NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Part II

Verse 4: Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you want, I will put up three tents here—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

From the context, we believe that Peter started speaking in the midst of Christ’s transfiguration. In other words, when he should have been observing he was orating. Consequently, he did not allow himself to assimilate and be fully impacted by this supernatural event. It appears that all he was thinking about was a way to commemorate the event rather than consecrate the occasion by thinking of how could the disciples offer themselves more fully to God’s will and purpose for their lives.

It is also important to note, that had Peter been wrong in identifying the two men who were talking with Jesus as Moses and Elijah, our Lord would have certainly corrected his mistake. These three figures represented what was righteous and holy in the eyes and mind of the Jews. Moses, the great law giver who led the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Elijah, the first prophet to perform miracles that were unseen before in Israel’s history. Jesus, the Son of God sent to earth as the Messiah to liberate the souls of mankind from the punishment of sin that would have a fiery end.

But what Peter failed to see was that he was witnessing three truths for which he could have built tents to commemorate. First, that the Law had been speaking about the Messiah’s coming from the beginning and now it was confirmed by Moses. Second, the Prophets had also revealed where the Messiah would be born, how it would happen and what He would come to do. And now, this was confirmed by Elijah. But a third factor to consider was this, Jesus was telling the Law and the Prophets that they were no longer needed. He had come to meet all their requirements in order to be accepted as the true Messiah.

There was good reason for Peter to think that way. Figuratively speaking, the prophecy of Isaiah had come true for him, “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty.”¹ And had Peter been successful in erecting a tent, he may have been expecting the same thing that happened to Moses in the wilderness: “Then the cloud covered the Meeting Tent and the Glory of the LORD filled the Holy Tent. Moses could not go into the Meeting Tent because the cloud had settled on it, and the Glory of the LORD had filled the Holy Tent.”² That’s what took place when Solomon completed the Temple: “When the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the LORD’s Temple. The priests could not continue their work because the Temple was filled with the Glory of the LORD.”³ And in John’s apocalypse we see it happen again, “The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and the power of God. No one could enter the temple...”⁴

In his preaching, a 5th-century bishop of Rome, Leo the Great, made this comment on Peter’s outburst: “Excited therefore by these revelations of secret realities, the apostle Peter, spurning the ordinary, and disgusted with earthly things was seized by a certain excess of passion toward a yearning for eternal things. Filled up with the joy of the whole vision, he wished to dwell there with Jesus where he was delighting in Christ’s manifested glory… But the Lord did not reply to this suggestion, for while it was not wrong it was inappropriate since the world could not be saved except by Christ’s death. And in the Lord’s warning the faith of those who believe is called to account. Among the temptations of this life we should understand that we are to ask for endurance before glory. Good fortune in ruling cannot come before a time of enduring.”⁵

On Monday, May 16, 1994, I was in the mountain resort city of Baguio, Philippines as a guest lecturer at the Full Gospel Businessmen’s National Convention. The main speaker was Mel Tari, the Indonesian evangelist who wrote the stirring book about the great revival in Indonesia titled, “Like a Mighty Wind.” I enjoyed talking with him and mentioned one incident that occurred during that period on the Isle of Timor. A congregation was worshiping in a church, that held about 200 people when they heard the sounds of fire bells coming down the street and stopping in front of the church. The police station across the street had reported the church was on fire. Suddenly firemen rushed in with buckets of water to tell the people to get out because there were flames seen on top of the roof. But much to the firemen’s surprise, there was no fire inside. As Mel told me, “It was the fire of God hovering over everyone because people were receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and being filled with the Holy Spirit.” Oh that we could witness the same today where churches would become known for the glory of God hovering over them.

Verse 5: While Peter was talking, a bright cloud formed above them. A voice came from the cloud and said, “This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with Him. Obey Him!”

What this voice had to say would reverberate around the world in the ensuing centuries. This scene is reminiscent of what occurred in the Arabian desert, “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke. Smoke rose off the mountain like smoke from a furnace. This happened because the LORD came down on the mountain in fire. Also, the whole mountain began to shake. The noise from the trumpet became louder and louder. Every time Moses spoke to God, God answered him with a voice like thunder.”⁶ And just like the children of Israel: “You heard the sound of someone speaking, but you did not see any form. There was only a voice.”⁷ What the voice said confirmed the prophecy of Isaiah, “Here is my servant, the one I support. He is the one I have chosen, and I am very pleased with Him.”⁸ That message would affect the disciples and have a tremendous impact on them.

Early church leader Leo the Great continues his exposition on this text: “A voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him. I am manifested through His preaching. I am glorified through His humility. So listen to Him without hesitation. He is the truth and the life. He is my strength and wisdom. ‘Listen to Him’ whom the mysteries of the law foreshadowed, of whom the mouths of the prophets sang. ‘Listen to Him’ who by His blood redeemed the world, who binds the devil⁹ and seizes His vessels, who breaks the debt of sin and the bondage of iniquity. ‘Listen to Him’ who opens the way to heaven and by the pain of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent into His kingdom.”¹⁰

Sounds like good preaching to me. But let’s take it one step further. In my many years of ministry God has blessed me with, I have discerned that believers can often be classified in three categories. There are those who are satisfied with the way things are going in their lives and they work just hard enough to keep their spiritual equilibrium. Then, there are those who find so little time to be involved in discipleship activities and hope that things will pan out in the end in their favor. Finally, there are those who are never satisfied with the status quo and are always asking, seeking, and knocking on Wisdom’s door wanting more and more understanding of where the Lord expects them to be so they can see where they are and then take the necessary steps to get to where they need to be.

