Why did Jesus tell the disciples not to tell anyone of the experience they had on the mountain at His transfiguration? ~ Nancy Trimble
The Transfiguration was not the first occasion for Jesus to direct his disciples to keep a secret regarding Him (for a time, not permanently; after all Matthew later disclosed these “secrets” in his Gospel record). Whereas the Transfiguration occurs in Matthew 17:1-9, earlier in Matthew 16:16-20 Jesus advised his apostles to not openly declare that He is the Christ. Our Lord’s prohibition on declaring the Transfiguration publicly was temporary, only restricted before his resurrection. “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” (Matthew 17:9).
Various commentators make these interesting observations regarding our Lord’s Transfiguration, witnesses to it and why Jesus instructed that it not be immediately disclosed to others. For instance: (1) The restriction at the time not to tell anyone about the Transfiguration was spoken to three apostles who were present, and they may have been prohibited to tell even their fellow apostles at that time. (2) Jesus chose three of his disciples to observe his Transfiguration, the precise number required under Judaism to authenticate something (Deuteronomy 17:6; Hebrews 10:28). (3) It was not time to emphasize Jesus’ Messiahship publicly, and arouse even more animosity among the religious leaders than arose already because of our Lord’s ministry.
For everything there is a time, and it wasn’t time for public proclamation of the Transfiguration, the point of which was to verify the Messiahship of Jesus Christ. It was, though, appropriate to reinforce the divinity of the Messiah to the apostles, as well as equip them to be corroborating witnesses of the Messiahship of Jesus Christ through their later testimony about the Transfiguration.
