Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan of Yale University wrote a remarkable study of the significance of the person and work of Jesus Christ, Jesus Through the Centuries. Dr. Pelikan demonstrates how Jesus has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture. Each age has made Jesus relevant to its own needs. Jesus has furnished each new age with answers to fundamental questions as every generation has had to address new social problems that tested the more fundamental questions of human existence. The world had to take note of Jesus as a rabbi, as the Cosmic Christ, the Ruler of the World, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace, the Son of Man, the True Image of Man, the Great Liberator. In many other ways Jesus furnished the answers and the images that affected society in positive ways.

Dr. Pelikan's thesis is that Jesus did not and does not belong to the churches and the theologians alone, but that he belongs to the world. None of this is to say that we can make Jesus what we want Jesus to be. Quite the opposite. It is to say that the Christ is adequate for all our needs and that Jesus transcends culture in such a way that he is able to belong to each age and to address the issues of all time. To understand that, we can do no better than to look to the Holy Gospel for today, which celebrates the transfiguration of our Lord. In that momentous event we learn how and why Jesus belongs to the centuries.

The Event

We are not quite sure when this took place, though Mark tells us it was "after six days." That probably is a reference to a time after Peter had made his confession, "You are the Christ," when Jesus had asked the disciples who they thought he was. It was also at that occasion that Jesus informed the disciples that he would have to go up to Jerusalem and suffer and die, but that after three days he would rise again. It was then that Peter said that they would not permit this to happen, and Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan." Jesus also said that this was God's will and that if any would follow him they would have to take up the cross and be willing to lose one's life in order to find it.

While we have a feeling that the transfiguration followed six days after the incident, we are sure that Mark wants to impress us with the fact that the glorious moment on the mount was the prelude to our Lord's great passion. What transpired in the mount was a beginning for those events that would reach their climax in the death of Christ. For this reason we note that Mark refers to the six days as comparable to the six days when Moses prepared himself to climb Mount Sinai to meet God when Moses was glorified.

The Happening

One certainly cannot read the gospel accounts of the transfiguration of our Lord without thinking of the parallel to the account of Moses on Mount Sinai. Just as Jesus is transfigured in this brilliant display of light that made him into a dazzling sight, who should appear but Moses himself along with the prophet Elijah. Both of the legendary figures had been assumed into heaven after they had completed long and faithful careers as prophets. It was obvious that they are a part of the company of heaven who live in the presence of God. What was more important is that their ministries had been filled with the same kind of torment, temptation and persecution as had been crammed into the ministry of our Lord. No other prophets had also suffered so much faithlessness and testing from the very people whom they had served so faithfully.

God could not have sent better representatives to talk with Jesus. They were the experienced veterans who could talk about what they had encountered. And talk they did. Mark records simply that they "were talking with Jesus." The evangelist Luke is the one who tells us that they talked about "his departure which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31). They were preparing Jesus for what he still had to face. The worst was yet to come. However, no doubt, they also could assure Jesus that God would see him through death all the way through the tomb via the resurrection. What capped that comforting counsel was the voice that came out of a cloud that overshadowed them, "This is my Son the Beloved; listen to him!" Then suddenly it was all over. The disciples "saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus."

A Reaction

The whole effect was so startling for the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, that they were frightened. They were not simply stunned, but Mark says they "were terrified." They were party to an extraordinary religious experience. The cloud that had overshadowed them was the same as the shekinah, the cloud that had traversed with the children of Israel as a sign of God's presence. It was also as the cloud that enveloped Mount Sinai when Moses went up to be the mediator for the people. The disciples behaved no differently than the children of Israel who had been frightened by the scene at Sinai. It was as though Peter had been carried back to that scene in time so that he should suggest that they make three booths, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Certainly, booths would not suggest permanent memorials like shrines or temples. Booths would be reminiscent of the booths the children of Israel built in the wilderness. Or booths would also recall the tent of the tabernacle which had been the place of worship in the wilderness. What is notable is that Peter indicates he puts Jesus in a scene that would be comfortable for all three, and that impermanent shelters suggest that he knows the scene must move on.

