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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 17

1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them privately up a high mountain.⁠ 2 And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.⁠ 3 Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him. 4 So Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!”⁠ 6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Do not be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, all they saw was Jesus alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things.⁠ 12 And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist. 14 When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son because he has seizures and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to heal him.” 17 Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.” 21 When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 22 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed. 23 After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” 24 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes—from their sons or from foreigners?” 25 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 26 But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 17:2 and Gospel of Philip 4:11

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

The Gospel of Philip appears to rework Matthew's scene of Jesus shining before his disciples on a mountain. Philip adds that Jesus must change the disciples too, making their ability to see him part of the meaning of his glorious appearance.

Passages

Matthew 17:2

New Testament
1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them privately up a high mountain. 2 And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him. 4 So Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Gospel of Philip 4:11

Nag Hammadi
Jesus overcame them all with concealment, because he did not appear as he was. Instead, it was as [they were] capable of seeing him that he appeared. [All of these], he appeared to them. He [appeared] to [the] large as large. He [appeared] to the small as small. He [appeared] [to the] angels as an angel, and to humans as a human. Consequently, his Logos concealed itself from everyone. Some saw him, imagining they saw themselves. When he, however, appeared to his disciples in glory on the mountain, he was not small; he became large. He, however, made the disciples large, in order that they could see him as large.
180–250 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Philip

References

“... This passage seems to be a reference to the events on the Mount of Transfiguration, but, as Wilson notes, “a mountain is a common place for revelations of the risen Christ in Gnostic documents.” The impor- tant point here is that many failed to understand who Jesus really was because they were limited by their own experience: to the great he was great, to the small he was small, to the angels he was an angel, and to men he was a man. Their view and understanding of Jesus was limited by their reality. But just as climbing a mountain can enable an individual to gain greater perspective, in the temple setting of the mountain, Jesus was able to transform his disciples and unshackle them from the limita- tions of their mortality so that they could gain perspective and see him as he really was. ...”
Gaye Strathearn, “Reading the Gospel of Philip as a Temple Text,” (2013): 180.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 17:2 and Gospel of Philip 4:11

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