Now
Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him. As they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not knowing what he said. While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” When the voice came, Jesus was found alone. They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
Luke 9:32-36
Luke 9 [28.] About eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling. Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Luke 9 [32.] Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him. As they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not knowing what he said.
Luke 9 [34.] While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” When the voice came, Jesus was found alone. They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
Luke 9 [37.] On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great multitude met him. Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. Behold, a spirit takes him, he suddenly cries out, and it convulses him so that he foams, and it hardly departs from him, bruising him severely. I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn’t.”
Meaning:
About eight days after Peter confessed Jesus as “The Christ of God” (Luke 9:20), Jesus took Peter, John and James up a mountain to pray. As he prayed, his face changed and his clothing became dazzling white, and Moses and Elijah appeared in glory, speaking with him about the “departure” he would accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:30-31). These verses describe what the three disciples saw and heard. Mark and Matthew also record the transfiguration (Mark 9:5-6; Mark 9:7; Mark 9:8; Matthew 17:3-9).
- “Heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake”
Only Luke mentions that the disciples were drowsy. It was probably night, since they came down “on the next day” (Luke 9:37). The same three would sleep again while Jesus prayed in Gethsemane (Luke 22:45). This time they woke up in time to see “his glory.” John later wrote, “We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father” (John 1:14).
- “The two men who stood with him”
Moses represented the Law and Elijah the Prophets. Both had met God on a mountain: Moses on Sinai and Elijah on Horeb (1 Kings 19:9-11). Both had unusual departures from this world. Their presence showed that the whole Old Testament bears witness to Jesus and finds its fulfilment in him (Luke 24:44).
- “Let’s make three tents”
Peter wanted to hold on to the moment. He may have been thinking of the Feast of Tents, when Israel lived in shelters to remember God’s care in the wilderness, or he wanted to give the heavenly visitors a place to stay. But Luke adds, “not knowing what he said.” His proposal placed Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah, and it tried to make permanent a glory that was meant to point ahead, to the cross and the resurrection.
- “A cloud came and overshadowed them”
In the Old Testament the cloud was the sign of God’s presence. When Moses went up Mount Sinai, “the cloud covered the mountain. Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai” (Exodus 24:15-16). The disciples were afraid as they entered it, because they were entering the presence of God himself.
- “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”
God the Father answers Peter. At Jesus’ baptism the voice had spoken to Jesus: “You are my beloved Son” (Luke 3:22); now it speaks to the disciples about him. The words echo Psalm 2, where God says to his King, “You are my son” (Psalm 2:7), and the command “Listen to him!” echoes Moses’ promise of a prophet like himself: “You shall listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Jesus is not one voice among many; he is the Son, and his word is final. That includes his hard teaching that the Son of Man must suffer (Luke 9:22).
- “Jesus was found alone”
Moses and Elijah were gone. Jesus alone remained. The Law and the Prophets had pointed to him, and now he stands as the one to whom everyone must listen.
- “They were silent”
The disciples kept what they had seen to themselves. Mark explains that Jesus told them to say nothing until after the resurrection. Years later Peter wrote, “We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:18).
The Significance of Luke 9:32-36
- Glory that strengthens for the road ahead
The transfiguration came just after Jesus first spoke of his suffering. The disciples were given a glimpse of his true glory to strengthen them for the dark days ahead. Believers too can hold on to the certainty of Christ’s glory when following him is hard.
- Listen to him
The Father’s command is simple and searching. In a world of many voices, including religious ones, followers of Jesus are called to hear and obey his words above all others.
Cross-References:
Mark 9:7: "A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”" Mark’s account.
Deuteronomy 18:15: "Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him." The prophet like Moses.
2 Peter 1:17: "For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”" Peter remembers the mountain.
Conclusion: In Luke 9:32-36 Peter, John and James wake to see Jesus’ glory and Moses and Elijah standing with him. As the visitors leave, Peter suggests building three tents, not knowing what he is saying. A cloud overshadows them, and God’s voice declares, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” Then Jesus is found alone, and the disciples keep silent about what they saw. Jesus is greater than the Law and the Prophets, God’s beloved Son, to whom all must listen.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible