If you’re like me, the transfiguration of Jesus has always fascinated and perplexed you. Because this Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday, I’ve dedicated my day to understanding (at least trying to) the transfiguration.
A Few Prolegomena
- Peter, James, John, & Jesus go up a mountain
- Jesus is transfigured (Grk – metamorphoo, from which we get metamorphosis)
- The same Greek word is used in Romans 12:2 and 2 Cor. 3:18 – a pretty powerful connection, but not the focus of my study
- Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus
- Moses – ultimate representative of the Law
- Elijah – ultimate representative of the Prophets
- Voice from heaven
- “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
- This is my Son – from Psalm 2:7 (Writings – Khethubim in Hebrew)
- My
- Listen to him – from Deuteronomy 18:15 (Law – Torah in Hebrew)
- In other words, The Father makes it clear that Jesus fulfills the TaNaKh. The Father quotes all three sections of the Hebrew Scriptures!
The Interesting Stuff
Here is the Midrash quote:
Psalm 43:2 states: ‘Why did I walk depressed because of the oppression of my enemy.’ [Has not God saved me in the past and does he not tell me now] – Did I not send you redemption (in
What does this mean?
The rabbis looked at Psalm 43:3 and saw, “Send out your LIGHT and your TRUTH, let them lead me…” and said that when the next generation was oppressed they would need two redeemers similar to Moses and Aaron who redeemed the previous generation.
In the Midrash, they taught that these two redeemers would come in the form of LIGHT and TRURTH.
To make a long story short, they thought the LIGHT would be Elijah and the TRUTH would be the Messiah. Micah 4:5 speaks about Elijah’s coming and Isaiah 42:1 speaks about the Messiah’s coming.
According to Psalm 43:3b they (the LIGHT and the TRUTH) would bring them “to your holy hill and to your dwelling” (a plural noun in Hebrew meaning “tabernacles” or “tents”).
So, here on the mountain we have the two redeemers Elijah (LIGHT) (the preparer for the Messiah) and Jesus (TRUTH) (the Messiah) together and Peter wants to do what? Build tents! Peter knew the text! Moses seems to have been along to point to this.
Then at the end of Psalm 43 it says, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (literally “The salvation of my countenance/face and my God). Seems the Gospel writers want us to see in the word salvation, which is “yeshua,” a reference to Jesus as our “salvation” and our God.
I haven’t got this all figured out yet, but I find it very interesting. Anybody else ever heard of this?
1 comment:
One more thing on Moses and Elijah: you are certainly right in seeing them as representatives of the Law and the Prophets.
But also, they are representatives of doubt and sinner/saint: Moses' sins are many (the circumcision thing, striking the rock, etc.) and then there is Elijah's pity party.
But most interesting of all, I think, is that these are two of the three guys who have bodies though they have passed out of this life. Only bodies can stand on mountains and live in tents. This is a powerful resurrection text.
(It's also interesting to note that Moses assumption into heaven happened after his death and is only hinted at in the OT but confirmed in the Transfiguration story in the NT. Elijah, of course, was assumed without physical death. Thus Moses and Elijah also point forward to the experience of all humanity in the Resurrection to come: either death and then resurrection, or renewal for "those who are left" when he comes again, I Thess. 4:13ff).
+HRC
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