Q: What did it represent that Moses and Elijah in particular were chosen to appear with Jesus in the transfiguration? —A Journal reader
A: These towering figures of the Old Testament, more than others, had set in motion far-reaching changes in human thought. Moses had nearly single-handedly established the Commandments and moral law. Elijah’s prophetic role had led to continuing realization of the need for spiritual vision beyond secular power to guide and give answers. So it isn’t surprising that Moses and Elijah were the ones who appeared with Jesus during his transfiguration.
Mary Baker Eddy spoke of Moses’ presence at the transfiguration as representing, or manifesting, the idea of moral law, and Elijah’s as representing prophecy (see Advice to Healers, p. 33, The Mary Baker Eddy Library; and We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Expanded Edition, p. 310). But for her the transfiguration didn’t remain a miraculous event in the past. It had immense practical lessons for Christian Scientists in the immediate here and now. It was a wondrous account, but it illustrated the basic Christianly scientific fact that divine reality overcomes and displaces a material human mind-set.
