"A light-radiant cloud enveloped them"
About a week after Peter responds to Jesus by
saying he is “God’s Messiah,” Jesus takes Peter, John and James up onto a
mountain for a time of prayer.
According to Luke’s report, As Jesus “was
praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright
as a flash of lightning” (Luke 9:29).
While this is happening, “Two men, Moses and
Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus” (Luke 9:30).
They were talking about “his departure, which he
was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). Meanwhile the
disciples had fallen asleep.
As Eugene Peterson writes, they were “slumped
over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his
glory and the two men standing with him” (Luke 9:32 Message).
After Moses and Elijah leave, Peter exclaims
“Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one
for Moses, and one for Elijah. He blurted this out without thinking” (Luke 9:33
Message).
“While he was babbling on like this, a
light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the
cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the
cloud: ‘This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.’
“When the sound of the voice died away, they saw
Jesus there alone. They were speechless” (Luke 9:34—36 Message).
As this day began, Jesus set out to pray on a
mountainside with three of his disciples. The appearance of Moses and Elijah
turned the prayer time into a time of preparation for Jesus.
As N.T. Wright explains, “the word for
‘departure’ can mean exodus . . . like
‘exodus’ in the Old Testament, ‘departure,’ ‘going away’. It can also serve as
a euphemism for ‘death’ . . . In the first Exodus Moses led the Israelites out
of slavery in Egypt and home to the promised land.
“In the new Exodus, Jesus will lead all God’s
people out of the slavery of sin and death, and home to their promised
inheritance—the new creation in which the whole world will be redeemed” (Luke
for Everyone, by N.T. Wright, Westminster John Knox Press, 2004; pages
114—115).
Above all else, Peter, James and John never
forgot the words they heard God speak in the cloud on the mountain:
“This my
Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”
