, something happened. Jesus’ face was changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. This is what the other accounts of this event in Matthew and Mark call the “transfiguration.”
Now, that’s a funny word, maybe even a strange word. The Greek word that Mark uses is metamorphic, the word from which we get metamorphosis. It can mean either an external change or a complete internal change. We usually associate this word with the caterpillar/butterfly change. But that’s not what’s happening here. Jesus’ nature, his essence, isn’t changing, though his outside appearance is. While Luke doesn’t use this word specifically, the sentiment is the same.
At this moment, Luke wants us to think back to Genesis and Moses’ story. After God brings Israel up from Egypt and out of slavery, Moses goes up on a tall mountain and meets with God. And afterward, his face begins to glow dazzling white. He’s so radiant that he has to cover up his face. So, there we have Jesus, standing atop a high mountain; his appearance has changed; he’s glowing brightly, and his clothes are a bright white, whiter than any clothes refiner could make them. What in the world is going on?
Peter Interrupts
Not long after Jesus and his followers arrive on the scene, Jesus begins to glow, and Moses and Elijah show up. Unlike Mark’s account, Luke tells us a little of the contents of their glowing conversation. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah spoke of Jesus’ immanent “departure.” Departure is the word we would use in English, but the Greek is telling and helps us understand what Luke believes will result from Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The word Luke uses is the Greek word for “exodus.” If the mountain imagery wasn’t enough, if Moses showing up wasn’t enough, then surely this kind of language is. Luke firmly believes that what Jesus is up to will rival and exceed God’s greatest act of salvation for God’s people, the Exodus from Egypt. Only this time, this new Exodus that Jesus is enacting is for all people, everywhere. It’s at this point that Peter interrupts the conversation. I have no idea how Peter knows it’s those two heroes of the faith, but he does. After all, there weren’t any photographs back then, so he wouldn’t have known what they looked like.
Perhaps Peter overhears the three men in their conversation. Maybe he heard Jesus greet Moses and Elijah like they were long-time friends. Maybe Jesus calls them by name as he embraces each man. “Oh, Moses, it’s so good to see you! It’s been so long! How did you stand to live so long? I’ve only been fully God and fully human for 30 years! How do you deal with the smell!” Or maybe Peter knew it couldn’t be anyone other than these two. So much of Israel’s hopes dealt with what God had done in the past through Moses. After all, the Exodus was the defining moment of God’s salvation for Israel. Moses had to be included. Elijah had to be there, too, because Elijah was intimately connected with Israel’s hope for God’s future salvation. It could be no one else. Elijah had to be included. In one moment, God’s past salvation and Israel’s hope for future salvation collide.
Can you imagine interrupting a conversation like this?? Two of the most important characters in Israel are there, right before your eyes, along with the person you just confessed to being God’s anointed Messiah, and you decide that you’re going to insert yourself into the conversation. What guts!
Our English translations miss what’s happening with Peter. Verse 5 begins with a boring and plain “Then.” But the force of the original Greek is more like a verbal reaction rooted in shock and amazement. Peter is just reacting. Peter’s just like that one friend who says stuff without really thinking. We all have friends who don’t know what they’re saying; they just react and blurt things out, and more often than not, they’re either flat wrong or what they’re saying is wildly inappropriate. Unable to fully comprehend what he’s seeing and hearing, Peter says, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The first part of Peter’s statement is painfully obvious. Of course, it’s good that you are there! Jesus wouldn’t have brought you up on this high mountain if it weren’t for a good reason.
Now, the second part of Peter’s interruption isn’t so obvious. Why in the world would he want to make some dwellings? Did he think they’d stay there for a while? While we’ve given Peter a bit of a hard time about his rash vocalizations, he’s not entirely off with his suggestion to build some small shelters. The Jewish festival of booths was a celebration that looked forward to the end time Sabbath rest. Peter’s put together a few pieces of the puzzle. The end of things is near. God is finally bringing this sabbath rest we’ve all longed for! And he’s excited to be a part of it. Peter’s fear and bewilderment at the sight of the dazzling white Jesus and the two heroes of the faith, Moses and Elijah, turns to excitement.
