Author: Bill Hall

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Luke 9:36 ” When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.”

   The experience ended as fast as it had started for the disciples. They likely didn’t tell anyone for a couple of reasons. First, Jesus obviously intended the experience only for these three men at this time. And, had they told all the details, it wasn’t exactly flattering to them.
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your Truth. You communicate so much to us. Yet we fail and fail again. Your goodness is overwhelming. We will praise You for Your faithfulness and unfailing love. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:35 “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”

   This is it! The Lord God Almighty has spoken. Jesus is the Son, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead. This is the ultimate recognition of the validity of the ministry of Christ, and His identity. It remains only for humanity to follow the command and hear Him.

Heavenly Father, I will forever praise You! You alone are the One Who Is. All else is dependent upon You. Clear my mind and make it large. Fill my heart with Your greatness. You alone have the answers I seek. Today and every day of my life I will pursue after Your Truth. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:34 “While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.”

   The disciples, being Jewish, likely knew what the cloud signified. This was a signal to the presence of God the Father. This was the same as the cloud on Mount Sinai. And, this is why they were afraid. More specifically they feared as they entered the cloud. They did not voluntarily walk into it, the cloud of the Presence of God overshadowed, and thus enveloped, them. The word ‘fearful’ here indicates that if they had their way about it, like the Israelites of old, they would have run away from the cloud, rather than to it.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being content to deal with our fears. You have not hidden Yourself so completely that we never know You are there. No, You have made Yourself known to us, and we can know and understand some of Your great Essence. How can we ever extol Your Name to the best degree? You have done all things well. We know You are Altogether Wonderous. Never has there been any other like You, nor is that even possible. All that may ever be is in Your power. You alone are the HOLY ONE. Thank You for allowing us to know that You are there. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:33 “Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah “– not knowing what he said.”

   Here we find one of Peter’s classic lines. The text here tells us he didn’t know what he was saying. And, frankly, nobody else knows either. What exactly he said it for, or what he really had in mind, is entirely elusive. Needless to say, all of humanity has had this experience at one time or another. The placing of the foot in the mouth is a common occurrence.

   But, God is much more patient than anyone else. He surely knew what Peter was trying to say. And, Peter was not reprimanded, but reminded that Jesus is the One to be heard. He is the Son. And all humans need to be reminded of many things quite often.

Heavenly Father, thank You for considering our weakness. You are gracious and kind to us and that is a great mercy. How nice it is to know that You care. To know that the God of All actually loves us is so very wonderful. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:32 “But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.”

   The progression here is very similar to what we find in the garden just before Jesus is taken for trial. These three disciples and Christ go up into the mountain to pray. But, the three do not continue in prayer as Christ does and therefore fall asleep. So, they really just get the last bit of this experience. The Holy Spirit brings to their minds more of it later when the gospels are written.
   This is a sad commentary on spiritual sloth. The disciples could have seen more. But they fell asleep, and were quite groggy as they finally awoke.
Heavenly Father, thank You for showing us Your truth! May we as the disciples be accounted worthy to be in the secret place where Your glory is revealed. May we never count it a common thing, but always a great honor! You alone are Almighty God. We can never have enough knowledge of Your glory. This earthly rest is of no consequence when we may see Your glory. We praise You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:31″who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”

   At the time of this wonderful event surely the disciples still understood the plan very little. They likely did not process much of what these men discussed with Jesus. Besides this, the Holy Spirit did not bring back to their memory the specifics of what was said on this occasion by Moses and Elijah. In any case, just to have this report is unique.

   Very likely these two men spoke in praise of the glory of the plan and were just as honored to be a part of this revelation of the glory of Christ as were the disciples. This is not to say that they had not already seen the glory of Christ, for we would assume they had. But in every new experience of the glory of the Lord we find a greater experience for ourselves. We see more and more of Him with Whom we have to do.

Heavenly Father, all glory and praise and honor be to Your Christ! You have made Him all in all. I will praise You high forever and extol Your glorious Name! You alone have made the perfect plan and carried it out with exact precision. You have made the most unexpected things come true! Only You could construct and orchestrate such a wonderful thing. I put my hand on my mouth in awe! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:30 “And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,”

   The purpose of the presence of these men is not immediately clear. However, it is clear that the ultimate point of the transfiguration experience was the glory of Christ. The three disciples allowed to see it would remember it for that purpose and share it later. So, the presence of Moses and Elijah are a part of that.
   How the disciples knew who these men were is also not immediately clear. Elijah might have been easily recognizable. But, it seems more likely that this knowledge came either as a result of the conversation between Jesus and the two, or (more likely) part of the miracle of the event was this prescience on the part of the observers. The response of Peter to the whole presentation would seem to support the latter conclusion as he was obviously overwhelmed by what was given to them to know and see.
   One might also ask, why these two men specifically? There could be several possible answers here, though all of these could equally be the case. For one, maybe Jesus specifically chose these men because He wanted to speak to them at that particular moment. He discussed His upcoming sacrifice with them, and given the fact that they appeared in glory with Him, we have no reason to suspect they were only images of the men. It seems they two were allowed to actually be there with Him. But also, it could be that they were selected for what they represent in Scripture. Moses is the foremost in relation to the law. Elijah serves as the representative of the prophets.
   And then, finally, the other reason for this selection of Moses and Elijah could be that they will be the two witnesses we are told about in the book of the Revelation. This is not certain, but has a decent support in that the two witnesses will be associated with judgments that Moses and Elijah were also associated with.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the truth of the Scriptures! You have given us so much, may we love You forever for it! You alone know the end from the beginning and have Your perfect plan in motion from day one. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:29 “As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.”

   This is one of many sights in Scripture which we can only use our imagination to envision. However, rest assured that the Holy Spirit is able to give us at least an idea in our hearts of the feeling that Peter, James, and John had on this occasion. Even if we cannot re-create the experience, what any believer has with the Holy Spirit living in them is also very wonderful.
   Elsewhere the Scriptures use the word ‘transfigured’ to describe this change. So, we really have no reason to think that Jesus looked like a different person. But, the changes that did occur were such that anyone not knowing the facts of the case might easily assume He was a different person. The revealing of His glory was surely enough that these three disciples never looked at Him quite the same again.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your glorious Son! We are overwhelmed by His glory, mercy, and grace! We will forever magnify Your power and wisdom in the plan of salvation. You are awesome beyond all reckoning. You are so wonderful! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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 Luke 9:28 “Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.”

   Why did Jesus have this inner circle? What did He intend to accomplish by limiting access to witnessing some of His greatest miracles? We tend to think things are strange until we do them ourselves. But, humanity does indeed practice the same thing. We don’t give top secret clearance to just anybody. There are a select few that get to see certain things, and do certain things. Access is limited. There may be a nuclear plant, or a valuable storage container, or the like and there will be three or four people who alone have legitimate access to it.

   Jesus had selected these three, and it seems to me likely that they were chosen for the strength of their faith. That is not to say that their faith was very strong, but it may have been stronger than some of the others among the disciples. And, God rewards faith. Those who believe and trust will also be trusted.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness to us! You alone can care for us. We cannot trust anyone else. You alone may deliver us for eternity. We will praise You for Your wisdom and might. You are gracious and loving to us and we love You so much! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 9:27 “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

   I have always been of the persuasion that this statement from Jesus was in reference to the mount of transfiguration experience in the next verses. Jesus is the kingdom of God, because He is the King. But, also, the disciples (with the exception of Judas) would also see the beginning of the church.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus! All that You have revealed to us is so wonderful. May we praise You forever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.