Teaching the Transfiguration

Awe-inspiring.

Strange.

Magnificent.

Mysterious.

These are apt descriptions of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 17 and Mark 9. Matthew simply tells us that Jesus is transfigured (from the Greek word metamorphao) in the presence of Peter, James, and John. His face becomes as bright as the sun. His clothes become white as light (17:2). And then, as quickly as the phenomenon begins, it is over. The three disciples lift up their awe-struck eyes from the earth and see the Jesus they recognize once again (17:6).

What some teenagers may be surprised to know is that the Transfiguration is not JUST an awe-inspiring, strange, magnificent, and mysterious story from the pages of the Gospels. It is also a story that has meaning for their lives in the here and now! Here's how I broke it down with my students on a recent Wednesday night...

First, we asked the question, "What's going on at the Transfiguration?" The answer: Jesus is giving these three disciples (and us!) a preview of his post-ascension self. He is showing them the glorious, heavenly form He would soon take on!

Second, we concluded that when Jesus returns and we are raised, we will take on a glorious, heavenly form like Jesus! We looked at Philippians 3:20-21: "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body."

Third, we saw that this process of becoming more glorious, though it ends definitively at Jesus' coming, has already begun in the present! We read Philippians 1:6: "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

And finally, we noticed that this process of taking on heavenly glory is a gradual one. 2 Corinthians 3:18 is one of the few places where we find a re-occurrence of the Greek word metamorphao, translated in Matthew 17 as "transfigured" but here as "transformed." Paul seems to clearly allude to Jesus' Transfiguration with this observation: "We are being transformed into the glorious image of the Lord from one degree of glory to another."

The Transfiguration is certainly awe-inspiring, strange, magnificent, and mysterious. But let's add to this list these words: life-changing, meaningful, powerful, and relevant.