Lesson for June 9, 2021
The Life of Christ
The Transfiguration
(Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:1-13; Luke 9:28-36)
Six days after Peter’s great confession about Jesus being the Messiah, a well-known event in the life of Christ took place – the Transfiguration. The Greek word for transfigure is “metamorphoo” and means a change in form. This change can be a literal change (as in the case of Christ at this event) or it can be a figurative change (as in the life of believers: Romans 12:2 – transformed is the same Greek word).
In the case of the Transfiguration, Jesus Christ’s physical appearance was changed for a brief period. The reason for this event was to completely convince His disciples that He was the Messiah by giving them a glimpse of the future. What the disciples saw was Jesus, Moses and Elijah talking about the resurrection of Christ. Not long after this event, Jesus was taken, tried as a criminal, and crucified by the Romans. The disciples needed a great deal of spiritual strength in order to endure these events. They received this spiritual strength as a result of the Transfiguration and ultimately the Resurrection.
There can be no doubt from the context that the physical appearance of Jesus changed. Matthew says that His face shone clear and bright as the sun and His clothing became as white as light. Mark calls it “divine brightness.” Luke echoes the accounts but adds that His clothing flashed as lightning. Jesus allowed His closest followers, Peter, John, and James to witness a glimpse of the glory of His resurrection body (Moses and Elijah also appeared in some majestic form – perhaps an interim glorified body). Surely this would convince them of what Jesus had been teaching them – that He was both human and divine and that He would have to suffer and die but then be raised from the dead.
Once again, Peter stepped to the forefront and showed that he still didn’t fully understand the purpose for which Jesus had come. While it may have seemed good on the surface to offer to build an altar to Elijah, Moses and Jesus, Peter had made an error in judgment. Peter had knowingly or unknowingly put Jesus on the same level as these two Old Testament prophets. Peter also entered a conversation in which he had no business. No one had spoken to Peter, but he was obviously listening to the discussion regarding the resurrection of Christ. God the Father corrected Peter’s error by speaking directly from Heaven. God the Father simply said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased, hear ye Him.” This statement from God the Father did not diminish the role that Elijah and Moses had played in the fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel or their roles during the Tribulation. (Revelation 3)
After Jesus had charged His disciples not to tell anyone about this vision, the disciples asked Him a question regarding the coming of Elijah (Elias). Their question was regarding the scribes’ teaching that Elijah must come first before the Day of the Lord (Christ’s Second Coming). The disciples were struggling with the idea of Christ’s resurrection, assuming He was referring to the Second Coming, as evidenced from Mark 9:9-10, “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.”
The scribes had taught correctly that Elijah would come as a forerunner to Christ’s Second Coming. (Malachi 4:5) What they missed was the fact of Christ’s first coming as a Servant and Savior. These events were prophesied throughout the Old Testament but were ignored by the mainstream scribes and Pharisees (some believed in Christ – John 3:1-8; 12:42; 19:39) Jesus answered the disciples’ question about Elijah coming by telling them that he had already come referring to John the Baptist, who had come in “the power and spirit of Elijah.” (Matthew 11:7-14; Luke 1:17)
Jesus Goes to the Feast of the Tabernacles
(John 7:1-17)
Sometime after Peter’s confession, Jesus began a journey toward Jerusalem where He would complete God’s plan of salvation by dying on the Cross. His journey to Jerusalem took Him south through Galilee where He stayed for a short period of time, going from town to town spreading the Gospel. The timing for continuing His journey was important, as the Jews had been plotting to kill Him for over a year and a half.
Jesus was with His earthly family – his half-brothers and perhaps even His sisters and parents. It may be that Jesus was in Nazareth of Galilee, which would have been on the way to Jerusalem. We are told in John 7:5 that His brothers had not yet believed on Him, which helps us understand their urging Jesus to go to Judea and make a public showing of Himself in order to become popular. The Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles was about to take place and apparently the brothers of Jesus thought it would be a perfect opportunity for Jesus to do some miracles and gain notoriety. But God’s timing is always perfect and the time for Jesus to present Himself on a national platform as the Messiah was not yet come.
The Feast of the Tabernacles was the seventh and final feast of the year. It occurred five days after the Day of Atonement on the fifteenth of October. This feast was also called the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16; 34:22), the Feast to the Lord (Leviticus 23:39; Judges 21:9), or the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23:36; Deuteronomy 16:13; I Kings 8:2; II Chronicles 5:3, 7:8; Nehemiah 8:14; Isaiah 30:29; Ezekiel 45:23,25).
On the first day of the feast, each person collected tree branches for construction of their booth (Nehemiah 8:13-18). These booths were constructed as reminders of the temporary housing erected by their forefathers during their wanderings in the wilderness. (Leviticus 23:40-41; Deuteronomy 16:14). The “booth” in Scripture is a symbol of protection, preservation, and shelter. (Psalm 27:5; 31:20; Isaiah 4:6).
On the eighth and final day of the feast, the high priest of Israel, in a great processional made up of priests and tens of thousands of worshipers, descended from the Temple to pause briefly at the Pool of Siloam. A pitcher was filled with water, and the procession continued via a different route back to the Temple. Once there, the water was poured on the altar as a symbol of God’s provision of water. Since in Israel the rains normally stopped in March, there was normally no rain for almost seven months! If God does not provide the early rains in October and November, there would be no spring crop, and famine would be the result. This ceremony, then, was intended to solicit God’s blessing for the nation by providing life-giving water.
It is in connection with the Feast of Tabernacles that John wrote: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38).
Shortly after Jesus arrived at the feast, He went into the Temple and began to teach. Many of the Jews marveled at His teaching, thinking “how can He teach these things being uneducated.” We know that Jesus was not uneducated and that He had a great understanding of the Scriptures. The truth was that these Jews did not know the Scriptures. Since they were unbelievers, they were unable to understand the true meaning of God’s Word. Jesus told them that if any person desired to know God’s will, that person would be provided with the accurate doctrine necessary to discover it. John 7:17, “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.”