Three disciples see how great Jesus is
1 Jesus then said to them, ‘I tell you this: Some people who are standing here will see God begin to rule in his kingdom with great power. They will see that before they die.’
2 Six days after that, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to go with him. Jesus led them up a high mountain, where they were alone together. Peter, James and John saw Jesus change in front of them. 3 His clothes became very white; they were shining. They were a brighter white than anyone on earth could wash them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared in front of the three disciples. Elijah and Moses were talking with Jesus.
9:4Moses had lived a long time before Jesus. He was a leader of God's people. He died about 1400 years before Jesus was born. We can read about Moses in the book of Exodus.
9:4Elijah was one of God's special servants who spoke God's messages to the people. He lived about 850 years before Jesus was born. He was still alive when God took him up to live in heaven. We can read about Elijah in 1 Kings.
5 So Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Please let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses. And one hut will be for Elijah.’ 6 Peter did not really know what to say. That was because the three disciples were very afraid.
9:6Peter and his friends wanted to build the huts so that these important people could stay with them longer. But God did not want them to remain on the mountain. God sent these two men to talk to Jesus. They talked about the things that would happen in Jerusalem. Jesus would die on a cross there. See Luke 9:31. 7 Then a cloud appeared and it covered them all. A voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to him.’
8 At that moment, the three disciples looked around. They saw that nobody else was there now. Only Jesus was there with them.
9 While they were walking down the mountain, Jesus said to the three disciples, ‘You must not tell anyone now about the things that you have just seen. One day the Son of Man will become alive again after his death. Then you can tell people about these things.’ 10 The three disciples kept these words secret. But they talked together about the words, ‘become alive again after his death’. They asked each other, ‘What does this mean?’
