Whenever I teach this Transfiguration story to my students, I usually ask them one question. Moses lived around 1250 B.C. and Elijah 900 B.C.
How did the three apostles who lived in the first century, recognize these two men when they appeared and talked to Jesus on the high mountain(Mark 9:4)?
I don't think I need to supply you with any answer and I am sure you can easily figure it out. Let's move on.
How does this story come down to us?
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead (Mark 9:9).
Therefore, after the resurrection of Jesus, this story began to circulate among the apostles and the believers. Here is an example of how the story got circulated outside the gospels.
Therefore I intend always to remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to arouse you by way of reminder,
since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
And I will see to it that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"
we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1:12-18).
I quoted the Second Epistle of Peter in great length to show that Transfiguration has been established as a part of the tradition of the churches established by the Apostle. At the time of writing, Peter knew that he would soon die and he wanted his communities to remember what he had handed down to them. Part of this tradition is the Transfiguration. I am sure there would be many other things the apostles did not have time to commit to writing. These unwritten stories and practices are collectively called the Tradition and Catholics according it equal standing with the Scripture in deciding matters of faith.
Let's return to the Transfiguration.
What impact did this theophany have on the three apostles? They had seen the glory of Jesus. They had seen Moses and Elijah and they had heard the voice of God. Jesus had arranged this "show" in order to strengthen the faith of his apostles because they would not accept his role as the Suffering Messiah. How successful was Jesus?
According to the gospels, the performance of the apostles was rather discouraging. Soon afterwards the apostles were scandalized.
Firstly, they were arguing who was the greatest in the Kingdom of God (Mark 9:34). Then, John wanted to monopolize the dispensation of salvation (Mark 9:38). Then, James and John wanted to occupy the seats of honour (Mark 10:37) and at last during the Passion of Jesus, all the apostles deserted him. Peter even denied him three times.
Perhaps we are wrong to expect these three apostles to change into super power heroes after witnessing the glory of Jesus. Perhaps this super power needs time and the Holy Spirit to unlock. Yes, the Holy Spirit would make us all equal inheritors of the Kingdom of God. None of us would be disadvantaged because we live two thousand years away from Jesus. Yet we are all uniquely different in our ways. (Yesterday, the results of HKCEE were released and it was a great reminder of the individual differences among students and their teachers as well.) Imagine another Simon Zealot, the apostle. He was not present at the high mountain to witness the Transfiguration. Though he had seen the risen Jesus and received the Holy Spirit himself, he had never seen his glory. How different would the tradition of the churches he later established be from Simon Peter's? Perhaps not much. After all, we know very little about their tradition or how much their tradition had contributed to the writing of the New Testament. Anyway, we know that the Bible contains all that we need to know for our salvation. So, let me quote the Second Epistle of Peter again in great length before I finish.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.
For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins (2 Peter 1:3-9).
Faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love are universal precepts to lead a moral life. We will not stray afar from the path to heaven. The Chinese classics all teach us similar truth.
「知止而后有定，定而后能靜，靜而后能安，安而后能慮，慮而后能得。」
「物格而后知至，知至而后意誠，意誠而后心正，心正而后身修，身修而后家齊，家齊而后國治，國治而后天下平。」【大學‧禮記42篇】
Dear Lord, You revealed Your glory to Your favourite apostles to pass on Your truth. We acknowledge our differences and our pedagogical needs. May we work hard to reveal Your true identity in front of our neighbours. Amen.
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