THE TRANSFIGURATION: PART ONE

The longer I study God's Word, the more I realize that only God could be the Author. Apparent contradictions, obvious omissions, using Gospel writers who were not there for the events being reported, etc., would never be allowed if man was in control of its publishing. An editor would challenge the differences between Genesis, chapters two and three, would require more detail on the life of the main Character, and certainly would want to quote eye witnesses rather than allowing hearsay. For the Bible to be the foundation for two of the world's three monotheistic religions when much of it would not be allowed as testimony in a court of law, it has to be of Divine origin!

Take the Transfiguration of Christ for example. We read in three of the Gospels that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain to pray (Matt. 17:1; Mk. 9:2; Lk. 9:28). Notice that none of the writers was among those who accompanied Jesus. Other than Luke, who declared he compiled his Gospel from the testimony of others (Lk. 1:1-4), we have no way of knowing how Matthew and Mark got their information. Luke and Mark were not even apostles! Of the three chosen to witness Christ's Transfiguration, only Peter mentions it in his writings, giving very little detail: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount" (2 Pet. 1:16-18).

The strangest thing of all, is that the one Gospel writer who was present didn't even report the event; not in his Gospel, his epistles, or in the Book of Revelation. One explanation for the obvious omission is that to John, the event paled in comparison to his vision of the resurrected Lord on the Isle of Patmos. However, this cannot be the reason because the Gospel of John is believed to have been written years before John's exile. C. I. Scofield dates the Gospel from A.D. 85-90, while he suggests A.D. 96 for Revelation. While many challenge the date due to John's failure to acknowledge the destruction of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70, Hal Lindsey wrote: "All arguments in favor of a late date for Revelation rest with the "integrity and reliability" of the early church fathers, such as Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodus, Apollinaris, and others who lived within some three hundred years of the time of John" (Hal Lindsey, The Road To Holocaust p 245).

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will try to address Christ's prophecy about the yet future Transfiguration in the previous verses of the three Gospels, the significance of the event, the discussion with Moses and Elijah, and His instructions to keep silent on what Peter, James, and John had seen.