1.6 The Transfiguration Flashcards
What does transfiguration mean?
To change in appearance
Who was Moses?
Old Testament prophet to whom God gave the law (the 10 commandments)
Who was Elijah?
Old Testament prophet who the Jews expected would return and prepare the way for the Messiah
—> people thought John the Baptist could be Elijah
—> in Peter’s confession, some thought Jesus was Elijah
What does the Transfiguration show about the identity of Jesus?
Jesus is the Son of God - the dazzling whiteness of his appearance/the cloud/the voice from heaven
Jesus is the Messiah - Elijah’s appearance believed to show arrival of Messiah (Elijah appears there)
Jesus is the Son of Man - he will suffer; he predicts his death and resurrection, aligns himself with Isaiah’s idea of the Suffering Servant
Jesus is greater than Moses - when Moses gets 10 commandments his face glows with God’s glory (Shekhinah), Jesus himself shines as He is God
—> Moses reflected God’s glory
—> whereas Jesus has God’s glory
Divergent understandings among Christians
See event as unbelievable - laws of nature are broken
—> liberal Christians say this event is a metaphor and not to be taken literally
—> literalist Christians believe that everything in the Bible is true
Confusing as Jesus is shown as both human and divine
Atheist and Humanist perspectives and Christian responses to those perspectives 1.
Breaks the laws of nature - people don’t glow white + dead people do not appear to talk to them on mountains
—> God created the laws of nature and can break them too
—> Jesus is God and so even things which sound unbelievable from a human perspective are not (omnipotent)
Atheist and Humanist perspectives and Christian responses to those perspectives 2.
Disciples were hallucinating
Event did not take place in reality, only in their minds
—> the text describes the event vividly which suggests the disciples were rally hearing and seeing these events on the mountain
Atheist and Humanist perspectives and Christian responses to those perspectives
3.
Might never have been intended to be taken as a literary event - instead a metaphor to show the true identity of Jesus
—> Christians: although some events in the Bible might be interpreted metaphorically or symbolically this is not one of them
—> this is an event which really took place
Why is it confusing that Jesus is shown as both human and divine?
Shown in divine glory and not long after he will be seen crying in the Garden of Gethsemane fearful of death
Others suggest that it is natural that at times he appears human and at other times divine because he was fully God and fully human
