Commentary on Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a]
The Transfiguration is one of the most quintessential mountaintop experiences in scripture: a glimpse of divine glory, a word from God, and an experience that changes all who are present.
Recounted in all three Synoptic Gospels as well as in 2 Peter (1:16–18), the Transfiguration is one of the most well-attested events in Jesus’ life. Greek Orthodox tradition calls it the Metamorphosis due to the Greek word for “transfigured” in Matthew and Mark (metamorphōthē). In the Gospels, the story always appears after Jesus’ first passion prediction, as the focus of ministry shifts toward Jerusalem.
Lukan distinctives
Among the Synoptic Gospel accounts, Luke has the greatest number of distinctive features. For example, it happens “eight days after” instead of six (Luke 9:28; see also Mark 9:2; Matthew 17:1). Luke also uses similar language but not “transfigured” (9:29; see also Mark 9:2; Matthew 17:2).
Also, prayer is the context in which the event happens. They ascend the mountain to pray, and it is as “he was praying” that the Transfiguration took place (Luke 9:28–29). This is one of many instances in Luke-Acts where prayer sets the stage for major events, decisions, and ministry moments (Luke 3:21–22; 6:12; 11:1; 22:39–46; Acts 1:14; 4:31; 13:2–3).
Further, Luke describes the content of conversation among Jesus, Moses, and Elijah: they “were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). The word for “departure” (exodos) is directly associated in biblical tradition with the great liberation from Egypt, the greatest salvation story in the Hebrew Bible. This characterizes Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension—events soon to happen in Jerusalem—as a New Exodus within the larger story of God’s saving purpose.
Finally, Luke describes further the disciples’ experience. As the event happens, they are “weighed down with sleep” (9:32). Just as Luke attributes their sleep in the Garden of Gethsemane to “grief” (22:45–46), here the disciples’ dull senses are made more understandable. Luke adds that they “saw his glory” and were “terrified as they entered the cloud” (9:32, 34). These descriptors draw attention to the disciples’ experience of a divine encounter. Within Luke-Acts, such eyewitness experiences enhance the disciples’ credentials to serve later as Jesus’ witnesses (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:21–22; 3:15; 4:20; 10:39).
Why Moses and Elijah?
Moses and Elijah are two of the most famous leaders from Israel’s history. They both saw God’s glory, had revelatory mountaintop experiences, came to the end of their lives at God’s bidding, and came to be associated with traditions that they never died (Deuteronomy 34:1–5; 1 Kings 2:11). Even more, in biblical tradition they may represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah), which at this time formed the two cornerstones of Israel’s scripture (Luke 16:16, 29; Acts 13:15; 24:14; 28:23–24; see also Luke 24:44). The presence of Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration clearly affirms Jesus’ ministry as consonant with their legacies and fulfilling the purpose they shared.
Why three tents, Peter?
Largely influenced by the tone of Mark’s explanation (“For he did not know what to say,” 9:6), we often discredit Peter’s offer as speaking without thinking. But Luke tones down Mark’s explanation (9:33), and Matthew omits it entirely—suggesting they believed Peter’s reaction appropriate.
In biblical tradition, Peter’s offer to build dwellings or tents (Greek skēnas) recalls the Festival of Booths (or Tents), using the same language (Leviticus 23:42). His motive here may be reverence for the occasion’s sacredness, hospitality to guests, or simply a desire to prolong the experience. The heavenly voice’s response implies that Peter’s offer is unnecessary, but also undeserving of rebuke.
A divine word
Along with Jesus’ baptism, the Transfiguration is one of two places in the Synoptic Gospel accounts where God directly speaks. That their words are so parallel connects the two stories, making the Transfiguration function partially as an extension of Jesus’ baptism. But at the Transfiguration God clearly speaks to the disciples, as the closing exhortation makes clear (“listen to him!”).
At this critical juncture of Jesus’ ministry (soon to head to Jerusalem), this word of affirmation is beneficial to all those present. Just as Jesus’ baptism precedes and empowers the first phrase of earthly ministry, his transfiguration precedes and empowers the second half. The story invites hearers and readers to consider how God’s words of promise to us may empower our ministries today.
The call to return to the valley
Enlightening as the Transfiguration may have been, it changes nothing about the challenges and difficulties to come. The very next episode makes this clear (Luke 9:37–43). Upon hearing a father’s request for his son’s healing, Jesus responds with greater umbrage than anywhere else in Luke: “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?” (9:41). It suggests that the shift from mountaintop to valley was a hard turn even for Jesus.
The Transfiguration experience clarifies Jesus’ significance and reaffirms his purpose—but does nothing to alter the challenges to come. This puts into perspective the relative significance of spiritual mountaintop experiences in our lives today: While offering clarity, affirmation, and formative experiences, the call to ministry leads us not to stay there (as Peter may have desired), but to return below, where the hard work of healing happens. After all, Jesus’ ministry is not transformative and redemptive because of what he did on the mountain, but what he did in the valleys and wilderness areas elsewhere.
Called to listen more than understand
The Transfiguration story raises more questions than it answers. It is more mysterious than explained. The event is profound yet cryptic, spontaneous yet connected to other events, and transformative yet changing little about pressing challenges. Like many spiritual mountaintop experiences, it offers a glimpse of the divine that alters perspective more than circumstances. Along with Jesus’ disciples, we are called not to understand everything, but to “listen to him!”—and eventually to bear witness to what we have seen and heard.
March 2, 2025