AT the end of the last chapter Jesus has told his disciples that he must suffer and die. He has also warned them that to follow him will mean suffering. He has also warned them that he will return in his Father's glory to judge the world. It is very wonderful and assuring that at the beginning of this next chapter we are given the account of Christ's Transfiguration, which we are told in the other Gospel's occurred 8 days from the events at the end of chapter 16. In this revelation of Jesus we are given assurance as believers concerning Christ and the future.

The Transfiguration of Christ was a revelation of Christ in his glory. It was a vision of his real person as the Son of God. John tells us in John 1:14 that he and others had seen Christ's glory. Peter speaks of this also in 2 Peter 1:16 as having seen Christ's divine majesty and mentions the voice of God speaking from the majestic glory. The record of the Transfiguration has been given us as a further assurance of the glory and majesty of Christ. This is his glory as he is seated at the right hand of the Father, having been given all authority to reign. To follow Jesus in this world is to experience a cross of suffering, but we see what the world can't see. We are privileged to have this evidence of his glory, and by faith bestowed on us by the Holy Spirit, we behold his glory in a spiritual sense, knowing that he is the glorious Son of God. In this knowledge the cross we are called to bear in following him is nothing compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

Jesus had said he would rise again. In the sorrow of hearing about his death, the disciples just did not take in the promise of his resurrection. Here Jesus gives a sight of who he is, and so when he says he would rise from the dead, so this promise was sure. Here at the Transfiguration Jesus again tells his disciple not to speak of this vision of his glory until after his resurrection, so again emphasizing his victory over death.

Further to all this in the sight of the glory of Jesus, the disciples also saw Moses and Elijah sharing in this glory. Their glory was nothing to the glory of Jesus, the divine Son of God, but they are seen in glory by the disciples. Both these servants of Christ of old enjoyed a special departure from this life, which did not involve the experience of the death of this earthly body, and so we may assume they knew and experienced the resurrection of their bodies at the moment of departure, just as the dead in Christ will experience it at his second coming, and as those believers alive at that time will also experience it. What the disciples were being shown was the glory of what awaits all true believers in the life to come. We shall be glorified through Christ, and receive a glorified body, which will replace this earthly and corrupt body which will decay in the earthly existence.

So we have this evidence of the glory which awaits us in Christ. It is plain that both Moses and Elijah owed their glorification to Christ, for here they are communing with Christ, and as the other accounts in Mark and Luke tell us they communed with Christ concerning his coming death for their salvation and the salvation of all whom the Father had given to the Son before the foundation of the world.

It is in Christ and his work for us, and in him alone, that this glory is bestowed, and because of this it is sure. It is the work of our Saviour who has won this promise of glory, and because he has won it by his perfect work and victory, it can't be lost. If we had to contribute anything to this blessed hope, then there would be no certainty whatsoever. Because our trust is in Christ our glorification is certain. So Paul expresses in Romans 8:29-30 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn of many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

On seeing the glory of Jesus and hearing the voice of God, the disciples were terrified, though for Peter, James and John this terror was tempered by the desire that the sight of the glory might remain, hence the idea of building tents. Then in their terror the cloud came down and hid the glory, and God spoke testifying to Jesus, ending with the words “Listen to him”. The cloud can be none other than the cloud that followed the Israelites in the wilderness, and which received Jesus at his ascension. When the cloud drew near the eternal realm of God was near. Then they felt the touch of Jesus, and the glory had gone and only Jesus was there to comfort them.

How rich this is in instruction. For sinful men and women to come into the presence of God always produces terror, and this is because we fall short of God's glory by our failure and sins. God points us to Jesus as the answer to our terror. We must listen to Jesus and then we shall hear the blessed good news of how he has hidden our transgressions from view by his obedience even to death on the cross. We shall be told that he has atoned for our failure and sin, and presents his disciples spotless before the throne of God. By listening to Jesus we shall feel his touch as these disciples did, and our terror will be turned into peace.

When Christ returns in his glory, all the impenitent world, who sought to save their lives, and so despised Jesus, will see the glory, and as Isaiah pictures, they will seek to fly in terror and for the rocks to cover them. From this we realize that the cross we bear as disciples is nothing compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us through and by Christ.