Those in the first category are like Peter. They’ve had this great experience and want to stay right where they are. You often hear it in their testimonies as they recount when they were born again and became a new creation in Christ. But that’s where they built their tabernacle and have not moved on from there. So it may take a voice from heaven, either through a sermon, song, book, or other vessels, to tell them that Jesus is still the One in whom He is well pleased, but if they want to have His favor they must start following and become more like Him.

Verse 6: When Jesus’ followers heard this voice, they became frightened and fell to their knees on the ground.

Little did they know at that time how penetrating this revelation would be to everyone as we see in the Jewish writing called, “Sepher Yetzirah,” or “Book of Formation,” which is perhaps the oldest Rabbinical treatise of Kabalistic philosophy still extant. Kabbalah originally developed entirely within the realm of Jewish thought, and kabbalists often use classical Jewish sources to explain and demonstrate its esoteric teachings. These teachings are held by followers in Judaism to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional Rabbinic literature and their concealed concepts, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.

The Sepher Yetzirah was first put into writing around 200 AD. In the section titled: “The Fifty Gates of Intelligence,” is found a diagram of Kabbalistic knowledge emanating from the “Divine Sphere,” which contains all enlightenment, and descends by stages down through the angels, heavens, humanity, animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms to basic matter and then into chaos. In Chapter 6, the Kabalists say that one must rise and pass through all Fifty Gates to reach the Thirty-two Mysterious Paths of Wisdom. They state that Moses only passed through the forty-ninth gate, but never entered the fiftieth gate.

Some of the ascending gates in the First Order are elementary: 1. Chaos. 2. Void. 3. Abyss. 4. Origin of the Elements. 5. Earth (no seed germs). 6. Water. 7. Air. 8. Fire 9. Differentiation of qualities. 10. Mixture and combination. But when we reach the Sixth and final Order, we come to the “The Archetype.” Gate Fifty, which is God, whom they call, “never ending light.” He who no mortal eye has seen. Then incredibly, it goes on to say, “…and Who has been known to Jesus the Messiah alone.” No wonder the disciples fell flat with their faces on the ground. This was done not only out of fear but out of awesome reverence and divine respect.¹¹

This sounds familiar to what happened to Samson’s parents, Manoah and his wife when they were visited by the angel of the LORD. They were so awed that they wanted to know His name. But He told them it would be too amazing for them to comprehend. So out of reverence, “Manoah sacrificed a young goat on a rock. He offered the goat and a grain offering as a gift to the Lord and to the One Who Does Amazing Things. Manoah and his wife were watching what happened. As the flames went up to the sky from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up to heaven in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they bowed down with their faces to the ground. He finally understood that the man was really the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah and his wife again. Manoah said to his wife, ‘We have seen God. Surely we will die because of this.’”¹² Manoah and the disciples knew what God told Moses what would happen if any human ever saw the face of God. This was considered the holiest thing that a person could ever encounter as we see when David saw the angel.¹³

Why is it then that we enter the presence of God so casually and nonchalant? Who would dare feel comfortable in the way they are dressed in God’s house were His presence to be revealed in the same manner as it was here? O God, forgive us for taking Your presence so lightly and not showing You the respect You deserve. The disciples were so mesmerized that it took a touch from Jesus’ hand to bring them out of their trance. The same thing happened to Daniel, “While Gabriel was speaking, I fell to the ground and went to sleep. It was a very deep sleep. Then Gabriel touched me and lifted me to my feet. He said, ‘Now, I will explain the vision to you.’”¹⁴

Verses 7-8: But Jesus came to them and touched them. He said, “Stand up. Don’t be afraid.” The followers looked up, and they saw that Jesus was now standing alone.

In reading this text, some early Church Fathers expressed their reactions as well. Jerome gives his assessment: “For three possible reasons, they were petrified with fear: either because they knew they had sinned or because the bright cloud covered them or because they had heard the voice of God the Father speaking. Human weakness is not strong enough to bear the sight of such great glory but trembles with its whole heart and body and falls to earth.… ‘And Jesus came up and touched them.’ Because they were lying down and could not rise, He mercifully came up and touched them so that through His touch He might put to flight their fear and strengthen their weakened limbs. ‘And He said to them, “Rise, and don’t be afraid.”’ Those whom He had healed with His hand, He heals with His command, ‘Have no fear.’ First, the fear is expelled so that afterward doctrine may be imparted.”¹⁵

Then Origen wants everyone to consider the details of this passage. He says: “See if you can also say this: The disciples understood that the Son of God had been speaking to Moses. It was Moses who had said of God, ‘No one shall see my face and live.’¹⁶ The disciples understood the testimony of Moses about God. They were not able to endure the radiance of the Word. They humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God. But after the touch of the Word, they lifted up their eyes. They saw Jesus only and no other. Moses, the law and Elijah the prophet had become one with the gospel of Jesus. They did not abide as they formerly were as three, but they became one. Think of these things in a spiritual sense.”¹⁷

What a wonderful way to illustrate our own experience of the glory of the Father surrounding us in the presence of our Lord Jesus the Christ. How we must not continue to lay on the ground in repentance and awe, but get up and begin to walk in faith and go where He leads us. And to also realize that we do not need to carry the burden of the Jewish believers who were yoked with the Law and the Prophets, but to be assured that in Jesus all of those requirements have been fulfilled, and that faith in Him alone will meet all those requirements for salvation so that we can be yoked with Him in carrying out the duties He assigns to us. So if you built a tabernacle on the spot where you were born again, it’s time to go out and move on toward the gates of the city whose maker and occupant is God Almighty. Remember, there is a place already built and waiting for you so you can be in His presence for eternity.