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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.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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!”
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.
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Notes and 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.”48 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. ...”
Strathearn, Gaye
Reading the Gospel of Philip as a Temple Text
(p. 180) Brigham Young University, 2013
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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