Luke 9:28-45

Luke 9

The Transfiguration

28About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)
34While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." 36When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.

The Healing of a Boy With an Evil Spirit

37The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not."
41"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."

42Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44"Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men." 45But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.


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The transfiguration is one of those stories that makes me wish I had a greater scholarly knowledge of the Old Testament and what was going on in the lives of the first-century Jews. Because there is a lot going on that I probably don't realize! Moses and Elijah were HUGELY famous historical figures to the Jews of that day (and still to Jews today). And being that they had been dead for hundreds and hundreds of years, it was probably rather shocking for Peter, James, and John to see them talking and hanging out with Jesus.

They spoke about his [Jesus'] departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.

Obviously, Jesus knew what was going to happen to him, and he knew that his own death was going to fulfill prophecy and bring about a change in how the entire kingdom was structured. I just think this would have been a fascinating conversation to hear!

The boy that Jesus heals makes me wonder... Was he "demon possessed," or was he sick with something like we might have today such as epilepsy or another ailment? Whatever it was, Jesus "healed the boy and gave him back to his father."

Shortly afterwards, he tells the disciples that he would be betrayed into the hands of men. The disciples didn't quite grasp what he was talking about, but they were no doubt worried and confused. I can only imagine they had a lot of discussions among themselves about what Jesus might be talking about.

The disciples were fascinating figures, because they had left home and given up much to follow Jesus. They were roaming the countryside, living with Jesus and learning from him 24 hours a day. It had to be a very confusing time for many of them. And most of the disciples weren't "scholars." They were young fishermen and laborers.