Season 4 Podcast 142 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 17:1-13, Pt 1, “The Mount of Transfiguration.”

Season 4 Podcast 142 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 17:1-13, Pt 1, “The Mount of Transfiguration.”Matthew 17 contains one of the most unique events in scripture, The Mount of Transfiguration. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines transfigure as follows:To alter the figure or appearance of; to change in outward appearance, to transform.On the Mount of Transfiguration, we have the following description.“and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”That, of course, is a foreshadowing of his resurrection. In Revelation 1 John describes the resurrected Lord as follows:“And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And `his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.”Paul had a similar experience on the road to Damascus. In Acts 26 in his account to King Agrippa, he said.“At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;”In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul further tells us that in the resurrection, we too will have a transfiguration. Those who live in the celestial glory will shine as bright as the sun, only this transfiguration, which is the resurrection, will be permanent.  7 LINDA“There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”Paul tell us that he was caught up in the Third Heaven. John the Revelator also saw the kingdom of heaven.“5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them blight: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”Therefore, we may look at the transfiguration on two levels. One, of course, the literal level, for it actually happened, which we shall discuss in this podcast, and two, the analogical, symbolic, or metaphorical level for it is a foreshadowing of the resurrection of all those who live in the presence of God with the holy prophets. According to John the Revelator in Chapter 21 the earth also will be transfigured.