1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Even though Jesus had just told the disciples that following Him was a life of sacrifice and suffering, He also told them that some of them would get to see the kingdom of God come in power before they died. That happened a week later when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain and He was transformed and revealed His glory to them. At the same time, Moses and Elijah appeared with Him and they spoke. Peter offered to build tents for them. He was probably thinking about the prophecy from Zechariah (Zech 14:16–19) which spoke of the nations worshiping the King by participating in the Feast of Tabernacles (tents) but he didn’t really know what to say because he was afraid. Then a cloud descended and the voice of God said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” Then suddenly everything returned to normal. What an amazing scene punctuated by a profound sentence, how much have you paid attention to that? Jesus is God’s beloved Son and God says, “listen to him!” Are you doing that? In what areas are you not listening to what Jesus has said? What do you need to do to change that?
When they came down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell anyone about what they saw until after Jesus rose again. They obeyed Jesus even though at the time they didn’t fully understand what Jesus rising again meant. They also questioned the scribes teaching that Elijah must come before the Messiah and Jesus said that Elijah had come before (in John the Baptist) and just as he had died, so Jesus too would die.