Matthew 17:1-13

Matthew 17:1-8 The Transfiguration

What happens to Jesus here?

There are some interesting similarities between this passage and God’s revelation of himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai, where God appeared on the seventh day in the midst of a cloud (Ex. 24)

This passage follows Peter’s identification of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah.  Why does it happen now, after Peter’s declaration?

How does this passage reflect who Jesus is?

Is this who Jesus always has been, but it is usually hidden from us?  Explain.

Why does God usually not manifest himself in his glory?

What is the significance of Moses and Elijah appearing with Jesus?

Moses symbolizes the Law and Elijah symbolizes the prophets.  The phrase “the law and the prophets” is shorthand for the whole Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament).  Jesus has already used that phrase 3 times in Matthew (in 5:17; 7:12; and 11:13), and he will use it again in 22:40.  A separate point of significance is that at the end of Elijah’s life he was taken to heaven, and therefore he was thought to be still alive, not dead in Sheol (which is why people thought he could return before the Messiah comes).

Why do you think that Peter, James, and John are given this experience?

What does God’s voice say from the cloud in verse 5?

This voice is similar to the voice in Matthew 3:17 when Jesus is baptized.  The church also came to connect it to Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses commanded the Israelites to listen to the prophet God would raise up in the days to come.

In what ways is God saying, “Listen to him” to us and the people of our time?

Experiencing this miracle doesn’t protect the apostles from denying or forsaking Jesus later.  The power of the moment slowly fades.  Similarly, although Moses’s face shone after his encounters with God on the mountain (Ex. 34:29-35), the shine slowly faded (2 Cor. 3:12-13).  Have you ever experienced the overwhelming presence of God and then later had it “wear off”?  Why does this happen to us?  Is it something we should expect and accept, or is there something we should do about it?

Peter swings from one extreme to another – from so comfortable that he offers to make 3 tents to so overwhelmed that he cowers in fear.  Is this a sign of his weakness or a sign of his amazing ability to change as he gains new knowledge?

What can we learn from Peter in this story?

Where would you be in this story?

In verse 7, Jesus comes to them and touches them – a very down-to-earth, human gesture – and says, “Get up; don’t be afraid.”  Is he telling them not to cower before God?  Is there a distinction between the kind of fear of God that seemed more common in Moses’s time and the relationship Jesus wants his disciples to have with God?

Read 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, focusing particularly on verse 18.

How does Paul describe us as we gaze on the glory of the Lord?

How should we see ourselves in the presence of God?  What is the appropriate “fear of the Lord” that is at ease with God and embraces his glory, rather than cowering before him?

In what ways is Jesus saying to you, “Get up; do not be afraid?”

Matthew 17:9-13 The coming of Elijah

In verse 9, Jesus tells the apostles not to tell people about this vision until he is raised from the dead.  Are there special moments in our experience of God that we should not try to explain to people who haven’t yet become believers in Jesus?

How does Jesus connect John the Baptist to Elijah?

The Jews believed that Elijah had to return before the Messiah would come.  This discussion may have been important to Matthew and his community as an answer to Jews who argued that Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah because Elijah had not yet returned.

In verse 12, Jesus again says he is going to suffer.  This is a thread throughout the second half of Matthew, starting in chapter 16.  How is the fact that Jesus suffered a thread in your life?

Take a step back and consider this:

There can be a tendency to focus either on Christ in his glory or Jesus in his humanity, and to lose sight of the fact that he is the one, same Lord.  There are many aspects of our faith where people who doubt want to see it as a series of either-or choices that we see it as both-and: Is God all-just or all-merciful?  Does our faith come from God or by our own will and choice?  Is Jesus fully God or fully man?  Often, as in these cases, the answer is, “Both.”

The challenge for (and the invitation we have from God) is to hold seemingly contradictory truths together and to seek God’s wisdom so that he can show us how they are complementary, not contradictory.

For many people, it is too easy to say, “It can’t be so,” and to fail to probe deeply enough to see how God does things that go beyond our human instincts as to what is possible.

Is there any part of the idea that Jesus Christ is both our glorious God and our human brother that you struggle with?  Think about Jesus as he is manifested in this passage, as one person who is both the divinely transfigured, beloved Son of God and the down-to-earth, “Don’t be afraid” human teacher.  Share your uncertainties with him, and “listen to him.”  What does Jesus say to you about your uncertainties?

How can we train our hearts and minds to not settle for simple answers that focus on one part of the faith to the exclusion of other parts, but instead to grow to maturity in our understanding (1 Cor. 2:16; 14:20; Eph. 4:13; Rom. 12:2)?