In the third year of His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus spoke more frequently to His disciples about His recent suffering, but also about His glory after suffering on the Cross. In order not to weaken His suffering so that they fall away from Him, He, the Wisdom, wanted to show them His Divine glory in part before the sufferings took place. So he took with him Peter, James, and John, and went out at night with them on Mount Tabor, where he was transfigured before them. And his face shone like the sun, and his raiment became white as snow. And there appeared unto him Moses and Elias, the great prophets of the Old Testament. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled. And Peter said, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if you want to make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And as Peter yet spake, Moses and Elijah went away, and a bright cloud overshadowed the Lord and his disciples: and a voice came out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. and they remained lying there in fear until the Lord came to them and said, "Arise and do not be afraid" (Matt. 17). Why did the Lord take only these three disciples of Tabor, and not all of them? Because Judas was not worthy to see the Divine glory of the Master, whom he would betray, and the Lord did not want to leave him alone under the mountain, so that the traitor could not justify his betrayal. Why did he transform on the mountain and not in the valley? To teach us two virtues: diligence and godliness. Because climbing to a height requires effort, and the height represents the height of our thoughts, ie theology. Why did he transform at night? Because the night is more suitable for prayer and contemplation than day and night obscure all the earthly beauty with darkness, and reveal the beauty of the starry sky. Why did Moses and Elijah appear? To break the Jewish delusion that Christ is one of the Prophets, Elijah, Jeremiah or someone else - that is why He appears as King over the prophets, and that is why Moses and Elijah appear as His servants. Until then, the Lord had shown His disciples His divine power many times, and He had shown His divine nature to Tabor. That vision of His Deity and hearing of the heavenly testimony of Him as the Son of God was to serve the disciples in the days of the Lord's suffering to strengthen their unwavering faith in Him and in His final victory.