F. Henry
Edwards (1897-1991), a British leader in the then-Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints (now Community of Christ), and at the time of writing, a member
of the RLDS First Presidency, wrote the following about Jesus’ experience with
Moses and Elijah (NT Elias). What is important about the following is that
that, for Edwards, only two angelic figures appeared to Jesus (Moses and OT
Elijah, not Moses and John the
Baptist), nor a trio of Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist, notwithstanding
the RLDS privileging the Inspired Version in Mark 9:3 replacing OT Elijah with
John the Baptist (for more, see "Elias"
as a Forerunner in LDS Scripture)
The narrative of Matthew and that of Mark
both say that Jesus took these three apostles into the mountain “and was
transfigured before them” (Matthew 17:1, 2; Mark 9:2). Luke adds the information
that it was “as he prayed” that “his countenance was altered, and his raiment
was white and glistening” (Luke 9:28, 29). This period of prayer evidently
lasted for sometime, for while the Master prayed, the three apostles gave way
to their fatigue and slept (Luke 9:32). There is no direct statement of the
content of the Master’s prayer, but the circumstances of the preceding week,
the deep need of his disciples and his ensuing conversation with Moses and
Elias concerning his death, all combine to indicate that it was no passing
concern with trivialities which prepared the way for the experience which
followed. Jesus prayed in order to renew strength for the ordeal which lay
ahead of him and to prepare for further effect in quickening the understanding
of the men who were to carry on his work.
While the Master and his heavenly visitants
were yet talking together, something occurred to awaken the sleeping disciples
and they saw Moses and Elias and felt something of the glory which rested on
them and on Jesus. It was fifteen centuries since Moses had died at Nebo
(Deuteronomy 34) and nine centuries since Elijah had been taken to heaven
without seeing death (2 Kings 2:11), but the reality of their appearance does
not seem to have been questioned by either Jesus or the apostles. Matthew, Mark
and Luke also show by their narratives that they believed the supernatural
experience to be perfectly understandable in the attendant circumstances. In
these sophisticated days, when the realty of the unseen is a matter of speculation
with most of us, it will be well for us to remember that to Jesus and the men
nearest to him, this bridging of the centuries was a matter of experience and
not of conjecture. It was the strength of this experience that Peter wrote many
years afterward [in 2 Peter 1:16-18].
It was significant that the heavenly
visitants were Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, one of the most notable among
the prophets. As the wondering disciples looked on, they saw that the Master
was in full harmony with both of them, even as they were with each other. To
men who were accustomed to observing signs and parallels, as were the Jews,
this could not fail to mean that Moses and Elias recognized that Jesus was
exactly what he claimed to be, the fulfiller and not the enemy of both the Law
and the Prophets . . . The bewildered apostles gazed in rapt amazement at what
they saw taking place. Peter made a clumsy attempt to prolong the experience,
suggesting that he and his fellow apostles might built huts in which to house
the heavenly visitors as worshipers were housed at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Then, when the great revelation seemed to have reached its culmination, and
Moses and Elias were about to depart, “there came a voice out of the clouds,
saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Luke 9:35). Hitherto, these Jews had
listened to the words of the Law and the Prophets. They had just seen that both
were ministers serving Jesus. Now the voice of God spoke, and all that had been
symbolized and hinted at in the prior experience was made clear and mandatory: “Hear
him.” Old things were passed away; all things had become new. It is small
wonder that, after the experience was concluded, “they saw no man save Jesus
only” (Matthew 17:8).
The more we understand of the heart and mind
of divinity, the more sure we are that our Heavenly Father adjusts his
self-revelation to the growing need and understanding of those who love and
serve him. This being true, there was a definite reason why the transfiguration
experience should occur when it did. Jesus had spent a difficult week with men
who sensed something of his greatness but who were apparently unable to
reconcile the idea of his Messiahship with his apparent defeat. They had been
schooled too long in the idea that suffering and defeat are evidence of divine
disapproval. Now, worn by the strain of this week, but yet resolute in his
determination to follow the path which led to Jerusalem and to death. Jesus
sought comfort and reassurance in the presence of his Father. His faith, his
complete dedication, and his dire need provided ample justification for pulling
aside the veil which separates time and eternity, and so Jesus shared for a
moment the glory which Moses and Elias had won and which he himself was to soon
regain in his Father’s presence. (F. Henry Edwards, Studies in the Life and Ministry of Jesus [Independence, Miss.:
Herald Publishing House, 1957], 133-35, comment in square brackets added for
clarification)