Some Gibberish

What Peter suggested was the best that he could think of at the moment. The disciples were next to being speechless. This was unlike the many marvelous signs that they had witnessed Jesus perform. This was something done for him and to him. Their fear was not unlike that of the children of Israel at Sinai. Sinners who stand in the presence of the holy and righteous God run for some kind of cover. Peter tried to make the most of the moment by trying to prolong it. Even temporary shelters could house these sacred people for a time. They could decide later how to continue with this remarkable experience. Whatever Peter had in mind, we can identify with the way a person who is taken by surprise is astonished and frightened at the same time can come up with some form of gibberish. Yet what is obvious is that Peter felt a compulsion to try to do something with Jesus.

As usual, Peter was the one to make a bold suggestion. And as he was wont to do, Peter thought that he could make the most of the situation by suggesting how Jesus could preserve the best of the scene. As earlier Peter has mentioned that Jesus should put the cross out of his mind, here he thinks that Jesus should try to stay in the mountain and prolong what was happening in this glorious sight. This was as good a place as any to hide out and away from the threat down below in the city. Up here in the mountain they could spend their time in useful prayer and devotion.

It Was Not To Be

However, Peter's brilliant idea of what could have been a good way to continue to the joy of that moment was not to be. Moses and Elijah had come to discuss the unfinished business that lay ahead of Jesus. The voice that spoke the benediction from heaven was also clear on the matter. While that special word which had to be of great consolation and inspiration to Jesus also gave special instruction to the witnesses to this marvelous happening, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." Peter, James, and John were exhorted to pay attention to what Jesus had to say and what he would do.

No sooner had that voice faded, when the disciples could see no one "but Jesus only" then, "as they were coming down the mountain, he (Jesus) charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead." The disciples were to listen to that, but they did not pay very good attention. One would have expected that they would have engaged Jesus in some meaningful dialogue about the resurrection from the dead and how he would accomplish that. One would think that they would have been excited about that kind of news, because Jesus was claiming that he would be able to defeat the worst enemy of all, death. But there absolutely were no indications at all that these three disciples understood them or remembered when Jesus was crucified that he had promised to rise from the dead.

Our View

We cannot be too hard on the disciples for not getting the full import of what had taken place before them and how Jesus had instructed them. If we had been there we would have reacted the same way. Probably most of us would not have been able to think of one thing to say. We would have been numb and speechless like James and John. It would have been strange indeed if any of us looked forward to suffering. We think those people are sick who find delight in suffering. We all do what we can to avoid suffering. Peter was saying what we all think, "Who needs the cross? Let's remain where it is safe and we can pray and avoid all the trouble." Besides who can understand the resurrection? No doubt you have read in newspapers, books, and journals that people believe in the immortality of the soul. Who needs the resurrection?

We do not like to believe that Jesus had to leave that most beautiful scene of glorification to come down into the world of sin and death and die for us sinners. We do not like to believe that the only way possible for God to make it clear and plain to us that we should die for our sins was to have Jesus die for us. The only way that God could make it plain to us that God is willing to forgive our sins and share eternity with us was to raise Jesus from the dead and promise that God would do the same for us. It is apparent from this story, however, that as plainly as Jesus did tell that to the disciples at that moment they did not believe it. And we have to admit that we all struggle with the truth of it also.

Our Hope

However, in spite of our struggles like those of the disciples, Jesus did accomplish what he said he would. The transfiguration event was not what Peter wanted to make of it. This was God's special moment for the strengthening of this unique Son to prepare Jesus for the cross and the resurrection. By so doing, Jesus completed the work that far transcended what Peter would have made of Jesus. Jesus "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). This is why Dr. Pelikan could demonstrate that Jesus belonged to the centuries.

Jesus was not one who belonged to one age, one movement, one revolution, or one phase of history that was soon to pass. The one who dealt with the reality of our sin and judgment and gave us life and hope by the resurrection from the dead is the One who furnishes us with the forgiveness, the freedom, and the hope for dealing with all the ills that confront us. Our Lord's moment of glory in the mountain was to prepare him for the hours of agony and suffering in his passion that he might win eternity for us. From him we gain the strength to work, to suffer, and to die in the sure and certain hope of eternity.