Biblical Exegetical - Research Paper Example

Biblical Exegetical Paper In this text “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light" (Oden, 24) the historical and significant event of transfiguration has been explained. The first part of the sentence means that Jesus was transfigured before the three famous apostles named Peter, James and John. These apostles were there with the Jesus Christ on the mountain when the process of transfiguration took place as explained in the other bibles. The apostles could see Jesus transfigure into another form, a great light which covered Jesus Christ and there was a voice that came from the sky. The apostles could see each and every thing during this process and they were afraid to see bright lights everywhere and they lay on the ground but Jesus went to them and told them not to worry as this is the blessing of the God. This verse also means that the God wanted to show his blessings on Jesus in front of the apostles so that faith of apostles can get more strong and augmented. The apostles were also benefited from the transfiguration process because of the fact that there were two prophets with them, Moses and Elijah and the apostles saw that both the prophets were not given the transfiguration light at the moment. The verse also means that God can do anything he wants in front of naked human eye and there is no limitation to his glory. The other part of the verse is explaining the brightness of the light that covered Jesus Face. The light was so bright and powerful that the apostles could not bear it with their naked eye and they had to lay down. The verse explains that the transfiguration did not change the face of the Jesus rather there was bright light depicting the great glory and blessing of God. The light which also covered the clothes was clearly visible on the face and though the face was not changed but there were clearly signs of glory and holy light. Their surroundings were also lit by this light and everything was clearly visible due to this light despite of the night time. Raiment in Latin means snow and this word is used to depict and explain the massive white color of holy light that lit all the garments of the Jesus and the light darted through his flesh. All his clothes and whole body were covered under the bright white light that was coming from the sky. Mark says that the Latin word used for snow means that everything was just like the color of snow. It does not mean that snow began to surface physically rather it is a symbolic term used here to explain the people about the factual scene. The raiment was white and snow and the light was continually coming from the sky thus making a scene worth being blessed with eternal glory. Other commentators and theologians are also of the view that the garments were there on the body of the Jesus and everything was same as before but when the transfiguration started, everything looked new and blessed because of the holy light. The raiment can also depict the flesh and physical body of Jesus because many narrations show that all this physical body and skin were covered in light and his skin was shining like snow so there can be different interpretations of this text. Commentaries The commenter Adman Clarke says in the commentary of the Mathew 17:2 that this verse explains the transfiguration process and first it affirms that Jesus was transfigured which is a great historical events and one of the miracles of Jesus Christ -He says that this verse explains the completeness and fullness of the God who is deity or worship by the human beings that how God can turn everything over and show the miracles wherever He wants. The light on the mountain during the transfiguration , As said it Mathew 16:16, Peter had already confessed the divinity of Jesus Christ before coming to the mountain so this light dwelt and elevated the level of faith of all the apostles in Jesus (Clarke, 175). There is also a great connection between the transfiguration process and resurrection of the human bodies and God has taught the people that he can change the body and other forms of energy in seconds and similarly same can happen on the day of resurrection as also hinted in Supper at Emmaus appearance in Luke 24:39. The white light did change each and every element of the surroundings as it was packed with glory and elevated holiness. The bright light at the time of transfiguration is likely to be shown on the day of resurrection. It is also shown through the verse that God can change the forms of people and similarly died people will be made alive on the day of resurrection. According to the commentary of Henry, Jesus was transfigured before them means that he was given the glory and blessings in front of all the apostles present at the time of transfiguration at the mountain. . Henry says that the substance of his body remained the same, but the says that the body of the Jesus was first shown in weakness and dishonor but at the strike of light and after transfiguration, the glory and blessings was clearly depicted from the body. Henry also connects the transfiguration process with the resurrection because he says that like Jesus’s body was turned from weak to powerful and blessed, the same thing is going to happen on the day of resurrection when the dead bodies will be made alive and the dead rotten bones will be given life and everyperson will see from his own eyes that god can do everything but that time will give no benefits of realizing the truth and reality (Henry & Martin, 15) . Henry says that this also means that he was metamorphosed and many. Poets amused and abused the world with idle extravagant stories about this event which should not be given heed. The light was so powerful that everything was converted in to and the apostles went down in order to accept the greatness of Jesus. This is also a fact explained by Henry that in the intention being the transfiguration was also to increase the faith of the apostle’s especially Peter because there were many problems for Jesus and the apostles started to think that there are many few powers with Jesus and they don’t have any place to go. Henry argues just like other commenter that the body of Jesus was not changed at all form the root rather the effects of the transfiguration were so great and powerful that they changed every effect on his body and removed the signs of weakness and plight. Third part This text can help me massively to learn the basics behind the intention of the God’s message in different Holy Scriptures. The Transfiguration, is awarded great value from the Christian Catholic theology because of the fact that this event not only elevates the importance of Jesus, it also indicates many factors that are important to learn the intention behind our religion and many other factors like resurrection and theological backgrounds of human life. I can take help in learning the fact that how important and great was Jesus when God himself said “listen to him”. This shows that Jesus was messenger of God and he came in the world to deliver the message of God and God always wanted people to listen to him and read the Holy Scriptures in order to surpass the tests in the world and hereafter. These texts can help me understand that after every hardship, there is ease and this is why Jesus was given the gift of light and transfiguration miracle after he faced many problems and his body was shown very weak and he was under difficult circumstances. I also learnt that God does not give the help and mercy without testing the person so if God is testing someone from different detrimental environments and there are multiple calamities upon him then he must be patient and wait for the God’s mercy. God is always there to help people but the people rarely understand this point and they become hasty in getting the things they want. This text greatly helps me to understand the other Catholics Christ and references and how people should inculcate the importance of holy scriptures because these scriptures always remind us about the fact that Jesus not only did sacrifices for the people, he also face many calamities after which God gave him many gifts and Transfiguration, was one of that gift. The presence of the two prophets, Moses and Elijah is also of colossal importance in the contextual backgrounds of this text because of the fact that the presence of the prophets and the transfiguration shown that how God wanted to show the other prophets the example of Jesus that God is with all the prophets and whosoever will remain patient, God will give him blessings and mercy. References Top of Form Clarke, Adam. The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, the Text Carefully Printed from the Most Correct Copies of the Present Authorized Translation, Including the Marginal Readings and Parallel Texts: With a Commentary and Critical Notes Designed As a Help to a Better Understanding of the Sacred Writings. Nashville: Abingdon, 1977. Print. Top of Form Henry, Matthew, and Martin H. Manser. The New Matthew Henry Commentary: The Classic Work with Updated Language. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2010. Internet resource. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Oden, Thomas C. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 2005. Print. Bottom of Form Read More