Echoing in his ears are the words that Jesus said just eight days ago, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” I can just see the cogs in Peter’s mind working. He’s putting two and two together, and he’s beginning to imagine what the world will look like for him and his fellow Jews now that God’s kingdom is coming. And indeed, this is what Jesus was talking about. Surely, he won’t taste death until he sees God’s kingdom coming in power! It’s coming, and it’s here! Peter thinks to himself.
The Cloud and the Voice
It’s funny that Jesus never says a word in this passage, not directly, anyway. However, I suspect that if he had, he would have told Peter to sit down and be quiet because he had no idea what he was talking about. “Oh, hush up!” Then, all of a sudden, a cloud descended upon the mountain and covered them all. Maybe that’s God’s way of telling Peter to be quiet! It’s another illusion to Moses on the mountain after the Exodus. For Israel, God is almost always present in the cloud. As the cloud surrounds them, a voice booms loud and clear, “This is my Son, the Chosen; listen to him!”
We’ve already heard these words, at least some of them, once at Jesus’ baptism. However, we’re not sure anyone other than Jesus heard them. Now, though, Jesus and Peter, James, and John hear them. They seem meant only for those three fellows. Of course, we get the revelation once again that Jesus is God’s son, his beloved and chosen son. There is no other. Jesus is it. Then comes the command, “Listen to him!” It’s not just a call to hear the words that Jesus says but to follow and conform to what Jesus says. Hear and obey; that’s what God says to Peter, James, and John.
Certainly, God knows how confused Peter and the others are. The last few years with Jesus have been hard to digest, let alone the last few moments. If Peter and the others are to truly follow Jesus, they’ll need to pay relatively close attention to what Jesus says to do.
Be Quiet
As quickly as it all began, it ended. God’s voice booms loud and clear, proclaiming that Jesus is his beloved chosen son and that we should listen to him. Then, the cloud is gone, and so are Moses and Elijah. And Jesus has returned to his usual self.
I’m sure Peter and the others sit there momentarily in stunned disbelief. What in the world just happened? James turns to Peter and scolds him for foolishly interrupting Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah.
After a while, the four men leave the mountaintop to rejoin the rest of the group. As they walk down the mountain, Peter, James, and John shake their heads in disbelief, trying to understand everything.
So What?
I imagine that after this experience, there’s a lingering question in Peter’s mind: Who is Jesus? Every time Peter thinks he’s got a good handle on who Jesus is and what Jesus will do next, he finds out he’s wrong. He certainly knew that Jesus was the Messiah, but then Jesus called him satan because Peter urged Jesus to be God’s messiah in a way that would be unfaithful. Peter was right about Jesus in connecting him with the significance of Moses and Elijah, but clearly, he doesn’t understand what it means for God’s kingdom to come in power. I’m sure Peter keeps asking himself, “Just who is this Jesus?” Why must he suffer and die? Messiahs don’t die.
I think that’s the key to understanding this strange event. Peter wants, we want, salvation that comes through power, not salvation that comes through suffering. Peter gets all excited because he thinks that God’s kingdom is coming in power the way that he understands power. God’s kingdom will not come about through the power of armies or violence but through the power of suffering love. But Jesus knows that the only way to understand the kind of power that Jesus talks about is by first experiencing Jesus’ suffering and death.
As long as we want to conquer life and our enemies through power, through the sheer force of will or coercion, we’ll never, ever be able to see who it is that Jesus is. It’s why we’re going to spend so much time preparing ourselves for Good Friday. It’s why we will gather on Good Friday and narrate Jesus’ death because we can’t understand the resurrection; we can’t understand the power of God’s love until we first journey through Christ’s suffering.
Discussion Questions
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
Why do you think Jesus only takes Peter, James, and John with him on the mountain?
What do you hope Jesus thought the three would learn from what was about to happen?
How might what Jesus says in verses 18-27 shape how he hopes his followers perceive his transfiguration?
What Old Testament allusion might we find in this story?
5. Why would Moses and Elijah be the ones to appear at Jesus’ transfiguration?
What do you think the conversation was like between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah?
Why does Peter offer to make “dwellings” for the three men?
In verse 34, Luke describes a cloud descending and engulfing the group. To what might this be an allusion?
Where have we heard words from God similar to those spoken in verse 35?
Why might this encounter have been important for Jesus’ followers? Why might it be important for us?
How is this episode connected with Jesus’ insistence that he will suffer and die? What might that mean for us?