Sunday Morning Greek Blog

My, how time flies! Next Sunday, February 15, 2026, is “Transfiguration Sunday,” the last Sunday before the Lenten season begins. Thank you for reading my new Lectionary Help series. Last week’s post was the most popular post on my blog for the week, almost twice what it was the week before. If you’re sharing these with your congregation or colleagues, a double dose of thanks for that! Now, let’s look at Matthew 17:1–9.

Word Study

We can’t talk about “transfiguration” without talking about the Greek word Matthew uses to describe the event, and it should be a familiar one to you: μεταμορφόομαι (metamorphoomai), μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō).^[1] Those of you who studied Greek may recognize that this verb occurs in deponent form (usually implies no direct object or perhaps middle voice, suggesting the action of the verb is focused on the speaker themselves) and active voice, at least in the lexical entry.

New Testament authors only use the verb four times.[2] In addition to today’s passage, we find it in Mark’s account of the event (9:2). Luke does not use this word in his account (9:28–36) but only mentions that Jesus’s “appearance” changed (“The form [εἶδος eidos] of his face [was] different”).

Paul uses the word in Romans 12:2 (“be transformed by the renewing of your minds”) and 2 Corinthians 13:8 (“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”^[3]). In both instances, the passive would seem to be appropriate since it refers to changes you and I undergo because of what Christ is doing in the lives of the faithful. Although Paul was not yet a follower at the time of the Transfiguration event, it seems clear in the 2 Corinthians passage that he’s alluding to that.

In all four occurrences, the morphologies I checked[4] all identified the forms as passive voice. However, I would argue that the two occurrences in the gospels should be identified as middle voice, because Jesus has the power within himself to control the event. I don’t know that this is a huge thing theologically, whether God was doing it or Jesus was doing it, but as I’ll discuss below, I think the events leading up to this suggest Jesus initiates this for his inner circle.

The other NT reading for the Lectionary is 1 Peter 1:16–21. Peter references his participation in the Transfiguration event, which he is now free to do since Christ has risen. It’s in the opening chapter of his first epistle, so I wonder how long he was holding on to that little tidbit waiting for the opportunity to publish it! It’s not a boast, though. He’s merely establishing his credibility as an eyewitness to the event, so we can, I think, safely say that the Transfiguration is a genuine event and not resort to some psychological, metaphysical, or naturalistic explanation for the event.

Context

In the synoptic gospels, all three authors have the Transfiguration story closely tied to Jesus’s first and second predictions of his death. Matthew and Luke have it immediately after that prediction, while Mark inserts the pericope about taking up the cross after the prediction. All three follow the Transfiguration pericope with a pericope of Jesus healing a demon-possessed boy followed by Jesus’s second prediction of dying. Luke adds after the second prediction that “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem,”^[5] which establishes the historical setting for the rest of Luke’s gospel. I don’t think it’s too much of a leap of faith to say that Jesus is using the Transfiguration event to assure his disciples that:

• Heaven is real and the patriarchs are alive and well in that realm;
• Jesus himself will be resurrected when the time comes; and
• Jesus has the fulness of divinity in him, i.e., he’s the Son of God.[6]

Those are the highlights I noticed as I begin my own preparation for preparing a message for next Sunday. As always, feel free to comment here in the blog or on my Facebook page for the blog. Also watch for the Reel as I’m going to dive into creating some video content for these Lectionary Help posts as well.

If you want to see past Lectionary Help articles on the blog, just search “Lectionary” from the blog search feature, usually on the right side of your computer screen. Peace to you all!

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

My views are my own.

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^[1] Swanson, James. 1997. In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament), electronic ed. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] According to Logos’s word study feature, the word is not found in the Septuagint.

^[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] Logos UBS 4; Rogers’ New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament; and Mounce’s Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.

^[5] Luke 9:51. The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6] Colossians 1:18–19; Matthew 17:5.