Easter

In reconstructing what happened we’ll need first to turn back to Luke’s account. Alone amongst the Gospels Luke records that Jesus had ascended the mountain to pray. That fact is mentioned twice (Luke 9:28,29). Indeed it was as Jesus was praying to His Father that He was transfigured. But when Jesus starts to pray the disciples do not have a particularly good track record of staying awake. Certainly later on in the Garden of Gethsemane the disciples sleep as Jesus prays (Luke 22:45,46) and that appears to be the case here. Whilst Jesus is transfigured and Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain, Peter, James and John are described as being ‘heavy with sleep’ (Luke 9:32). As they take in the scene around them they quickly become fully awake – one can easily imagine the increasing shock as they point in stunned silence at what they are witnessing! At this point in the narrative Mark adds that they were all frightened (Mark 9:6). What on earth had happened as they dozed? Had they died and been transported to heaven? Or were they about to be judged as they looked into the blazing brightness of Jesus’ face? They were totally dumbfounded by the scene that greeted them. Both Mark and Luke are in agreement that as Peter opened his mouth he had no idea what he was saying (Mark 9:6; Luke 9:33). No wonder, having just woken up, he got things so badly wrong!

Yet it wasn’t all wrong. His short speech started well, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here ….’ He then puts forward his great idea, ‘I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah’. The word he uses can be translated as tent, shelter or booth. The idea of building such tents came from the wilderness wanderings of God’s people following the exodus. The Feast of Booths occurred as a sort of harvest festival near the end of the year (see Lev 23:33-43). It was to be a regular reminder to God’s people that they had been rescued from the land of Egypt and had to live in temporary shelters while they travelled to the Promised Land. Perhaps, given Peter’s suggestion, it is even possible that the transfiguration happened at that very time of year. Indeed there are some intriguing links that are worth exploring.  

Notice the details of what is said in Leviticus 23:26-34 (NIV):  The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. 30 I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days.

This passage starts with instructions about the Day of Atonement at which various sacrifices, including the scapegoat, enabled the tabernacle to be cleansed and the people forgiven. It is a period in which God’s people must deny themselves (see Lev 23:27,32). It is to be held on the tenth day of the seventh month. It is then followed six days later, counting inclusively as would be the normal practice, on the fifteenth day of the same month by the Feast of Tabernacles. Given this specific background, how striking it is that Jesus introduces the prediction of His atoning death (Matt 16:21), follows it up by a call for the disciples to deny themselves (Matt 16:24) and then six days later (Matt 17:1) Peter speaks about erecting booths on the mountain!

So, it may well be that at some level Peter is on the right track, though he barely knows what he is saying! Atonement is not an end in itself but is designed to lead to believers dwelling in God’s presence on God’s holy mountain.

And yet … Peter had also got it so wrong! Three shelters with one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah seems to be based on some sort of equivalence – that they’re all special people within God’s purposes, so ‘let’s treat them the same and give each of them a shelter’ seems to be his underlying assumption. This is where Peter is so wrong. It will be John who will use the same word to speak of Jesus as the Word became flesh who dwelt, or tabernacled, amongst us (John 1:14). In other words Jesus Himself in His very person is the place of God’s presence. He is the temple (John 2:18-21), the tabernacle, the place where we meet with God the Father (John 14:9,10). Though Peter had correctly identified Jesus as the Christ (Matt 16:16) he had failed to see Jesus as the very presence of God Himself. The correct response was worship and adoration, not clumsy attempts to do something that unwittingly diminished Jesus’ status.