How Did He Know? Why Does It Matter?

Matthew 17:1-13

Matthew’s account of the transfiguration leaves us with an interesting question. “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’” (Matthew 17:1-4). So, how exactly did Peter know who Jesus was talking to? How did he know it was Moses and Elijah? A couple of humorous answers have occurred to me over the years. One is that Moses and Elijah wore nametags: “Hello, My Name is Moses.” Another is that Peter has seen pictures of these men on their collectors’ cards. (Just imagine what Moses’s “rookie card” would have been worth!)

What I used to think was that Peter recognized the two prophets because he knew the history, the scriptures, the stories of Israel’s past. But I’ve changed my mind somewhat. Now I believe that it’s not so important how Peter recognized Jesus’ conversation partners, it is more important that he did recognize them, but that in the end he still didn’t get what was going on. In telling this story Matthew gives a clear signal to us as readers about Jesus’ identity, but Peter and the others are left in a fog, literally and figuratively.

The question then becomes more about what we do with the knowledge that we’ve been given. Do we “get it,” that Jesus is the Son of God to whom we are to listen? Or do we continue to wander in a haze of misunderstanding, failing to grasp the big picture? If Jesus is the Son of God, if Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:7a), then why are we living the way we live, doing the things we do, causing the sorts of problems that we seem determined to cause? Jesus is the Son of God; even Moses and Elijah know it. Now it’s time to live as though Jesus’ identity means something to us as well.

Prayer: Lord, help us to grasp the glory and the grace that is all around us and to live as redeemed people, not as those stuck in the past. In Jesus’ name. Amen.