In writing this Card Talk we realized that we mock Peter a lot in this game. Our cards include:

What was Peter known to whip out his sword for? _____________________

Satan getting behind you (Matthew 16:23)

Peter's ADHD lack of impulse control and really shitty aim (John 18:10-11)

John being faster than Peter. John being faster than Peter. Just to reiterate, John is faster than Peter. (John 20:1-8) [There's a Guest Card Talk about this one]

“Mind your damn business, Peter!" (John 21:20-22)

When we were first designing this game, the title card of this post read differently. It was something along the lines of Peter not knowing what the hell he was talking about. We edited it as we were polishing our Theology of Swearing: there was no reason to use the word “hell” in this context, and we wanted to focusing on Peter’s impulsive nature and the fact that the text says Peter had no idea what he was talking about.

Another change we should have made was the reference for this card, using the Marcan version of this story instead of the Lucan one. Something we will remedy right now.

The Story of the Transfiguration

Mark 9:2-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.

And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings [tents], one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Luke’s version of the Transfiguration adds details (in bold) important to our reading of Peter and what can be learned from this story.

Luke 9:28-36

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings [tents], one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen [or Beloved]; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Let's unpack the signifance of this event in Peter's life, and our own, by working backwards.

After the Crucifixion, after the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples:

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:44 ) [Luke uses similar language in 16:16.]

On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus was joined by Moses and Elijah. These two represent two of the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah (the Law) and the Nevi'im (the Prophets). In addition, both Moses and Elijah had multiple mountain top experiences with God, including on Mt Sinai/Horev. More than this, both Moses and Elijah know what it's like to have a mountain-top conversation with God that doesn't go well.

On a mountain Moses was told that he would not be allowed to enter into the Promised Land because of his lack of faithfulness (Deuteronomy 34, c.f. Numbers 20:1-13).

On a mountain Elijah was told that he would not be allowed to continue as the primer prophet of YHWH because of his previous lack of faithfulness (1 Kings 19).

On another mountain, the Mount of Olives in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus' faithfulness would be tested before facing yet another mountain, Golgotha. Luke 9:31 told us that Moses and Elijah were present "speaking of His departure." In other words, His death.

Moses and Elijah are preparing Jesus for His death.

Jesus' NEW, dazzling, so fresh and so clean (clean), white, transfigured robes are his burial clothes.

Peter is completely unaware of all this. He didn't know what he was seeing. What's more, Luke 9:32 explains that Peter and the others were really sleep deprived, which is an odd thing for the gospel writer to mention

(Man! Jesus' clothes lit up and changed color, and He was talking to Moses and Elijah, and then the VOICE OF GOD HIMSELF cut through the clouds!!! It was amazing! Oh, I should probably mention that we hadn't slept for days, and might have been hallucinating the whole thing...)

But the writer of Luke includes this detail for a reason we will see in a moment.

Continuing with the story: After Moses and Elijah depart, Peter wants to build three "tents" or "booths" (depending on your translation) for them and Jesus. Read that as sukkoths, as in the festival of booth (Sukkot) still celebrated to commemorate the Children of Israel coming out of the wilderness. Peter wants to memorialize this amazing event, which is completely and utterly rational. Mountain-top experiences need to be treasured, and the tenor of the experiences passed on to others.

However, there is something much more important than this desire to remember what we think we got out of an spiritual experience. For as the text makes clear, Peter had no idea what he was talking about.

A divine voice from heaven (a bat kol) is heard. Again, in the telling of this episode, the writer of Luke highlights a detail missing in Mark: God, the creator and sustainer of all, cuts Peter off mid-sentence. The sub-text is clear: “Peter: shut up & LISTEN to my Son.” Why? Because Peter had no idea what he was talking about.

Fast forward to Luke 22:39-53 and the aforementioned scene on the Mount of Olives/Gethsemane. See if any of this sounds familiar:

Jesus brings His disciples to a mountain for prayer.
The disciples are very tired, but this time, they fall asleep.
Jesus undergoes a heavenly visitation to strengthen Him for the trails ahead.
Soon they are surrounded by a group of armed men, bent on taking Jesus away, and Peter (our impulsive apostle with his heart in the right place) is chopping off ears to protect Jesus.
At this moment, a divine voice (Jesus) calls Peter to stop and listen.

