Mark 9:2 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. 3 His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid. 7 A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” 8 Suddenly looking around, they saw no one with them any more, except Jesus only. WEB
The tradition is that the transfiguration occurs 40 days prior to the death of Jesus. Both Matthew and Luke include the story and like Mark, it immediately follows the confession by Peter that Jesus is the Christ. Peter, John and James are beholding the glory of God as the transfiguration is the unveiling of who Christ is. This is important for Mark’s purposes as he is trying to prove that Jesus is the Christ. So far, the disciples have been rather thick about Jesus and what has been happening around them but this has now changed for Peter, John and James.
Elijah is assumed (as is Enoch), meaning that he goes into the presence of God without dying. There is some debate about Moses. Moses dies on Mt. Nebo in sight of the Promised Land but no one knows where he is buried. Although we are told in Deuteronomy that Moses died and was buried, there are some who point to the resurrection of Moses in the transfiguration as indicating that he was also assumed. Again, the Bible doesn’t say Moses was assumed although Jude includes an additional argument about Moses’ body.
Jude 1:5 Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe……8 Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings. 9 But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” WEB
The idea of Moses climbing Mount Sinai and passing through the cloud has become a template for the moments where we experience God firsthand. The term used for these encounters is a “mountaintop experience” and it is the type of thing we want to prolong since it may only occur once in our entire lifetimes. That is certainly true for Peter in this story as he is ready to build houses for everyone so they can stay right where they are.
John’s Gospel is supplemental so there is no need for him to recount this same story but like Peter writing in 2Peter, he makes reference to it.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. BSB
We can’t see God but God shows Himself to us in ways that we can comprehend. In Scripture, God shows up as the appearance of a bright light. For example, when Paul gets knocked off his donkey, he sees a bright light. Revelation ends with a vision of a person in dazzling white. Jonathan Edwards had what he calls an extraordinary experience in 1737 with the light of God. He then preached a sermon on it. Although not part of Scripture, near-death experiences universally start with a light.
Hebrews 1:1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us by a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages. 3 He is the radiance of his glory, the very image of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had made purification for sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; NHEB
Note in these verses from Hebrews the word “radiance” and the mention of God speaking to us point to the transfiguration. We also see the Trinity in the transfiguration story with the cloud as representative of the Holy Spirit, the Father speaks and we see Jesus in His glory.
In the Knossos hymns of Philippians, God empties Himself of His divine prerogatives to become human. Once this work is completed, Jesus is exalted back to His glory. The transfiguration is a momentary undoing of the knossos that gives us a glimpse of both His glory and a preview of what He will look like in the Second Coming.
In 1Corinthians, chapter 15, Christ is described as the first fruits:
1Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also came by a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming. NHEB
What happened to Christ is what will happen to us when we reach the third and final step in our salvation. (The three steps are justification, sanctification and glorification. Our answer to the question “are you saved” is that we are saved, we are being saved and we will be saved).
1John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. We know that, when He is revealed, we will be like Him; for we will see Him just as He is. NHEB
What will this redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23) look like? Transfiguration.
Mark 9:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant. WEB
Francis Schaeffer has said that the evidence of the Bible being divinely inspired is that it is so brutally honest about people. John, Peter and James go up the mountain discussing the impending death of Jesus. He proves to them that He is the Christ and then resumes the discussion on dying as they descend only for them to question what rising from the dead means. It is reassuring in a way to watch them struggle as it makes them seem so much more like us. It is similar to Exodus where the people are being feed manna and start complaining because they don’t “get it”. Part of the disciples questioning could be related to what we see in the first chapter of Acts. In other words, they may be wondering what will happen both personally and politically when the resurrection comes. For now, they are still fuzzy in their understanding.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun. (Amazing Grace, final verse)