Matthew 17:1-2 1And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
Jesus spent almost a week with his disciples in the area of Caesarea Philippi. There is no record of what happened during that time. We can imagine it to be a time of deep thought and reflection on what Jesus told them about himself and his looming future death and resurrection. The disciples may have still been confused about his identity. In the larger narrative, Matthew moves next to another event of revolution about the character of Jesus. The event of the transfiguration may have served two purposes. For the disciples, it helped them gain further insight into the person of Jesus. For Jesus, it gave assurance that the Father would be with him as he journeyed to the cross. Matthew uses the present tense used in a historical way in these verses. This helps the story come alive and invites the reader to join with these disciples to see the glorified Jesus.
Peter, James, and John were close to Jesus. They are treated as one group in the Greek with one definite article used for all three. Jesus takes them up to a high mountain. The mountain is not named here, but tradition has named Mount Tabor. Many important things happen in the Bible on mountains. A mountain may have been chosen for this revelation in reflection of Moses’ experience of God on Mount Sinai and Elijah’s experience of Mount Carmel.
Jesus was transfigured (metemorphōthē). This word has been translated and understood in different ways. It means to change in appearance or character, as in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. Something was different about Jesus at that moment. Matthew goes on to describe what this was like, but even his words do not capture the significance of the moment. Jesus’ face became as bright as the sun. This description attempts to capture the glory of Jesus as the divine Son of God. God’s glory is so overwhelming that no one can look upon it and live. In the same way, the glory of the Son is also so overwhelming because it reflects the very glory of the Almighty God. Even Jesus’ clothes radiated the holiness of God. It would not have been difficult for a Jew who heard or read Matthew’s Gospel to associate Jesus’ appearance with the glory and holiness of God.
People are confused about the identity of Jesus. Many people see him as only a good teacher who taught helpful values. The Jewish leaders of that time recognized something special about Jesus but could not come to the point of faith. Their doubts clouded their vision of him. The disciples were now getting a glimpse at just how significant the man of Galilee was. He was no ordinary man. The Messiah was not just the king of the nation of Israel. He was the Almighty Holy One in the flesh living among them. It took some time for them to understand this, but the idea was later captured in writing in John 1:1-4, Colossians 1:15-17, and Hebrews 1:1-4. Jesus is the Light of the world who shines into the darkness of our lives (John 1:5).
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