The Gospel of Matthew
The Transfiguration: 17,1-8
Looking at the account of the Transfiguration in 2nd Peter, what stands out is the stress on the eyewitness and on the voice from the cloud. That is worth keeping in mind as we read the scene in the Gospel.
Matthew keeps close to Mark in hisaccount but two additions in 17,2 put an emphasis on light. Matthew changes Mark so that the fear of the disciples comes after the voice from the cloud speaks. For Mark, the fear is an immediate reaction - which is in keeping with his whole theme of ignorant and misunderstanding disciples.
The evangelist makes the link to the whole Caesarea Philippi episode by the time link "after six days". For Christians, glory follows suffering: we must share his sufferings so as to share his glory, as St Paul says (Romans 8,17). In Romans 12,1-2, Paul uses the same word for Christians as is used here for the transfiguration of Jesus. (The Greek word in both places is in English as "metamorphosis".)
The six days provide a link to the preceeding scene. They may allude to Moses ascending Mount Sinai, Exodus 24,15-16. Moses will shortly appear in this scene. Some commentators make much of the parallels with Moses' experience on Mount Sinai.
Peter, James and John are three of the first four disciples (not apostles at this stage) to be called by Jesus (4,14-22). They are also the disciples who will be accompanying Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane (26,37).
The mountain is a high mountain but otherwise unnamed. The pilgrimage site of Mount Tabor comes from later Christian tradition seeking specifc sites where pilgrims could remember and celebrate Gospel scenes.
We have already seen the importance of mountains for Matthew as the places where heaven and earth meet: Sermon on the Mount (5,1), the place of prayer (14,3), the place of healing and feeding (15,29). All the mountain scenes in Matthew point towards the final mountain scene, the commissioning of the disciples by the risen Jesus, 28,16.
Here in the Transfiguration, the mountain certainly echoes Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb, the place where both Moses (Ex 19,20) and Elijah ( 1 Kings 19,13) met God. It could echo other mountains too - Mount Zion for example or the other mountains which are places where important events take place in this Gospel as we have just mentioned.
With the description of the changes in Jesus, the evangelists are echoing traditional language such as we find in the book of Daniel (Dn 7,9) or the Apocalypse (Apoc 4,4) to describe the experience of the glory of God, an experience far beyond human language to describe.
Moses and Elijah are both described in the Old Testament as prophets. Moses is also of course the law giver. Moses has an unknown tomb (Dt 34,6) whilst Elijah went up to heaven in his fiery chariot (2K 2,11). Both Moses and Elijah have considerable prominence in biblical tradition as figures of the last days. It is common to say that they represent the Law and the Prophets, but there is much more to it than that.
The feast of tabernacles is celebrated as a reminder of the Israelite's journey through the desert with God's protection.
Here on the mountain of the Transfiguration, the booths may indicate a wish on the part of Peter to prolong and hold onto the experience.
The cloud is a common sign of the divine presence. Moses on Mount Sinai would be an example, Ex 16,20. For the voice from the cloud, Psalm 2,7 stresses the Son, Gen 22,2 uses the word "beloved" and Isaiah 42,1 refers to the servant.
Matthew introduces both the cloud and the voice with "Behold" as he also does for Moses and Elijah in 17,3 (NRSV "suddenly"). This heightens the dramatic effect of the intervention. However, translations generally reckon one "behold" in a verse is enough.
The disciples react with fear in verse 6, a human reaction to the presence of God in the cloud and the voice. To which (the human) Jesus responds in verse 7 with his healing touch. Something similar happens in the Apocalypse (Apoc 1,17).
Jesus also raises the disciples. The word in Greek is that also commonly used in the NT for the resurrection (16,21) so there may be a deeper note here. We will see this more clearly when we read verse 9.
And finally, in verse 8, the disciples look up and see only Jesus. There, I think, lies the whole focus of the Transfiguration as, indeed, of the Gospels: Jesus in whom in a unique way dwelt the divine presence and who is the unique go-between between God and man: go-between as the one who reveals God to us and who is our mediator with God.
Coming at this turning point of the Gospel where the theme of suffering has been introduced (16,21), the Transfiguration also reminds us that with all the suffering to come, at the end there will be glory - a glory revealed as we will see on a mountain at the end of the Gospel (28,16).
Therefore, the disciples cannot hang on to the experience by building the booths as Peter proposes. Instead, they must come down the mountain (17,9) and wait until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.
Return now to the main page to read the follow up, 17,9-13.
Elijah to come: 17,9-13
Only Matthew describes the Transfiguration as a vision. The word here is best seen with its original meaning, "what you have seen" (NIV). Matthew has changed the verb in Mk 9,9 to a noun. It is important to recognise that the disciples were well aware of what was happening at this scene. This is certainly not "a thing or person seen in a dream or trance" (Oxford Dictionary) which has become the common meaning of the word today.
Yet the transfiguration cannot be properly understood until after Jesus has died and risen from the dead and so entered into his glory.
What may not be clear in the translations is that Matthew has changed the word Mark used for "risen" to the word for "risen" which is commonly used for the resurrection. It is found in 16,21 and has been inserted into 17,7 for the disciples as we saw. Jesus at his resurrection will rise to new life. So too one day will his disicples.
The conversation between Jesus and his disciples then continues with the theme of Elijah to come. The link between Elijah and John which only Matthew makes so explicitly has already been considered in 11,12-14
Inserted though is a repeated note that the Son of Man will suffer. This looks back to the first prediction of Jesus' fate (16,21) and looks forward to the second (17,22). The Transfiguration may be glory but Jesus has first to suffer.
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