Matthew 3:13-17
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 17:1-13
The Transfiguration
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Luke 9:28-36
The Transfiguration
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
Mark 9:2-13
The Transfiguration
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
2 Peter 1:12-21
Prophecy of Scripture
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
An epiphany is described or defined as a moment of revelation...I suppose that those who believe in Jesus, believe that He must have had many moments of epiphany...And those who were with Him, and especially His Disciples, would have seen many epiphany moments...
The author St. Matthew writes about a moment of Epiphany...When John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, as soon as Jesus came out of the water, heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him...And a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”...That moment was an epiphany moment...This moment is celebrated as an Epiphany moment and day...St. Matthew also writes about Jesus' Transfiguration on the sacred mountain...That was another moment of revelation...
St. Luke, who wrote two books for Theophilus about Jesus, after getting information and data from eyewitnesses and those following Jesus, wrote about the Transfiguration and what God said on the sacred mountain...St. Luke would write that a voice came from a cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen; listen to Him.”...When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone...The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen...
With God proclaiming the good news about His Son, we see miracles happening around Him...And as we read about these miracles, many believe, but some do not...They see His miracles as cleverly invented stories, only an exaggeration about a Nice Man...Stories used to enhance the legend of a nice Teacher...But these stories had eyewitnesses...There were other people at these different epiphany moments...St. Peter writes that he was a follower of Jesus...He was a Disciple...And he is an eyewitness...He writes also about the epiphany moment on the sacred mountain, when he and others were with Jesus...St. Peter writes the "we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty...He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I AM well pleased.”...We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain...
Some scoff at the idea of Jesus and His miracles...But if there is a God, and He had a Son, and He sent His Son to dwell among this, He would do these things or He would not be God...Buried in all these old miracles is the Truth...A story about a humble Teacher, who lived, and was tried a Criminal...Who died on a cross, and most importantly died for our sins, and then resurrected from His death...Another most important moment of epiphany...
Early Christianity was not a popular way to lead your life...You were following the teachings of this convicted Criminal...Many early Christians and Disciples were persecuted and some persecuted to death...These authors, followers, and Disciples were willing to die for what they believed in and what He had taught them...They were willing to die for what they saw, and what they believed...They were somehow willing to treat those persecuting them with kindness as they were being persecuted, because this is what He taught...His teachings, all of them, are moments of epiphanies...