I may have already dealt with the transfiguration, but that in no wise means it is covered. Here in Luke, the account of the transfiguration is brief, a mere nine lines of text. Let us examine the Luke account. Where did it come from? Those known to be involved were Jesus, Peter, John, and James.
Why did Jesus choose these three to go with him? I get the sense of an inner circle of disciples who stood in the office of spiritual companions, support, or even the equivalent of prayer warriors. What can be said about these three? Aside from being the three Jesus chose on this personal occasion, Jesus also chose them for the prayer in Gethsemane. On both occasions, the three disciples were described as sleepy.
Which one of them was lucid enough to recount the tale? It was actually an amalgam of three memories that found its way into written form some years later. According to the account, they only caught the tail end of it as they struggled to wake up. Their first impression was of three figures with two of them departing.
What those three figures spoke of was a blank that had to be filled in by another. The only one who knew of the conversation with any certainty was Jesus himself. When the three disciples were startled from their sleep, it was very bright. Fists were in their eyes, rubbing away the sleep. But , they knew something important was coming down.
Peter suggested the erection of three tabernacles, one for each of the transfigured figures. A tabernacle was a small, movable tent that was used as a place of worship by the ancient Israelites. This definition of a tabernacle explains the response of God, who overshadowed, or enshrouded the three disciples in a dark cloud or fog. I can imagine this moment as part of a Steven Spielberg movie with thick swirling mist and rays of bright light darting here and there. I can imagine the hairs standing on the backs of their necks. God told them with an audible voice to concern themselves only with Jesus.
However they came by the impression of events that eventually made its way into print, they “kept it close,” and in the years that followed, they often mulled it over recounting their impressions among themselves. The whole account leaves me with questions.
Why were the disciples sleeping; was their schedule that rigorous? Did Peter suggest three tents because they had lugged tents with them up the mountain? What brought them from their slumber? In a society with restrictions against images and likenesses, just how did they recognize the two bright figures as Moses and Elijah?
Unless there was another there to record the facts, three disciples in the frame of mind that was so heavy with sleep they did not know what they were saying when they spoke – well, that sounds like three groggy minds that would have misconstrued a conversation, and blurry eyes that did not see straight. Christ might have relayed the conversation and identities to them, just as he might have relayed the account of his forty days in the wilderness. Who best to know?
As for the story in the book of Luke, Luke not being present, would have heard the account from one of the three disciples, but not immediately after the fact. The text says that the disciples “kept it close, and told no man in those days . . .” As to the gospel of Luke itself, The most probable date for its composition is around 80-100 AD. James is thought to have died eleven years after the death of Jesus – about 44 AD. Peter is thought to have died some 23 years later around 67 or 68 AD. John is thought to have died sometime between 89 and 120 AD.
Peter is thought to have died in Rome around the same time as Paul, who are both considered the founders of the church of Rome. Luke was in Rome at that time with Paul, and could just as easily have had contact with Peter. Between the time of the transfiguration, witnessed by Peter, John, and James, and the writing of the account by Luke, there was enough time and likelihood that memory of the event underwent natural revision.
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