Matthew 17: Old Meets New

Matthew 17 stands as an amazing connection point between the Old Testament and the New. There, Jesus is on a mountain with Peter, James, and John. Then a cloud shows up and Jesus is with Moses and Elijah. The Father talks from the cloud (Spirit?) invoking imagery of the Trinity as well. It’s quite a party!

God (Father, Son, and Spirit), the Old Testament (represented by Moses for the Law and Elijah for the Prophets), appears with the three representatives from the disciples. Mysteriously, on a side note, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus are the only three people in Scripture who are mentioned as fasting for forty days (I’ve never had a good answer for that connection!).

So what was this Transfiguration all about? More than we are revealed, certainly, but Matthew makes clear that God spoke, said to listen to Jesus, His Son, and that the disciples didn’t mention this to the others until much later. Again, the emphasis Matthew keeps repeating is, “Jesus is the Messiah; listen to him.”

We know Christianity is about following Jesus, but it’s easier to know it than to do it.

Peter, James, and John would suffer much for following Jesus, yet also change the lives of many through their service. We are called to do the same, following Christ as our Master, suffering difficulties along the way, and changing lives, until the day we meet face-to-face with Jesus, the Son of God.

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Dillon Burroughs has written, co-written, or edited over 60 books, including the upcoming devotional work Thirst No More (October 2011). He served as an associate editor for The Apologetics Study Bible for Students and is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. Find out more at DillonBurroughs.org.