While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

Matthew 17:5-9

And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

Mark 9:7-9

While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.

Luke 9:34-36

The biggest lesson we can learn from this amazing scene is that salvation is by Christ alone. Moses represents the law. He is taken away. This means there is no law or work system that can save us. Elijah represents all prophets and true prophecy. He is taken away. This means that there is no preacher, “prophet,” or “spiritual leader” that can save us. Our help is in Christ Alone. The law and the prophets all point toward one Man and one salvation in that Man, Jesus Christ!

I am reminded of a passage in Psalm 2:

“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” – Psalms 2:7

We find several instances in the New Testament where this prophecy is partially fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 

• An angel foretells of His birth saying “he shall be called the Son of the Highest.” (Luke 1:32)
• At His baptism, God spoke from heaven “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
• It is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead as Paul describe it – “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” – Romans 1:4

And we have this scene before where God tells the disciples and us that Jesus is the final authority. What He says is true, is true. Consider this:

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Hebrews 1:1-2

Jesus did not come to destroy or contradict the Old Testament. He is teaching and in action fulfilled everything in the Old Testament! He set the record straight. In fact, God’s words here point back to the promise of Jesus given by Moses:

The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

Deuteronomy 18:15

As I said before, this event caused great fear for the beloved trio, but Jesus does not rebuke them. He shows compassion. And that is what the gospel should reflect – the compassion of Jesus Christ for God’s children who are hurting.

Jesus once again charges them to keep what they saw quiet. But after Christ ascended to the Father, the disciples quickly shared the good news of salvation including the details of this scene to all who would listen. And we should do the same. Jesus Christ is risen. We are saved. He has compassion for the hurting and downcast. Let us help them with the good news of the finished work of Jesus Christ!

HEAR YE HIM!!