Matt.17:5,6 – While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.
Heb.1:3 – And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
The transfiguration gives us a peek into the coming kingdom of God. John said in Revelations that there will be no sun or moon in the kingdom because Christ Himself will be the light. Those disciples who were with Christ when He was transfigured got a taste of what the kingdom will be like. They saw a taste of Christ in His glory. In Hebrews it describes Christ as being the very radiance of God. Light streams from Him, not just ordinary light but the very light of God. Here is what Jonathan Edwards said about Christ being the radiance of the Father.
“The things that are here spoken of Christ are spoken of him as God-man, either so actually, or so by constitution or immutable undertaking and appointment. All things are from him as God-man, but he him [self] as God-man is from the Father. He is here spoken of as the image of the invisible God, i.e. the image of the Father. The Father is the author of his own image, as in Hebrews 1:3 he is called “the brightness or the shining forth of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his person,” which shows that the glory of this image, as it exists in the view of the creature, comes immediately from the Father, as light does from the sun, or as effulgence does from a luminary.”
Christ is seated in heaven at the Father’s right hand, streaming from Him is the glorious radiance of God. Everywhere these rays are embraced there is redemption and recovery from the curse of sin. In this light there is revelation, healing, and empowerment. The apostles could never forget that special day for the rest of their lives. That is what happens when the glory bursts into your world, it becomes your life defining moment.
