Transfiguration of Jesus Matthew 17:1-11 John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
Matthew 17:5 - Suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"
Today’s Bible Lesson:
During His ministry, Jesus took upon Himself the form of a servant (Phil. 2:4-6) and humbled Himself and became obedient unto death. But at this one point in Jesus' ministry, God revealed the glory that rightfully belonged to Jesus. This reveals a striking contrast for us and the three disciples who would also see Jesus at the most humiliating point in His work from the Garden of Gethsemane to His death on the cross.
v. 1
Six days before, Peter had confessed that He believed that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Note: Luke reports eight days, perhaps by including the day of Peter's confession and the day of the Transfiguration.)
After that, Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must soon suffer and die in Jerusalem. (Mt 16:21)
Jesus often chose these three particular disciples to be witnesses of special events in His ministry.
This time they went up on a mountain to watch Jesus while He prayed, as Luke tells us.
v. 2
While praying (Luke), Jesus' appearance was altered to reveal His holiness and glory as God.
The disciples and thus the Gospel writers struggled to describe it for human eyes.
His face shone as the sun, and His clothes were white and glistening, as snow, whiter than any launderer on earth can achieve, white as light itself.
v. 3
Moses, wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, including the transmission of God's Law for His people.
Elijah powerfully represented all the prophets of the Old Testament.
So, these two men symbolized the entire Old Testament. Moses had been buried by God (Deut 34:6) and then resurrected afterwards, and Elijah had been carried by God into heaven (2 Kings 2:10-11).
v. 5
God the Father in effect, replied to Peter's babbling. as a bright cloud came and overshadowed them so that they entered it (Luke).
The voice of God the Father came from the cloud, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"
What a testimony: a) Jesus is God's Son, b) God's beloved Son, c) Who has pleased the Father with His entire life and ministry to this point (and beyond John 10:17-18).
And also a command: a)Hear the Prophet of whom Moses had spoken (Deut 18:15) and the b) Messenger of the covenant (Mal 3:1b), the Lord about to enter His temple to establish the covenant of grace.
v. 6
The actual voice of God the Father caused the three disciples to fall down on their faces in worship, honor, and fear.
Seeing the awesome glory of Jesus and then hearing God the Father speak overwhelmed these sinful mortals.
v. 7
Yet Jesus took away their fear with his comforting touch and His command not to be afraid.
v. 8
Recovering, they saw only Jesus, appearing once again in His human form with His glory hidden.
v. 9
This was to be a private event, meant only for those three disciples until after Jesus had risen from the dead. Until then, they alone could draw strength from it.
Jesus' command for silence may have been to help prevent Satan from misusing their telling of it to interfere in Christ's work.
After Jesus had risen from the dead, John and Peter (and probably James too) told of that special piece of heaven that they witnessed. (John 1:14, 1 Peter 1:16-18)
The disciples still had questions and didn't understand about Jesus' resurrection until after it happened Mark 9:10f. (Cf John 20:8 and the Emmaus disciples Luke 24:13-27)
The purposes: The transfiguration and the conversation took place both for Jesus' sake and for the disciples' sakes.
For Jesus: the revelation of His glory reminded Jesus, the man of the glory, that would be His when He had successfully completed His work. The prophets' words may have reminded Him of the prophecies describing, not only His suffering and death, but also the results that would come from them. (Hebrews 12:2)
For the disciples: They saw that Jesus was indeed God, just as they had come to believe Him to be. Soon they would witness from "front-row seats" the coming horrible conclusion of Jesus' work and this memorable glimpse of heaven would strengthen them. Eventually, they would also understand how the events that would shortly take place were according to God's plan as described in the Old Testament. But the disciples weren't to talk of these things until after Jesus' death and resurrection had completed the picture of Jesus' victory.
Dear Father in Heaven, this lesson reminds us again of Your amazing love toward us, that Your beloved Son, would humble Himself, even to the death on the cross, in order to save us sinners from what we deserve. We thank and praise You and Jesus Your Son for this amazing act of love for us. Jesus endured the shame of the cross with the goal of our redemption in His sight. Set before our eyes, His cross and the certainty of heaven which it gives us so that, when we face those tough tests of faith, or walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will know Your love and the goal You have in mind for us. For our times are safely in Your hands, so we must trust in Thee. Amen.
Exploring God’s Word Transfiguration Matthew 17:1-11 Jesus is God. Some people wanted Him to make this earth better. People could not understand when Jesus spoke about heaven. Jesus showed that he was God.
One day, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him. They went up a high mountain to pray. Jesus started to pray. He started to shine. He was transfigured. His clothes became white like snow.
Elijah and Moses suddenly were by Jesus. They talked about when Jesus would die and rise.
Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, can we make three tents for Moses, Elijah, and you?”
Suddenly, a cloud came and covered the disciples and Jesus. God said, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”
Peter, James, and John were afraid. They covered their faces. Jesus touched them and said, “Do not be afraid.”
The cloud, Elijah, and Moses were all gone. Jesus told His disciples to not tell what they had seen. They kept the secret until Jesus went back to heaven.
Theme Verse John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
Matthew 17:5 - Suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"
Have students act out the story. Characters:
Jesus
God’s voice
Moses
Elijah
Disciples (Peter, James, and John)
Props: Flickering lights
Jesus: Let us pray (Lights go on) (Moses and Elijah stand by Jesus)
Moses: Jesus, You must soon die.
Elijah: Yes, You die in Jerusalem
Jesus: I must do this for My people.
James: I am afraid.
John: So am I. (Disciples fall asleep) (Moses and Elijah walk away)
Peter: Let us make tents for you three.
God: This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased, listen to Him.
Jesus: Don’t be afraid. (All walk off.)
Jesus: Don’t tell anyone what you have seen.
Disciples: We won’t.
Game: CHANGING APPEARANCES
Purpose: Play this game to help students begin to think about how Jesus’ appearance changed.
Supplies: None
Can you tell when something changes? Sometimes seeing how something has changed is easy and sometimes it is hard. Today, we are going to learn how Jesus’ appearance changed on the mountain. Everyone who was with Jesus noticed the change. Before we discover what happened, let’s play a game to see how well you see changes.
Directions: 1. Form teams of three or four children. 2. Have all the teams sit on the floor facing the front of the classroom. 3. Have the first team stand in front of the other teams. Tell the seated teams to carefully study the appearance of the standing team. Have them pay special attention to details like clothing, hairstyle, and jewelry. 4. After a minute, send the first team out of the room to secretly choose one thing to change about the appearance of one player on the team. For example, they might turn a hat backwards, put their hair in ponytail, or switch jewelry with another team member. 5. Have the team stand in front of the other teams again. 6. The seated players must guess what change the team made. 7. Repeat steps 3-6 until all teams have had a turn.
Teacher Tip: If playing the game with younger children, either you or an assistant may help the team choose and make a change.
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Game: THE WAVE Purpose: Students memorize the Bible verse: John 1:14.
Supplies: Bible
Let’s read our Bible verse and talk about its meaning. Students read John 1:14 using Bibles.
Another name for Jesus is “the Word.” “The Word became flesh” means Jesus who is God became human while He was still fully God.
He “made His dwelling among us” means Jesus lived on earth with regular people like us.
“We have seen His glory” means we have seen His greatness; greatness only God has.
God is full of grace and truth.
Now let’s say our Bible verse in a wave!
Directions: 1. Assign one phrase from John 1:14 to each student. 2. As you direct, each students quickly stands, says assigned phrase while raising both hands up to the sky, then down to thighs and sits down. 3. Repeat three times going faster each time.
