And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead.
And when they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus gave them orders, saying, Let no man have word of what you have seen, till the Son of man has come again from the dead.
And as they were descending the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be raised again from the dead.
As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Don't tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."
And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead.
Tell the vision to no man - See the note on Matthew 16:20; and farther observe, that as this transfiguration was intended to show forth the final abolition of the whole ceremonial law, it was necessary that a matter which could not fail to irritate the Jewish rulers and people should be kept secret, till Jesus had accomplished vision and prophecy by his death and resurrection.
The whole of this emblematic transaction appears to me to be intended to prove,
1st. The reality of the world of spirits, and the immortality of the soul.
2dly. The resurrection of the body, and the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, see Matthew 16:27.
3dly. The abolition of the Mosaic institutions, and, the fulfillment of the predictions of the prophets relative to the person, nature, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
4thly. The establishment of the mild, light-bringing, and life-giving Gospel of the Son of God. And
5thly. That as the old Jewish covenant and Mediatorship had ended, Jesus was now to be considered as the sole Teacher, the only availing offering for sin, and the grand Mediator between God and man.
There are many very useful remarks on this transaction, by the late venerable Bp. Porteus.
Tell the vision to no man - This vision was designed particularly to confirm them in the truth that he was the Messiah. While he was with them it was unnecessary that they should relate what they had seen. When he was crucified they would need this evidence that he was the Christ. Then they were to use it. There were three witnesses of it as many as the law required Deuteronomy 17:6; Hebrews 10:28, and the proof that he was the Messiah was clear. Besides, if they had told it then, it would have provoked the Jews and endangered his life. His time was not yet come.
Vision - Sight; appearance. What they had seen on the mount.
Charged them - Gave them a commandment.
The sole design of this transfiguration was to convince them that he was the Christ; that he was greater than the greatest of the prophets; that he was the Son of God.
Mark adds Mark 9:10, "they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean." The Pharisees believed that the dead would rise, and there is no doubt that the disciples believed it; but their views were not clear, and, in particular, they did not understand what he meant by his rising from the dead. They do not appear to have understood, though he had told them Mark 12:40 that he would rise after three days.
17:9 Tell the vision to no man - Not to the rest of the disciples, lest they should be grieved and discouraged because they were not admitted to the sight: nor to any other persons, lest it should enrage some the more, and his approaching sufferings shall make others disbelieve it; till the Son of man be risen again - Till the resurrection should make it credible, and confirm their testimony about it.