The thing I've always wondered about "the transfiguration" is this... How do the disciples know that it's Moses and Elijah? Really, they've never seen them before. I suppose they could have overheard them talking to each other, or heck, maybe they even introduced themselves. I can almost see the nervous energy coursing through Peter as he suggests building some shelters for them. It all must have been quite a lot to take in overall. And then to top it all off, they hear the voice from the cloud that freaks them right out.
I'm not sure where I got it from, but I always sort of pictured the disciples as being a ways off from Jesus when this all goes down. But there's nothing to indicate that, and I think it probably makes more sense if they were right there with them as this was going on. It seems like this whole scene goes on for the disciples' benefit. Jesus led them up there to see what was going to happen. Otherwise it's sort of a random occurrence with no reason for it. And of course, if the disciples hadn't been there, we wouldn't have heard about it. That makes me wonder if things like this happened to Jesus more often than is recorded. He usually went off to a solitary place, and if something like this would have happened, no one else would no, and there'd be no real reason for Jesus to tell anyone about it. Especially since He didn't want the disciples telling anyone about what they had just seen.
I think He's trying to prepare them for what's coming up. He mentions again about waiting until He is raised from the dead. That's a big statement, but the disciples don't seem to park on that. It seems they're still overwhelmed with having met Elijah.
There's so many details one would love to have. The gospels don't have a lot of space for these sorts of details. They are more New York Times than Encyclopedia Britannica, they are just telling what happened, not giving you exhaustive explanations about it. Still, I'd like to know more. What did they talk about? Why did this happen in the first place? I can see how Moses and Elijah could be seen as "passing the mantle" to Jesus, so to speak. Moses was the great leader of the people, and Elijah was the great prophet who was taken up to heaven. And now Jesus was the fulfillment of everything they foreshadowed. The disciples (and us) are meant to connect the dots on that one. And you can see that they are. Isn't Elijah supposed to come first? they ask. They're starting to see who Jesus is, but they are trying to fit it in with what they've been told about Him in the teachings and doctrines they were instructed in growing up. Although there aren't a lot of details, the ones that are there show us the disciples grappling with what's going on around them. I think I respect them a little bit more realizing this. They often get a bad rep for not cluing in sooner, but I think maybe, given the circumstances, they were doing pretty good.
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