Daily Bible Reading 8th August 2026 // Luke 9:28-36
28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
The story of the Transfiguration of Jesus is a marvellously deep and mysterious one, full of symbolic meaning and allusion. It is the kind of passage that repays long and careful contemplation, and the more one ponders it, the more it yields up different kinds of lessons on different spiritual levels. It took place a week after the great confession at Caesarea Philippi. Jesus took the three disciples, Peter, James and John with Him up Mount Hermon, and as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance changed, and His raiment became white and glistering. He 'appeared in glory', and all the hillside glowed as it was bathed in His light. In the midst of this astonishing, supernatural manifestation, two other figures appeared, whom the disciples recognized as Moses and Elijah, who spoke with Him of the death He was to fulfil at Jerusalem. Peter wanted to build three tabernacles to commemorate the occasion, but a voice from the cloud bade him be silent and listen to Jesus: 'This is My beloved Son: hear Him'. What are we to make of all this, and what is its significance, not merely as a phenomenon, but in its context in the gospel record, as a part of the witness of the early Church to Christ? First of all, there is the association with Old Testament ideas - and indeed with New Testament ideas also. We have in previous Notes referred to the fact that the gospel writers (particularly Matthew) regarded Jesus as 'a second Moses', and how both Christ's baptism and His temptation have borne allusions to the experiences of Israel of old, crossing the Red Sea and battling in the wilderness, Moses also ascended the Mount of God at Sinai. The words of Exodus 24:16ff are too obviously similar to Luke's to avoid the claim of an association of ideas. We shall look at the significance of this association in tomorrow's Note.