The Transfiguration refers to an event in the New Testament where Jesus Christ took three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, up on a mountain, where Moses and Elijah appeared and Jesus was transfigured, his face and clothes becoming dazzlingly bright. The transfiguration is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels, and it is unique among others that appear in the canonical gospels, in that the miracle happens to Jesus himself. The word “transfiguration” comes from the Latin roots trans- (“across”) and figura (“form, shape”). It thus signifies a change of form or appearance. This is what happened to Jesus in the event known as the Transfiguration: His appearance changed and became glorious.

The Transfiguration is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 9:2–13; Matthew 17:1–13; Luke 9:28–36) and is understood to have been the revelation of the eternal glory of the second person of the Trinity, which was normally veiled during Christ’s life on earth. The transfiguration is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus, the others being baptism, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

Christian theology assigns a great deal of significance to the transfiguration, based on multiple elements of the narrative. In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.

The concept of the transfiguration as a preview and an anticipation of the resurrection includes several theological components. On one hand, it cautions the disciples, and therefore the reader, that the glory of the transfiguration, and the message of Jesus, can only be understood in the context of his death and resurrection, and not simply on its own.

In summary, the Transfiguration refers to an event in the New Testament where Jesus Christ was transfigured, his face and clothes becoming dazzlingly bright. It is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels and is understood to have been the revelation of the eternal glory of the second person of the Trinity. Christian theology assigns a great deal of significance to the transfiguration, based on multiple elements of the narrative.