Click here for the Matthew 17:5-8 PODCAST
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." 8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. ~ Matthew 17:5-8
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 17 where the Lord Jesus has led Peter, James and John up Mount Hermon to meet with Moses and Elijah through whom God gave us the Law and the Prophets. He was transfigured before these five so that the disciples would be more convinced of His identity. The Lord had Matthew to open his account of this gospel with the words, "After six days." God gave to Moses revelation on Mount Sinai where a cloud covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day God called to Moses from the midst of the clouds. Both Moses and Elijah were on Mount Sinai. Elijah was specifically on Mount Horeb which is part of Mount Sinai. That was on the heels of running from Jezebel and when he arrived at the mountain he heard the still small voice of the Lord.
In v.5 of today's passage we read, "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!'"
As Peter was still making his suggestion that they should remain on the mountain indeterminately, the Father spoke from heaven. Yet again, Peter missed the mark. He missed the mark because he wasn't all that often defined by the Father. It was at that point that the Father defined the Lord Jesus as His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. Our Heavenly Father spoke directly about and to the Son on three specific occasions in the Gospels: at His baptism, at His transfiguration, and in response to the Greeks' request to see the Lord Jesus later. In these instances, a divine voice from heaven declared the Lord Jesus as His beloved Son, confirming His identity and authority to the various audiences.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid."
When the disciples witnessed the Father speak to and of the Son, they fell down in worship because they knew God to be infinitely holy. They also knew themselves to be hopelessly sinful. They felt naked and exposed before God. Similarly, after Adam and Eve sinned, they saw that they were naked. And they covered themselves and they ran off and hid themselves from God.
After God spoke only to the Lord Jesus, the disciples only worshipped the Lord Jesus. When Peter had suggested three tents for the three, he placed Moses and Elijah on the same par with the Lord Jesus. This is why spoke to and of His Son as He did. Peter had listened to Moses and Elijah his whole life, and their message was the same: worship God only.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "But Jesus came and touched them and said, 'Arise, and do not be afraid.'"
It was then that the Lord Jesus touched the disciples. The Lord Jesus touched Peter’s wife’s mother on the hand and took away her fever. He touched the eyes of two blind men and gave them sight. He touched the ears and the tongue of a deaf mute and gave him hearing and speech. He even touched a leper to make him clean. That day the man who was full of leprosy availed himself to the Lord Jesus. His desperation led him to worship the Lord first before he made his request of Him. He did this because he understood the soul is more important than the body. It was then that the Lord Jesus touched him. Since the leper had not felt the touch of another human for quite some time, when the Lord Jesus touched him he felt much belonging.
Like this man and the disciples, we all want to belong. True belonging only happens when we embrace our imperfect selves and avail ourselves to the touch of God. Belonging is the essence of life. Everything else rests on it. Every other gift celebrates it, in its own way. His touch of us proves we belong to God. And, like the disciples that day on that mountain, until we recognize this, we will never know our place in this world or the one to come.
In v.8 of today's passage we read, "When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only."
Moses and Elijah were gone because they are not equals with the Lord Jesus. Simon Peter had earlier confessed the Lord Jesus to be the Christ and the transfiguration underscored the fact that He was the Christ. But, when they went down from the mountain and into Jerusalem to the cross, the Father spoke the loudest. Oh, He didn't speak with words but He spoke loudly through the darkness that came upon the whole earth for three hours. He also spoke loudly through the earthquake and the tearing of the Temple curtain from top to bottom. And, the Father spoke most loudly through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. At His first coming, the Lord Jesus came to be the King over our sin. At His second coming, He will come to be the King over all of His creation.
