TRANSFIGURATION. After our Saviour had enquired of his Disciples, what other Men thought of him, and what they themselves thought of him, St. Peter told him, that he was the Son of the living God. Then Jesus Christ began to speak of his Passion, which was then at hand. To which he added, Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Six Days after this Promise,1 Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high Mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light: And behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with them.
The Subject of their Conversation, says St. Luke, was the Sufferings and Death that he was to undergo at Jerusalem. He adds, that St. Peter and his two Companions were fallen asleep, and that when they awoke, they perceived the Son of God in his Majesty. Then Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias; not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them; and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, hear him. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone, And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.
We conceive this Transfiguration to have happened in the Night; and from thence proceeded the Sleep, with which the Apostles were oppressed. Moreover St. Luke observes that the next day they came down from the Mountain. Therefore they had passed the preceding Night there. The chief Design of the Son of God in this Transfiguration, was, according to the Fathers, to fulfil the Promise he had made some Days before, that he would let some of his Disciples see a Glimpse of his Glory before their Death; and to fortify them against the Scandal of the Cross, and of the Death he was to suffer, by giving them this convincing Proof that he was the Messiah. ‘Tis observed, with a great deal of Reason, that the Condition in which Jesus Christ appeared among Men, humble, weak, poor, despised, was a true and continual Transfiguration; whereas the Transfiguration itself, in which he shewed himself in the real Splendor of his Glory, was his true and natural Condition.
‘Tis the common Opinion of Interpreters, that this Transfiguration was celebrated2 brated upon Mount Tabor: But this Opinion is attended with great Difficulties, as we have shewn in some measure in the Article TABOR.
As to the appearing of Moses and Elias, ‘tis asked, how the Apostles could know them? To which it is answered, that Jesus Christ might call them by their Names, or that he might tell them afterwards, that they were those two great Men. Or, lastly, the Apostles might know them from their Pictures or Descriptions which they had received from their Ancestors: For it cannot be doubted but that among the Jews there was a certain Tradition of these matters, as there is in the Christian Church, concerning the Likeness, for instance, of St. Peter, or St. Paul. The Fathers observe in this Apparition, that the Law, represented by Moses, and the Prophets, represented by Elias, give Testimony to our Saviour. ‘Tis believed that Moses was raised from the Dead on this occasion: As for Elias, he did not die; and he came from the Place where he is now unknown to Men, upon the Mountain of Transfiguration. Some have thought that these two holy Persons did not appear in reality, but in Figure only.
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