Six days after Jesus gently told them the news of His destiny, He took Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain alone with Him. As Jesus prayed, He was transfigured. What does that mean, transfigured? It means His appearance changed. His face shined like the sun and His clothing was whiter than snow or light, whiter than any launderer could bleach anything. Luke uses an interesting word to describe it; he said it was glistering. Then Moses and Elijah appeared there, talking with Jesus about His death which would happen in Jerusalem.

The three Apostles were asleep while this happened and when they woke up, they saw the glory of Jesus, and they could also see Moses and Elijah standing with Him. They were afraid and didn't know what to say, then after a time, Peter said, Lord, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Just then, a bright cloud came and overshadowed them. Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying,

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear Him.

God was telling them to believe the things that Jesus was telling them about His upcoming death. When the voice was done speaking, Jesus came and touched them and said, Get up, don't be afraid. When they looked up, Jesus was alone.

As they came down the mountain, Jesus told them, Don't tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of man be raised again from the dead. They kept it a secret, but they talked about it among themselves wondering what rising from the dead meant. They still didn't understand, because God was still keeping the meaning hidden from them.

Having our Bibles in front of us and thousands of years having passed since all this has happened, we understand how Jesus' dying for our sins was the perfect plan and how it all fits together and makes perfect sense. HOWEVER, it's also easy to understand the confusion that the Apostles were feeling as they were learning about what was really gonna happen to their Lord and Master, the Messiah, the Christ. It was too devastating for them to comprehend. They may have guessed that there would be some political animosity towards Him from the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes and the Roman empire ... but death was probably the furthest thing from their minds. They never would have guessed that this would be the outcome even though they read about it in scripture and Jesus reminded them of it over and over again. They just could not grasp the TRUTH.