Luke 9:28-36

5. The Transfiguration 9:28-36 (cf. Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8)

This event is a climax of the "identity of Jesus" motif in all the Synoptics. Here three disciples saw and heard who Jesus really was. Luke’s particular emphasis was the sufferings of Jesus that were coming. This comes through in his description of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah (Luke 9:30-31) and his interpretation of what the heavenly voice said (Luke 9:35). The whole scene recalls God’s appearance to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24), and it anticipates the second coming of Christ. There is a recurrence of the three themes of Jesus’ identity (Luke 9:20), His passion (Luke 9:22), and glory (Luke 9:26) from the previous pericope but in reverse order (Luke 9:29-30; Luke 9:35). These are the main points the reader should identify as significant in Luke’s narrative.