When the disciples heard the voice out of the cloud, “they fell on their face and feared exceedingly” (v. 6). After the Lord Jesus came to them, touched them, and told them to arise and not to fear, they lifted up their eyes and “saw no one except Jesus Himself alone” (v. 8). Peter proposed to rank Moses and Elijah, that is, the law and the prophets, with Christ, but God took Moses and Elijah away, leaving no one except Jesus Himself alone. The law and the prophets were shadows and prophecies, not the reality, which is Christ. Now that Christ is here, the shadows and prophecies are no longer needed. No one except Jesus Himself alone should remain in the New Testament. Jesus is today’s Moses, imparting the law of life into His believers. He is also today’s Elijah, speaking for God and speaking forth God within His believers. This is God’s New Testament economy.
God took Moses and Elijah away because He would not tolerate seeing His children rank anyone on the same level as His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, when the disciples saw the Lord Jesus, they saw no one except Him alone. This was a lesson to them. In the kingdom God will not allow the law or the prophets to be held equal to Christ. Since the kingdom has come, there should be nothing but Christ.
In God’s economy today Christ is the living lawgiver, the One who has imparted Himself into our being as the Giver of the law of life. Thus, Christ is our real Moses, who was a type, a shadow of Christ. The law Moses gave was not the real law; rather, it was the law of dead letters. The real law is the law of life, which only Christ can give us. Because He has given us the law of life, He is the real lawgiver. Furthermore, in God’s economy Christ is the real prophet. Elijah also was a type, a shadow, of Christ, who is the true prophet (Acts 3:22). Christ is within us not only to impart the law of life into our being, but also to speak for God. Christ speaks forth God. Because we have Christ as the real Moses and the real Elijah, we do not need any other Moses or Elijah in God’s New Testament economy.
As we await the coming of the kingdom, we must learn not to rank Moses, Elijah, or anyone else on the same level as Christ. Instead, we need to learn to experience Christ as our Moses and Elijah. He is the One imparting the law of life into us. In other words, as our present, real, subjective Moses He is regulating us from within. Moreover, He is also our present and subjective Elijah, constantly speaking for God and speaking forth God within us. We must listen to Him.
After the Lord had been transfigured before the disciples, Peter might have felt both happy and sorrowful. He might have felt sad about being rebuked. It was a serious matter to be rebuked in such a glorious situation. While everyone was having an enjoyable time, Peter spoke nonsense, and he was rebuked for it. Perhaps James and John said to him, “Peter, you are always doing things like this. Perhaps by now you have learned your lesson. When we were having a good time with the Lord Jesus on the mountain, you spoke nonsense, and you were rebuked. But, Peter, we shared the shock of this with you. We would not have been shocked, if you had not been shocked first. But please don’t do that again.”
Verse 9 says, “And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man is raised from among the dead.” The vision of the transfigured, glorified Jesus cannot be realized by anyone except in the resurrection of Christ. Here we see the principle that the manifestation of the kingdom can be revealed only in resurrection. Anyone who is not in resurrection is not qualified to see it. If we believe in resurrection and live in resurrection, we shall be in glory, even though the manifestation of the kingdom has not yet come. When we live and walk in resurrection, we have the sense that we are in glory and that we can see the glorious manifestation of the kingdom. Thus, the manifestation of the kingdom can be revealed only to those in resurrection. For this reason, the Lord Jesus charged the disciples not to talk about His coming in His kingdom.
In verse 10 the Lord’s disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” The matter of Elijah coming first is according to Malachi 4:5-6. In verse 11 the Lord replied, “Elijah indeed is coming and will restore all things.” This will be fulfilled at the time of the great tribulation, when Elijah will be one of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:3-4), as prophesied in Malachi 4:5-6. In verse 12 the Lord continued, “But I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished; thus also the Son of Man is about to suffer by them.” This refers to John the Baptist (v. 13), who came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:13-17) and was rejected (11:18) and beheaded (14:3-12).
The disciples had a theological problem. They seemed to be saying to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, Your kingdom has come, and we have seen it. But the scribes told us that Elijah would appear before the coming of the kingdom. We saw You coming in Your kingdom, but Elijah has not appeared. How can this be?” The disciples were bothered because they had some knowledge of scriptural doctrines. If I had been one of them, I would have asked the same thing. In contrast to Peter’s nonsensical proposal on the mountain, the disciples’ question was logical. Often when we are in a glorious situation, we do nonsensical things. But after we become clear and sober, we are very logical.
The Lord Jesus told the disciples that Elijah would come and restore all things (v. 11). This word indicates that the coming of the kingdom was not yet in full. In the future there will be a full manifestation of the kingdom. Before this, Elijah will come. On the one hand, Elijah has come; but on the other hand, he has not yet come in full. John the Baptist was Elijah, but he was not Elijah in full. The full coming of Elijah will take place in the future. The Elijah who had already come was rejected and killed. The disciples understood that the Lord was speaking of John the Baptist. Just as the transfiguration of Christ was the coming of the kingdom, but not in full, so the coming of John the Baptist was the coming of Elijah, but not his coming in full. Before the full coming of the kingdom, Elijah will come in full.
In the Bible the fulfillment of prophecy is often like this. First there is a partial fulfillment, then the complete fulfillment. The same is true in principle with our experience of being in glory. During the past years, I have experienced being in glory, but this experience was not in full. At the time of the full manifestation of the kingdom of Christ, we shall all enter fully into glory. But today we see in Christ’s transfiguration a miniature of the coming manifestation of the kingdom. The miniature assures us that the full manifestation will come.