Marginal Christianity

Jesus’ Transfiguration (Mt.17:1-8) Here we have one of the great scenes in the gospel story. Yet it is routinely misunderstood. His transfiguration is often thought to reveal something of his divinity, a glimpse of his deity, his true reality the disciples are privileged to catch sight of for these few moments. Presumably, after all the talk of death and cross-bearing Matthew lets us see what the end game or pay off of these struggles will be – a glimpse of the glory of God! Yet this common view fails to pay careful enough attention to Matthew’s literary artistry and typological insight. Matthew bookends the rest of his story, Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem to his death and resurrection with this scene and that at the end of the story – his crucifixion. Consider the parallels [1] : - on this mountain, we see glory; on the hill of Golgatha we see shame. -Jesus is decked out in bright, shining white clothes here; there he is naked. -two figures flank Jesus in each plac...

Peter, James, and John are among those mentioned by Jesus in the previous verse who would live to see the kingdom of God present in power. These three are the first of those. They see the kingdom present in power proleptically, in advance in Jesus’ transfiguration. The six days, the mountain, and the revelation alludes backs to Ex.24:15ff. where Moses is summoned to the mountain to receive revelation from God. We have the same elements here. Six days later three disciples are taken up on a mountain by Jesus to receive a revelation. So revelation is the point of this episode. But what is revealed? Hurtado, like many commentators, believes the whole scene evokes a theophany – a vision of a divine visitation revealing Jesus as more than messiah but rather as clothed in a divine form. [1] Wright takes a different, and in my view preferable, tack in understanding what this revelation is about. People are often fuzzy about what this means. It isn’t a revelation of  Jesus’ d...