To start with, let us define transfiguration in its literary standard and then relate this to the spiritual event that happened to Jesus in the presence of God the Father, two heavenly hosts (Moses and Elijah), His three disciples (Peter, James, and John).
Please, give us a minute to release the air of sincere gratitude from the heart to God in celebrating this magnificent event, which was the decisive step in the Godhead to making His will permanently secure in the hearts of people, who would look unto Jesus as Lord and Master.
What a superlative gathering the transfiguration was?
This event among others, again confirms the reign of the Supreme God and that the righteous ones do not die, but only transit to the next spiritual level of living. The presence of Moses and Elijah as spiritual hosts in this gathering are proofs that the promises of God to humanity are conclusively real.
Now to the question at hand, what is transfiguration? According to the English dictionary, transfiguration means, transform, metamorphose, or simply put, change. Change could take different shapes or forms, but in Jesus case, His body was glowing with the brightness of Holiness. The change of His body was not to compete with God the Father or other heavenly hosts present, neither was it to intimidate His disciples with the fullness of His authority. Rather, His transformation into the physique of purity was to show His total submission to the assignment from heaven on Him.
Therefore, the transfiguration was the meeting point with God the Father for the confirmation of His earthly mission, and then empowered (Anointed) with the full authority of Glory. Moses and Elijah were there as representatives of the old law, which could not save the human spirit from the severe attack from the spirit of darkness (Devil). They were confirming with their presence that the same God, who gave the Old Testament, is the same God with the new dispensation of salvation through Christ Jesus. They were there not to handover the baton of prophecy on Jesus to carry on the work of God to humanity. Nevertheless, they were there to accept their roles in the past, which were subject to the final reign of Christ Jesus over all things, both in heaven (Spiritual) and on earth (Physical). As heavenly hosts, they understood the place of Christ Jesus in the scheme of final authority on the throne of Glory and more importantly, of His preexistence even before creation, while the laws were passed on to Moses and the great prophetic ministration of Elijah.
The presence of Moses and Elijah during the transfiguration of Jesus further expresses the unity of purpose from God the Father that the laws of Moses were not useless, neither were they waste of time. Rather, that now with the work of salvation through Christ Jesus, the laws, and prophecies were going to carry living significance, living proportion, and living direction of the eminence of the power from the throne of Glory to dispense finally the relationship of unbreakable trust with God. This new relationship of unbreakable trust was no longer going be established on letters by the Law, neither supported through prophetic emissions, but would now be available through the living Spirit of God in the compound palace of forgiveness and love, who is Jesus. The promise of God to humanity moved from the hands to the heart, from the books to the body, and finally, from great laws to divine Glory.
Therefore, at the very moment of Jesus transfiguration, though as the Son of God, He immediately assumed the responsibility of been the Son of man. What this means is that it was at this spiritual gathering His accountability to bear the sins of humanity (Man/humankind) was heavenly bestowed on Him here on earth. His transfiguration was the glorious bridge from the throne of God to the reins of humankind, which is the whole purpose of salvation. His transfiguration was the heavenly baptism of His death, resurrection, and ascension in glory for the freedom of humanity from bondage of darkness.
The change of His body into a gloriously white form (Transfigure) was essentially the full manifestation of godliness on the sacrificial body, anointed to reveal the glory of God to humanity after justice or righteousness terminates sin.
Therefore, they (Moses and Elijah) were with great reverence as participants to this glorious meeting by their total submission to the course of salvation. God the Father, who was the convener of this magnificent meeting was entrusting His promise to humanity from the beginning by sharing insight of His goodness and power with His presence of immense Holiness. It was not a power kind of show situation (Bossy), but that of power sharing arrangement (Service); that of sharing transparent truth (Justice) and finally, of confirming all His promises through prophets from the beginning of time to His Oneness with us (Relationship) without demeaning the status of His majesty.
