As the title of this series indicates, we’ve been looking at how the apostle Peter transfigures the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. He refers to this marvelous event in 2 Peter 1:16-18 (I’ll be quoting from the NASB20 version), not to recount history, but to make theological connections. One of them has to do with eschatology (a fancy word that refers to the end times). Peter was trying to show Christians that the glorification of Jesus on the mountain was a revelation of Christ’s divine nature and a hint about God’s plan for human nature at the end of the age. (I dealt with this in the first post of the series.)
The other is transformation. By attending to God’s Word, we believers can experience genuine and lasting change that displays the majesty of the Lord through our lives. (I covered this topic in last week’s post.)
There’s a third matter Peter ties to the Transfiguration–spiritual warfare.
It might not look obvious in 2 Peter, but it’s there!
Let’s start this study by recognizing that the gospel writers bookend Christ’s transfiguration by two examples of spiritual confrontation.
In Matthew’s gospel, the account of the Transfiguration takes place in Matthew 17:1-8. Prior to this, Jesus had asked His disciples about how they and others identified Him. And Peter came through with flying colors!
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” – Matthew 16:16
Good for him, but soon after, Peter blew it. Jesus told His disciples that He was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem, but this made no sense to Peter. How could Jesus be the Christ but also get killed? No way would this happen! (See Matthew 16:21-22).
So the Lord had to correct him!
“But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but men’s.’” – Matthew 16:23
The devil wanted to derail God’s plan; Peter disagreed with it. Jesus could discern the intrusion of the enemy into His disciple’s words and He wouldn’t tolerate it for a second.
So this took place before the Transfiguration.
Afterwards, Jesus, Peter, James, and John descended from the mountain and encountered a desperate man. He was a father whose boy was demonized and the apostles couldn’t rescue him (Matthew 17:14-17). But Jesus had no trouble.
“And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed at once.” – Matthew 17:18
So we see that spiritual battles precede and follow the Transfiguration. This isn’t surprising, because the display of Christ’s glory threatened the grip the devil had on the human race. Jesus–fully human and fully divine–manifested the splendor and power that would liberate people from evil and enable them to share in the goodness of God.
Was the Transfiguration itself an act of spiritual warfare? Is that what Peter implied in his second letter?
I believe the answer to these questions is “yes.”
I won’t be able to explain my reasoning in a single post, so what I start here I’ll finish in the next one.
I’ll begin with how Peter ends the passage about the Transfiguration.
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a declaration as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”– 18and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. – 2 Peter 1:16-18
The apostle tells us that the Transfiguration happened “on the holy mountain.”
What mountain does he mean?
In the Old Testament, two mountains had spiritual significance for the Jewish people: Sinai and Zion. Technically, we need to add a third name to this list because the Bible uses the names Sinai and Horeb to refer to the same mountain. This was due to the fact that Mt. Horeb was in the Sinai region. Here are two verses that support the notion that Sinai and Horeb are the same:
- “On the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” – Exodus 19:11b
- “There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.” – 2 Chronicles 5:10
The location of Moses receiving God’s law would be of eternal value for the Jewish people, and they would always regard it as holy.
But Mt. Zion is also significant because it’s the location of the temple in Jerusalem. Here are a couple of verses from the Psalms that highlight its importance:
- “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” – Psalm 2:6
- “May He send you help from the sanctuary, and support you from Zion!” – Psalm 20:2
Peter said that Jesus was transfigured “on the holy mountain.” It makes sense that God would reveal the glory of His Son on either Mt. Sinai or Mt. Zion, but Scripture doesn’t actually say that. Neither Matthew, Mark, nor Luke identify the name of the mountain.
Why would Peter call the mountain holy? In part, because it hosted the Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John got to witness the glory of Jesus Christ like they’d never seen before.
But there’s another reason.
The church has long held a tradition that Mt. Hermon is where the Transfiguration took place. This has some credibility because the incident took place around the region of Caesarea Philippi in the north of Israel (see Matthew 16:13, Mark 8:27) which is some distance from Jerusalem and the Sinai wilderness.
And with an altitude of over 9000 feet, Mt. Hermon is the tallest mountain in that area, so it attracted the attention of both Israelites and pagans. It also was rife with idol worship, particularly the worship of Baal, which captured the devotion of the tribe of Dan.
Finally, the book of Enoch was a Jewish text put together perhaps a few centuries before Christ came into the world. It reflected many of the beliefs the Jews had about spiritual matters, particularly the Day of the Lord and the final judgment. Chapter 6:1-6 of the book parallels Genesis 6:1-4 which describes the sons of God mating with human women and producing monstrous and wicked offspring. I know this sounds strange to modern ears, but the Bible isn’t shy about the attempts of the devil and his hosts to corrupt and ruin humanity by any means possible.
If fallen angels organized their plan on Mt. Hermon, then the transfiguration of Jesus Christ at the same location was a declaration of war against the spiritual forces of evil. The efforts of the enemy to degrade human beings were being challenged by the only One capable of defeating the devil. Furthermore, Jesus gave His disciples a glimpse of His divine majesty shining through His human nature. This is a revelation of the Father’s ultimate plan to redeem and glorify humanity through His Son.
Our salvation is so full and deep! Through the Transfiguration, we have a vision of what awaits us in the age to come. When Jesus returns to establish God’s kingdom, we will share in His glory, enjoy His blessings, and rejoice in His victory over all the afflictions of evil.
So I believe that Peter views the Transfiguration through the lens of spiritual warfare. In the next post, I’ll go over other verses that reinforce this point. Until then, walk with Jesus and glorify Him in everything!
