Articles
The Transfiguration and the Cross
The Transfiguration and the Cross
-Chumbley
The disciples had returned from their first preaching assignment (Lk. 9.1–2,10), and Christ wanted time alone with them. But privacy proved difficult—departing “to a deserted place . . . by themselves,” they did not escape the notice of a large crowd (Mk. 6.31ff). Withdrawing to the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, Christ “entered a house and wanted no one to know it,” but a mother with a demonized daughter found Him (Mk. 7.24–26). The group next revisited Decapolis, where Christ was once asked to leave (Mk. 5.17, 7.31), but now He was met by a very great multitude (Mk. 8.1) and His attempts to limit publicity—“Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town” (8.22ff)—were ignored (Mk. 7.36). Finally, at Caesarea Philippi—a cauldron of paganism, Caesar worship, and Judaism twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee—Christ found the quiet He needed to ask the Twelve a question.
“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matt. 16.13). The answers (John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, etc.), though complimentary (Matt. 16.14), were wrong. Christ came seeking adoration, not just admiration, but despite nearly two years of preaching, teaching, and healing, the masses still didn’t see Him for who He was.
“Who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16.15). Peter’s answer—“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”—was perfect. So delighted was Christ by his confession that for the only time in the Gospels, He pronounced a blessing on a specific individual (Matt. 16.17).
But Jesus had read the hearts of the Twelve and knew they had the Jewish mindset that stumbled over the cross (16.22,23; 1 Cor. 1.23). From this point on, His focus shifted from interacting with the public to preparing His disciples for what lay ahead.
By specific chronological notes, the Gospel writers connect an event that occurred a week later with the confession (Matt. 17.1, Mk. 9.2, Lk. 9.28). A. B. Bruce notes the extraordinary nature of such specificity in the Gospels and says it “is a finger-post pointing back to the conversation on the passion, and saying: ‘If you desire to understand what follows, remember what went before” (Training of the Twelve, 184).
The basic aim of the transfiguration, it seems, was encouragement—for Christ in His humanity and for the disciples in their fear. I’ve only space here to say something about how the event sought to reconcile the disciples to the incredible and repulsive thought of the cross. Four phenomena worked to this end.
The transfiguration was a miracle, but it differed from every other miracle in Christ’s ministry in this respect: in all others, Christ was the giver of grace, in this one, He was the receiver of glory. The splendor of deity displayed in the change that came over Him indicated He was no ordinary person. The visitation. If Moses and Elijah could survive mortality for a higher life, why couldn’t Christ? The conversation centered on Christ’s “decease which He [would] accomplish at Jerusalem” (Lk. 9.31). Decease translates exodus, the great Biblical word symbolizing emancipation and deliverance. Accomplish suggested fulfilment, not failure; completion, not collapse. Triumph, not tragedy, awaited Jesus at Jerusalem. The exhortation. God spoke from heaven to claim Christ as His Son, certify Christ’s agenda (Matt. 16.21), and command that Christ be heard.
But the disciples’ capacity to hear—understand and believe—was limited by their presuppositions (Mk. 9.32, Lk. 9.45); they were a long way from accepting the eventuality of Christ’s death. But God’s statement, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” included His pleasure with the death Christ had predicted.
God loved His Son from eternity for His holy and lovely attributes, but this love was as nothing compared to the love evoked by the Son giving His life for sinners. “Therefore my Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again” (Jn. 10.17).
Kenny Chumbley
KLChumbley@aol.com
