Catching a Glimpse. Matthew 17.

Read Matthew 17 online here.


If someone walked up to you and asked, “What did Jesus look like,” how would you respond?

“Let’s see, he had shoulder length brown hair and a nicely trimmed beard. He wore a full-length off-white tunic and robe along with leather sandals, all of which got somewhat dirty from as much walking around as he did. That’s about it.”

I think that pretty well sums up what most of us, including me, would say.

Here’s how one of Jesus’ followers, Matthew described Him:

“His face shown like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.” (Matthew 17:2)

A different Gospel author, Luke described Jesus in a similar way, saying,

“...the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became very bright, a brilliant white.” (Luke 9:29)

The third of the synoptic writers, Mark, echoed and even elaborated a bit, with his description:

“And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiantly white, more so than any launderer in the world could bleach them.” (Mark:9:2b-3)

Each of these men, of course, was describing the appearance of Jesus during His “transfiguration” up on the mountain where some of His glory shown through as He met with both Moses and Elijah.

While in our day, the word “transfigured” might bring on thoughts of comic book adventures or science fiction movies, the word in Biblical Greek is where we get our English word “metamorphous.” Here is how one well-respected Bible commentator described this transfiguration or metamorphous of Jesus:

The substance of his body remained the same, but the appearance of it was greatly altered; he was not turned into a spirit, but his body, which had appeared in weakness and dishonor, now appeared in power and glory. (Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, 241.)

The power and light came from within Jesus, transforming his facial features and radiating through His clothing. As one of the disciples who accompanied Jesus to that “heavenly” meeting later put it,

“We were eyewitnesses to His majesty.” (2 Peter 2:16, NIV)

A fellow eyewitness, John was in all likelihood speaking of this experience when he wrote in his Gospel,

“and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty)” (John 1:14, AMP)

Think about each of these words (say them out loud if it helps): “Brilliant.” “Majestic.” “Radiant.” “Powerful.” “Glorious.”

This is Jesus as He existed before the earth was created and the Jesus that will someday return.

This is the Jesus that the three privileged disciples experienced a “sneak peek” of that incredible day as recorded in the Bible.

And this is the Jesus we have access to now.

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” (Heb 1:3 NIV)

That’s the Jesus we need to experience.

Take a moment and close your eyes, calm your heart and open your mind.

See Jesus!

See His power, His majesty and His glory.

See Him as He is and not as He once was.

And have a “mountain top” experience of your own.

Today's article written by Steve Robinson.