The disciples of Jesus, who were there had no front clue as to the event, but by sheer privilege of selection, they were witnesses to this symbolic arrangement as bacons of spiritual realities into the new dispensation by the gospel of Christ Jesus. They were there as witnesses to prove that God would always relate with normal human beings regardless of their different levels, only if they open up their intuitions to the signals of truth and love from the throne of Glory. Therefore, they were amazed at what they saw such as, Moses and Alijah in their spiritual form talking with Jesus. Jesus in all glittering white form, whiter than snow, and then, they heard the thunderous voice from the cloud (Glory of God) around them, saying; this is my beloved Son, hear Him.
Let us rearrange this spiritual event more appropriately for our good understanding. You see, according to the Holy Scripture when John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ in river Jordan, heaven opened up and the Spirit of God hovered on Jesus in form of a dove. At that point, when the Spirit of God was on Him, righteousness of the true God became a living presence here on earth. Righteousness became a visible characteristic of humanity through Christ Jesus. That means, the righteousness of God moved from the laws into the Spirit in Jesus. Therefore, that Spirit on Him was the confirmation to the world through the divine insight from John the Baptist that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Christ, who is the Savior of humankind from sin and death to life. Okay, that is clear.
Now, during Jesus transfiguration, the righteousness in Him took the official responsibility to judge sin and death. That means, He was no longer going to be righteous to Himself in the presence of God, but now, He is going to bear the responsibility of advocacy for righteousness. This means, during His transfiguration, He became the assignee (Anointed One) to place His righteousness on the altar of God against sin and death. That is, the full power of truth in the Spirit in Christ as the perfect solution forever is going to strike out sin, which is the obstructionist to the goodwill of God for humanity. The elusive manipulation of sin on human race could no longer be tolerated, hence the repercussion of all its deceitful activities were compiled and place on Jesus the Christ to dispense the liberty of God on behalf of humankind.
Hence, the transfiguration of Jesus was the putting together of life, death, peace, love and iniquities in one body, with the ultimate provision of godliness as the finished product to humanity. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ was the presentation of perfection assuming the reconciliatory role between God and humankind, by first taking the task of demotion in death, and through His revealing victory by resurrection, giving the glory of God to humanity to follow.
Now, followers and non-believers in Christ Jesus have a question to ponder on base on the facts of salvation. That is, was the event of salvation strange to God, or was it a normal sequence in the His realm?
Again, the answer cuts through two angles. First, salvation or the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ bodily to heaven are not strange events, but are predetermination to the consequence of sin. The all-knowledgeable God gave humankind the information and instructions to overcome sin. Therefore, when sin outplayed humanity through deceit, God had a foreknowledge of this, but had already given humankind the accountability designation to act by His instructions. Now the issues was no longer, He should have stopped it before it happened, rather the issue was that humankind had been given the noble responsibility to take charge by following the leading of holy laws of God. The spiritual impact of this is that the laws of God to humanity from eternity have always been spiritual; it was only for humankind to turn the consciousness into the realm of the Spirit of God to actualize this godly advantage and privilege.
Now when Adam failed and the human race took this burden, in the realm of God, the equation was not to saddle on the hopelessness of humankind, but to show His unrestraint love to humankind. That means sin and death were foreordained for destruction not by the necessity of judgment to His righteous but, first, of that of His love. That is, God loved Adam infinitely, but Adam lost his love to God at the point of highest demand. He lost it because at that point of highest demand, your commitment and focus should always be totally on the demand of God and not our needs. At the point of highest demand to the rule of life from God the Father, distraction and delays would kill the vision of godliness in the heart and in turn render the culprit the victim of circumstance. Note, that the love of God to us does not make us the victims of circumstance, but places us as the bearers of circumstance. Therefore, as bearers of circumstance, attention moves from the circumstance into the transforming power of God over every circumstance. That is the attention to the presence of God becomes the dominant increment in our vision and actions.
Thus, in summary, the transfiguration of Jesus Christ did not only tell us to trust in God, but more profoundly, the event gave humanity the singular opportunity to know that love is never silent and inactive, but vibrant with the ultimate passion to willingly lift others up.
Glory to you, Abba Father in Christ Jesus. Amen