The Transfiguration

The event

About a week after Peter's confession, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain, where his appearance is suddenly transformed: his face shines like the sun and his clothes become dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appear with him, representing the Law and the Prophets, and Luke tells us they were speaking with Jesus about his coming "departure" — literally his "exodus" — which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem, tying this dazzling moment directly to the cross ahead.

Peter, overwhelmed and not entirely sure what to say, offers to build three shelters, one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah — before a bright cloud overshadows them and the Father's voice speaks again, as at the baptism: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the cloud lifts, Moses and Elijah are gone, and the disciples see "Jesus only" — a vivid picture that all the Law and the Prophets find their fulfillment in him alone.

Jesus instructs the three to tell no one what they'd seen until after the resurrection, and Peter would later write that he had been an "eyewitness of his majesty" on that "holy mountain" — treating the transfiguration as a foretaste of the glory that would one day be fully unveiled.

Dating

The Gospels don't name the mountain. Church tradition since the fourth century points to Mount Tabor in Galilee, though its rounded summit held a fortified town in the first century, leading many modern scholars to favor the slopes of Mount Hermon near Caesarea Philippi, where the preceding scene is set. Either location leaves the historicity of the event untouched.

Scripture references

• Matthew 17:1-9
• Mark 9:2-10
• Luke 9:28-36
• 2 Peter 1:16-18