Who Was With Jesus On The Mount Of Transfiguration?

Who was present at the Mount of Transfiguration?

What was the Transfiguration?

The Transfiguration is recorded in Matthew 27 but also in Mark 9 and Luke 9 where Jesus’ humanity is peeled back and His Shekinah glory or the glory of God is revealed. Jesus, being both Man and God, had His divinity revealed for three of His closest disciples. He only took Peter, James, and John with Him to a remote, mountain and only these three were able to witness such an astounding event. The Transfiguration is where Jesus revealed His Shekinah glory and seen for the very first time by human eyes. Isaiah caught a glimpse of God’s glory but these men were right there with Him when His glory was revealed which had never been seen before (Isaiah 6:1-6). This glory was not revealed to the other disciples and not to the Jewish religious leaders but only to the select three that Jesus invited and even here, Jesus “charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (Mark 9:9).

Who was There?

Who was at the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus revealed His glory? The Scriptures tell us “Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them” (Mark 9:2a). Of course, Jesus was there but as “he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus” (Mark 9:2b-4) so Jesus, Peter, James, John were there but so were Elijah and Moses. Elijah represented the prophets of the Old Testament and Moses represented the Law of God which was delivered to Him. There were no human witnesses to these events besides these three men. Mark’s gospel records the Transfiguration but it is understood to be Peter’s own account of Jesus’ earthly ministry and written from Peter’s own perspective. Immediately after the Transfiguration, God the Father said “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen” (Luke 9:35a-36). They “kept silent” is better rendered “they were speechless!” The Transfiguration was to be kept secret and not revealed to others until after Jesus was raised, just as Jesus had commanded (Mark 9:9).

Why the Transfiguration?

Why did Jesus show Peter, James and John His glory? What was this all about? Perhaps if we consider the context, the very verse prior to the Transfiguration account has Jesus saying “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power” (Mark 9:1) and those three were Peter, James, and John. Just before Mark 9:1 Jesus had just been telling His disciples “that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31) so He had been speaking to His disciples about His coming death and resurrection. He warned that “whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:8). The kingdom cannot come for us until Jesus suffered and died for our sins. The context of Jesus saying “there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power” seems clear when He takes Peter, James, and John with Him and “was transfigured before them” (Mark 9:2c). Those who were “standing here” very shortly saw “the kingdom of God” and it certainly had “come with power.” Jesus’s Shekinah glory was all about God’s power and the fact that Elijah and Moses were there points to them being part of that coming kingdom.

Peter’s Reaction

Naturally, Peter was the first to comment and so after the Transfiguration “Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud” (Luke 9:33-34). I believe Peter’s and the other’s reaction would have been ours too; being afraid when the Shekinah glory overshadowed them and even more terrifying, “as they entered the cloud.” Perhaps a by Peter saying that he’d build three tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, he was saying, “Jesus, just stay here…don’t go and die…start the kingdom here and now with You, Moses, and Elijah.” The reference about tents may have related to the Feast of Booths where the Israelites lived in tents or booths made of tree limbs and branches. The temporary nature of the structures could show the shortness of our life. The Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles points to the start of the kingdom of heaven with the Last Great day symbolizing that Great Day of the Feast, sometimes called the Last Great day which foreshadowed Jesus’ return to judge the world.

Conclusion

Jesus is coming back again and this time in all of His glory and He will judge the world in righteousness (Rev 20:12-15). The Apostle John writes of this time, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Rev 1:7). Those who mourn their sin today and repent and trust in Christ will rejoice at His coming but for those who have never done so, no wonder they “will wail on account of him.” They know that judgment comes at His return but for those who’ve been born again, they have had their sins judged at the cross; bourn by Christ.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.