Matthew 17:1-3: The Incomprehensible Glory of Jesus

His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.   Jesus, transfigured in Matthew 17:2

“Christ, as he is God, is infinitely great and high above all. He is higher than the kings of the earth; for he is King of kings, and Lord of lords…Christ is sovereign Lord of all…His knowledge is without bound. His power is infinite, and none can resist Him. His riches are immense and inexhaustible. His majesty is infinitely awful.”   --Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Puritan theologian and preacher, from his sermon, “The Admirable Conjunction of Diverse Excellencies in Christ Jesus.”  

“What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”A.W. Tozer, the opening sentence in his book, Knowledge Of The Holy 

West Paces Ferry Road, which is near downtown Atlanta, is a street studded with mansions. The biggest mansion on that road belongs to the governor of Georgia. This awe-inspiring house sits behind a high wrought-iron fence and is guarded by several security check-points.   One time when we lived near Atlanta in the 1990s, I was driving by and gawking at the governor’s mansion.  There the Lord spoke to me in his still small voice.  He seemed to say, “Your view of my majesty is about the same as your view of the majesty of the governor of Georgia.”  

The Spirit’s words were a rebuke to me. 

My weak faith could not grasp the glory and the power of the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  My view of God was, and still is, way too small.   And this passage about Jesus’ transfiguration reveals how small my view of him is.

After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves (v. 1).   Even among his twelve disciples, Jesus had an inner core.  It was this core of three that he took with him up a high mountain.   This is not the only time Jesus took only these three with him.   When he healed Jarius’ daughter, “he allowed no one to enter with him” into the girl’s house “except Peter and John and James and the father and mother of the child,” (Luke 8:51).  These three also followed Jesus deeper into the Garden of Gethsemane than the other disciples on the night he was arrested (see Mark 14:33).

Peter and James and John following Jesus to the high mountain may parallel with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu following Moses up Mount Sinai (see Exodus 24:1, 9), especially since Moses is part of this Transfiguration narrative. The presence of an inner circle may have caused insecurity among the others and may have led to the argument that begins chapter 18.  We do know that Peter and James and John, along with Andrew, are always mentioned first whenever the disciples are listed (10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16, Acts 1:13).

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light (v. 2).   Other places in Scripture, where we see Jesus glorified, repeat some of the same characteristics mentioned here.   In Mark’s description of the Transfiguration, we read, “Jesus’ garments became radiant and exceedingly white” (Mark 9:3).   Luke’s version (9:29) says, “His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.” For more descriptions of the glorified Jesus, see Acts 22:6, Daniel 7:9, Revelation 1:13-16.

This is the beauty of the transfigured Jesus.  It completely destroys our casual, inadequate mental image of our Lord.  This isn’t a Shakespearian actor in a flowing robe or some Woodstock relic dancing through a meadow while playing a flute with hummingbirds and butterflies dancing around his head.  Here we have Jesus in all His glory and power and wonder, simultaneously infinitely beautiful and infinitely terrible.

The Biblical descriptions of the glory of our Lord, both in their consistency and in their terrible glory, should stretch and strain our paradigms.  Do we worship a Jesus that in our mind looks like a modern coffee shop hipster? Or do we pray to the “Son of Man coming in all His glory” (Matthew 16:27)?   Do we envision a flannel-board Jesus or do we envision the King of Kings and Lord of Lords leading a heavenly army with eyes aflame and a robe dipped in blood (Revelation 19:11-16)?   For too many Christians, our view of Jesus is downright anemic.  No wonder we live in fear, take no risks, and dream dreams no bigger than retiring to a beach villa.