The Word on a Mountain

 

We all know the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus goes up a Mountain with Peter, James and John and there He begins to shine like the sun. Moses and Elijah appear. Then God speaks from a bright cloud declaring “This is my Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”

This is the greatest revelation of who Jesus is the Gospel. From here we descend to to Jerusalem for the beloved Son to die in our place. Rejected. Forsaken. For us.

But why do Moses and Elijah  appear?

The traditional interpretation is that they represent the Law and the Prophets who all point to the Messiah. The transfiguration demonstrates that Jesus is far greater than the Law and the Prophets. He is the Messiah we are to heed. However I think there is even more going on here. What do Moses and Elijah have in common? They both had God reveal Himself to them on mountains. So lets have a closer look at those passages.

Moses First. (Exodus 34)

4 Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the LORD had commanded him.

 5 The LORD came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name Yahweh. 6 Then the LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed:

   Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

 8 Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped.

Now Elijah. (1 Kings 19)

So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 He entered a cave there and spent the night.

    Then the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.”

 11 Then He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD’s presence.”

   At that moment, the LORD passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

   Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

So who is it standing with Moses and Elijah on the mountain top? Who do they speak to face to face with when they can't see the LORD and live? It's the LORD! It's the Word of God. Moses and Elijah are not alone on the Mountain top. The Word of God is with them showing them God.

So back to the transfiguration. Moses and Elijah are standing there again on a Mountain as the Glory of the Lord passes by. And once again they're not alone. Someone is standing there with them.

Jesus isn't just being declared to be God's Son. He's demonstrating that He is the Word of God on a Mountain. He reveals the Father to us!

John 1:14-14

14 The Word became flesh
and took up residence among us.
We observed His glory,
the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning Him and exclaimed,
“This was the One of whom I said,
‘The One coming after me has surpassed me,
because He existed before me.’”)
16 Indeed, we have all received grace after grace
from His fullness,
17 for the law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God.
The One and Only Son—
the One who is at the Father’s side—
He has revealed Him.