Who appeared to Jesus at the transfiguration, and what is the significance of their appearance? See Mat 5:17, Luk 16:16, Joh 1:45, Rom 3:21. What were they talking with Him about? See Luk 9:31 and note that “departure” is the Greek word exodos. Which Old Testament person was a type of Christ with whom Moses had also spoken and encouraged? See Deut 1:38, 3:28, 31:7. What does this vision indicate about the fellowship to be had in heaven with the saints of all ages?
What does Luke say was the state of the disciples while the transfiguration was taking place? See Luk 9:32. Is there any indication that anyone told the disciples who the two men were who were conversing with Jesus? How then would they have known? What might this indicate about the heightened discernment and understanding in the spiritual realm that will be experienced in heaven in the presence of the glorified Christ? Cf. Mat 8:29, Mar 1:34, Act 16:16-18, 1Co 13:12. Is it possible that we will know people not by face but by spirit—i.e., not by physical appearance but by spiritual appearance? Cf. Mar 16:12, Luk 24:13-16, Joh 20:14-15, 21:3-7,12.
Who spoke when the disciples observed what was taking place, and what did he say? See Mat 17:4. Why does Mark (who is believed to have had Peter as his gospel source, see 1Pe 5:13) say that Peter said this? See Mar 9:6, cf. Luk 9:33. What might he have been thinking to elicit his offer to construct three tabernacles? See Exo 40:35 where the LXX translates “settled” as “overshadowed”; cf. Mat 17:5. See also Lev 23:34,39-43 and observe that the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles would have been approaching; cf. Joh 7:1-2. What did the Feasts of Passover/Unleavened Bread and Pentecost a) commemorate and b) typify? As the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread commemorated Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt and typified Christ’s death and resurrection that would deliver them from their sins, and Pentecost commemorated the giving of the law and typified the coming of the Holy Spirit who would write that law on our hearts, what did the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles commemorate, and what did it typify? See Lev 23:43, Heb 11:8-10. As the Feast of Booths was celebrated in the promised land after they had “gathered in the crops of the land” (Lev 23:39), in what way does it also typify the final harvest at the end of the age that will mark the complete establishment of Christ’s kingdom—which the disciples were expecting to be established at that time? See Exo 23:16, Deut 16:13-16, Mat 13:39, Rev 14:15-19.
What does Luke say was happening while Peter was speaking? See Luk 9:33. What does Mark say happened next? See Mar 9:7. How soon after Peter spoke does Matthew say the cloud formed? See Mat 17:5. What is the significance that it was immediately while he was still speaking that the cloud formed? Cf. Num 12:1-10 and think: although Peter meant nothing by it because he didn’t know what he was saying, what was the impropriety of his offer to build three tabernacles? See Heb 1:1-4, 3:1-6. What is the significance to this understanding of the words God spoke from the cloud as it overshadowed them? Cf. Deut 18:15. Since we are commanded by God to give even greater heed to His beloved Son than to the Law and the Prophets, what does this teach us about the place the revelation provided through the Son in the New Testament is to have in relation to that of the Old Testament? Think: Should the greater light of the New Testament be understood in terms of the lesser light of the Old Testament, or should the lesser light of the Old Testament be understood in terms of the greater light of the New Testament? Likewise, should Jesus’ teaching be understood in terms of Paul and the other disciples’ teaching, or should Paul and the other disciples’ teaching be understood in terms of Jesus’ teaching? In what ways has a failure to observe this important principle led some to pervert Jesus’ teaching on the afterlife? Contrast Psa 49:12, Ecc 3:19-20, 9:4-5 with Mar 9:43-48, Luk 16:19-26, 2Co 5:6-8, Phil 1:23, 2Pe 2:9; but see also Num 16:30-33, 1Sa 28:11-19, and Ecc 2:12-17 to understand that Ecclesiastes is the inspired record of human wisdom apart from God’s revealed truth. In what ways has it led to a perversion of Jesus’ teaching on divorce and remarriage? Contrast Paul’s words in 1Co 7:12-15 that are commonly used to justify remarriage after a divorce with Mar 10:2-12, Luk 16:18; but see also 1Co 7:10-11,39, and Rom 7:1-3.