But Peter is not only hearing the words Jesus says in this moment. He will soon remember them after he has denied knowing Jesus three times, as was predicted (Luke 22:54-62, c.f. Luke 22:31-34). Again, poor Peter has no idea what he was talking about or what he is doing. And it hurts him.

All the interconnections of these stories is an exercise in biblical nerdity that we appreciated in and of itself. But what do we do with this?

After the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah disappear leaving Jesus and the disciples with him. The totality of the Law and the Prophets are being brought to fulfillment in the character of Jesus. A voice from Heaven has declared it so. Peter, and the rest, just need to get with the divine program.

At this juncture, the Sunday morning preacher might say the following to Peter (to us):

Stop trying to memorialize the past. Yes, it is important to keep sight of the exciting, transformative, mountain-top experiences, but you have to come down the mountain and live in the real world. You must apply and spread what you learned. Keep those things in mind going forward, but listen to Jesus. He just talked to Moses and Elijah personally. He knows the Law and the Prophets and everything else. He knows the Way, the Truth, and Life. He’s got this. Listen to Him.

And we would agree that this is a great sermon. Maybe we've preached it ourselves. But we caution Peter (you, ourselves), not to forget two things:

Peter didn't know what the Hell he was talking about. He had no idea what the mountain-top experience really represented.
Moses and Elijah represented encouragement and a reminder to be attentive to faithfulness, because dark days are coming. Even the darkness of death.

On the next day (according to both Mark and Luke's gospels) the disciples encounter a man distraught because his son has been possessed by a demon. He asks them to cast it out. The disciples fail. Miserably.

The man then rushes to Jesus, begging for help, more desperate after the disciples are unable to heal his boy. In both Gospels Jesus chews out the disciples for their failure (though He is a little nicer in Mark's version, which is actually unusual for the Gospel of Mark). Luke 9:41 is stark

“You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?”

Let's be clear: this is Jesus talking to the disciples. Not the pharisees, herodians, scribes, priests, high priests, or one of the other villains of the New Testament. These are Jesus' closest friends and He is ripping into them. Why?

Because the day before, the God-blessed day before, they had witnessed the power of God Almighty, and what more do you need to fuel your faith? And while you might want to give nine of them a pass (and hate on Judas in general), saying only three of them stood on the mountain, saw Moses and Elijah, and heard the voice of God, you're being too kind. The same chapter of Luke begins with these words

Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1-2)

Whether you believe in demon possession, or believe all references to same are epilepsy, or some other physical illness, Jesus gave them power to heal both.

This story of an exorcism gone bad is not just the tale that follows the Transfiguration. It is intimately connected. For "while everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples":

"Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. (Luke 9:43-45)

Or amended:

For the love of Me, Myself, and I, get this through your heads: I am going to DIE! Everything I do is preparing you for my death! You need to be ready. I got these snazzy new threads for my death. You JUST saw that happen! I talked to Moses and Elijah about it in front of you. Two brothers, blue because they screwed up their missions from God by complaining things were getting too hard for them. They warned me not to lose faith, because things are going to get worse. Worse! And I was already tempted by the Devil himself in the wilderness, while starving, sleep deprived, and being spirited around the region! AND one of you is going to betray me! This year is going to suck, but I'm all in. But you guys can't cast out ONE demon even after I specifically gave you the power to do that? Seriously? Seriously?! Step up your game!

Our point: Jesus was speaking of His death. The disciples weren't getting it, and often, neither do we. They were missing out on the power previously given to them. They were missing the meaning of the experiences they were presented with.

The Transfiguration was about preparing for the Cross. The mountain-top was providing strength for the climb to the next summit.

Perhaps we forget that those who came before us, including the biblical stories (the Law and the Prophets) are there as a reminder of how fraught life can be. It's not all roses. It's mostly thorns. Cynical? Read your Bible.

Perhaps we aspire to return to the mountain-top experiences of our lives (e.g. the church retreats, summer camps, spiritual workshops, prayer meetings, walks in the woods, good conversations with friends and mentors), wanting to memorialize them, set up booths in their honor, without realizing what they really represent: fuel for a fights we have yet to face.

Perhaps a dose of spiritual Ritalin would help us calm down, listen to His voice, and do the work He has given us to do. Even if we don't like where the path leads.

But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we’re going to Hell.