THEOLOGY AND APPLICATION OF MATTHEW 17:1-9

How does the transfiguration correspond to the rest of the Gospel according to Matthew, the nature of God, and the King and His Kingdom as we see unfold in the rest of the book of Matthew and the New Testament? Since the scene atop the mountain follows the conversation between Jesus and his disciples in Matthew 16, the transfiguration shows further that Jesus is not just a prophet, a lawgiver, or just a divinely endowed being, but that he is the Lord and God, that he is Messiah, that he is King and the entirety of both old and New Testament are about him and his Kingdom. Matthew 17 not only affirms the divine identity of the Messiah, Jesus, but the rest of the book will show what the purpose of the Messiah truly is. In chapter 18 through 20 we see Jesus defeating the false notions the Jews held historically of the Messiah and His Kingdom. If one believes that a Kingdom’s power is found in political revolt and exerted like that of their Roman oppressors or of the glory days under David and Solomon’s reign, one doesn’t understand the nature of the Messiah’s Kingdom. It’s true power and glory will be forged through its King’s suffering, humility, death, burial, and resurrection and the same goes for the kingdom’s citizens. In the Messiah’s Kingdom, true honor was obtained by being a servant (18.1-5). In the Messiah’s Kingdom true triumph is found in forgiveness and mercy; the mercy God has for you and the mercy we have for each other (18.10-35). In The Messiah’s Kingdom true wealth is found apart from materialism and in total submission to God (19.16-30). In the following chapters of Matthew after the transfiguration, we will also see even further opposition to this message as a call for Jesus’ death continues to gain traction amongst the religious elite that would eventually lead to Jesus’ suffering and his crucifixion. The religious leader’s ideas of “Kingdom” and Jesus’ Kingdom will come to a clash. He challenges their authority, as opposed to affirming it, as they thought the Messiah would. He instead gives a final exposition on what really is at the heart of humanity, why they haven’t embraced his Message of the Kingdom (i.e., their hypocrisy), and what their fate really is because of their rejection of his Kingdom. Jesus and His Kingdom will be victorious and will be everlasting, but the status quo, hypocrisy, and desires of the religious leaders will lead to their demise. If they truly were followers of the law and the prophets, they should have immediately embraced Jesus just as the way Moses and Elijah did at the transfiguration, and would listen to him, as the Father from heaven commanded the disciples.

The Transfiguration also anticipated the Resurrection of Christ. The transfiguration shows that he is the Glorified Lord, that he came from heaven and that he and his father were one, and that he is the one to be obeyed. Although the transfiguration affirms that Jesus is the Messiah and that his conversation about his death and suffering were fact and authoritative, the transfiguration of Christ also shows that his death would not be the end. When the disciples would see their master taken away in the garden, this image should have radiated in the minds of the three witnessing disciples that he would still be victorious. The transfiguration of Jesus was a preview to the Peter, James, and John of the Son of Man’s glorious identity, coming to his kingdom in glory, which could only come through his death, burial, and resurrection. Although this paper is meant to exegete Matthew’s account, Luke’s account also adds texture this. Luke links the scene of transfiguration to the prediction of his death and resurrection, as he records that Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus, “his exodus” which would be accomplished in Jerusalem (Luke 9.31). When we get to the resurrection in Matthew, what is described in the scene? We read of a messenger from God whose appearance was like lightening and his clothing white as snow. The response of the guards that were there were the appropriate responses to this glorious event just as the three disciples at the transfiguration: fear and trembling. This same glorified Lord, though suffered and died at the hands of man, rose in glory, and remain glorified permanently. No one was able to lay a hand on him or hammer a nail into his hands and feet unless it was his and his Father’s will. The resurrection vindicates the message of Matthew, and the Transfiguration gives the reader a glimpse of it.

So, what would be the application of this passage? Ultimately, for Matthew’s original readers, the command from heaven to “listen to him” is not just exclusive to the three disciples who witnessed the transfiguration. Matthew’s original readers lived in a time not long after the resurrection, so how much more should the transfiguration and the resurrection provide them comfort and hope to not be distracted by the things around them, be distracted by the things that were nailed to the cross, and “listen to him”? They are left with the choice to not allow for the social, religious, and philosophical barriers stand in the way of their faith in the identity of Jesus and obey his teachings. Even if they didn’t understand fully, or even struggled to agree, trust in Jesus. He evidentially is fully qualified to lead their lives and knows best. Obviously, neither Matthew nor his readers were witnesses to the transfiguration, though Matthew was a witness to the resurrected Savior. However someday all of Jesus’ followers in his Kingdom will witness him in glory (1 Jn 3.2) and likewise be transformed in glory (Rom 8.17). Then, what is the responsibility of every disciple because of this? Go into all the world, joyfully and convicted, and make more followers of Jesus the Messiah and citizens of his Kingdom (Matt 28.18-20).