Luke 9:28 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the account of Christ’s transfiguration. It was meant to give a preview of the glory in which he will come to judge the world, which he had just been speaking about. So it also encouraged his disciples to suffer for him and never be ashamed of him.

This account was already given in Matthew and Mark, and it is worth hearing again. It strengthens our faith in the Lord Jesus as the brightness of his Father’s glory and the light of the world. It also lifts our thoughts about him, even though he was clothed in a human body. And it gives us some idea of the glory he entered at his ascension, where he now appears within the veil, that is, in God’s hidden heavenly presence. It also raises our hope for the glory reserved for all believers in the life to come.

Luke’s account differs from the other two Gospel writers in one small detail. They say it was six days after the earlier sayings, while Luke says it was about eight days after. That means six full days passed, and then it was the eighth day. Some think Christ was transfigured at night, because the disciples were sleepy, as they were later in his agony, and because his shining appearance would have seemed even more glorious in the dark. If it was at night, then the timing would be harder to count exactly. It was probably sometime in the night, between the seventh and eighth day, so Luke says “about eight days.”

Luke also adds and explains several very important details. First, Christ received this honor while he was praying: he went up on a mountain to pray, as he often did (Luke 9:28), and as he prayed, he was transfigured. When Christ humbled himself in prayer, he was lifted up in glory. He knew this honor was meant for him at that time, so he asked for it in prayer. He himself had to ask for the blessings that were already planned and promised to him: “Ask of me, and I will give you” (Psalm 2:8). He also meant to honor prayer and encourage us to do it. Prayer is a transforming duty. If our hearts are lifted up and enlarged in prayer, and we see the glory of the Lord there, we will be changed into the same image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Through prayer we receive wisdom, grace, and joy, which make the face shine.

Luke does not use the exact word “transfigured” that Matthew and Mark use. Perhaps that is because the word had been used so often in pagan religion. Instead, he uses a phrase with the same meaning: “the fashion of his countenance was another thing from what it had been.” His face shone far beyond the shining of Moses when he came down from the mountain, and his clothes became white and dazzling, bright like lightning. He seemed to be clothed in light, as if he wore light like a garment.

Matthew and Mark say that Moses and Elijah appeared to them, but Luke says they appeared in glory. This teaches us that departed saints are in glory and in a glorious state. They shine in glory. Since Christ was in glory, they appeared with him in glory, just as all saints will soon do.

Luke also tells us what Christ and those two great prophets of the Old Testament talked about. They spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. The Greek word means his exodus, his going out, his leaving the world. Moses and Elijah spoke of his death in that way to help him face it, and to make his human nature more ready for it. The death of believers is also their exodus, their departure from the Egypt of this world, their release from a house of slavery. Some think Christ’s ascension is included in this departure, since Israel’s departure from Egypt was a triumph, and so was his when he went from earth to heaven.

This departure of his had to be accomplished, because it was fixed in God’s plan and could not be changed. It had to happen at Jerusalem, even though he usually lived in Galilee, because his fiercest enemies were there, and the sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, sat there to judge prophets. Moses and Elijah spoke of it to show that Christ’s sufferings and his entrance into glory were both foretold by Moses and the prophets (Luke 24:26-27; 1 Peter 1:11). Even in his transfiguration, our Lord was willing to talk about his death and sufferings. That teaches us that thoughts about death, understood as our departure from this world to another, are never out of place. They are especially fitting when we are lifted up in any way, so we do not think too highly of ourselves. In our greatest earthly honors, let us remember that we do not have a lasting city here.

Luke also notes something we were not told before, that the disciples were heavy with sleep (Luke 9:32). When the vision began, Peter, James, and John were drowsy and ready to sleep. Maybe it was late, or they were tired, or they had been disturbed the night before. Or perhaps a calm and pleasant atmosphere, or some sweet sounds, made them sleepy before the vision began. It may also have been a sign of careless hearts. When Christ was praying with them, they did not pay proper attention, and as a kind of correction, they were left to sleep when he began to be transfigured. So they missed the first part of that wonderful sight.

These three were asleep when Christ was in his glory, just as they later were when he was in his agony. That shows the weakness and frailty of human nature, even in the best people, and how much they need God’s grace. One would think nothing could be more moving than their Master’s glory and his suffering, both at their highest point. Yet neither was enough to keep them awake. How much we need to pray for awakening grace, so we are not only alive, but fully awake and active in faith. Still, so they could be fitting witnesses of this heavenly sign, they later came fully awake and saw everything clearly. Then they were able to give a full report, as one of them later did, of all that happened on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1:18).

It is also noted here that Peter spoke just as Moses and Elijah were about to leave. He said, “Lord, it is good to be here, let us make three tabernacles.” We often do not feel the value of our blessings until they are about to be taken away. And we do not desire to keep them until they are already leaving us.

Peter said this without really understanding what he was saying. People also speak just as foolishly when they talk about building tents on earth for glorified saints in heaven, since those saints have better homes in heaven and long to return there.

It is also said about the cloud that covered them, that they were afraid as they entered it. This cloud was a sign of God’s special presence. In the past, God took hold of the tabernacle and the temple through a cloud. When the cloud covered the tabernacle, Moses could not go in (Exodus 40:34-35), and when it filled the temple, the priests could not stand to serve because of it (2 Chronicles 5:14). This was that kind of cloud, so it is no surprise that the disciples were afraid to enter it. Yet no one should ever be afraid to enter a cloud with Jesus Christ, because he will surely bring them safely through it.

The voice from heaven is also given here, and in Mark, though not as fully as in Matthew: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” The words, “in whom I am well pleased,” which we read in Matthew and in Peter, are not stated here, but they are implied in “This is my beloved Son.” For the one he loves and the one in whom he is pleased mean the same thing. We are accepted in the Beloved, that is, in Christ.

Finally, the apostles are said to have kept this vision private. They told no one for the time being, saving the report for another time, when the proof of Christ being the Son of God would be completed by the outpouring of the Spirit, and when that truth was to be preached to the whole world. There is a time to speak, and a time to stay silent. Everything is beautiful and useful in its proper time.