2 Peter 1:17

‘For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there was borne such a voice to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” '

For he wants them to know that the disciples themselves had been witnesses and had seen Him receive honour and glory from God the Father. The ‘honour' may well refer to the fact that Moses and Elijah had come to bear witness to Him. Or it may be because in their coming He had had the central place. Or it may simply be that Peter saw Him as having been honoured by the very fact of His full glory being revealed. The ‘glory' refers to the fact that He had been transfigured before them in blinding light. An examination of the Transfiguration narratives brings out just how glorious it had been.

‘And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone as the sun, and His clothing became white as light' (Matthew 17:2). ‘And He was transfigured before them and His clothing became glistening, exceeding white as no launderer on earth could whiten them' (Mark 9:3). ‘The fashion of His countenance was altered and His clothes became white and dazzling' (Luke 9:29). ‘We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Son of the Father' (John 1:14).

Peter's very reticence in providing the full detail here is a sign that we have here his own words. He did not need to spell it out because the detail was burned into his heart. But we can sense beneath his words a memory of how glorious it had been.

And together with ‘the honour and glory', and adding to and enhancing both, had come the voice from Heaven, from the Majestic Glory Himself, when He had said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.' Interestingly this confirms the longer version of Matthew 17:5 (although significantly differing in minor ways). But all three Gospels add ‘Hear Him' which is omitted here. Peter omits this because his attention is focused on His honour and glory. It is a further sign of authenticity, a pseudepigraphist would almost certainly have included it.

The point he wants his readers to recognise is that the revelation of Jesus in honour and glory had been accompanied by a confirming voice from God in His majestic glory. For the cloud which so often in the Old Testament demonstrated the presence of God had descended on the mount. This was no Hellenistic tale or myth. This had happened in front of them, and they themselves had heard a real voice ‘from Heaven', that is, from God Himself. And the voice had revealed that Jesus was God's true and beloved Son, and was fully pleasing to Him. The King was here.

It is difficult for us to know whether he was expecting his readers to pick up the further reference to the Davidic King (My Son - Psalms 2:7) and Servant (in Whom I am well pleased - Isaiah 42:1), as well as His unique Sonship. The words about the prophecies that follow may suggest that he did.

Thus what they had experienced had not been some Hellenistic vision, some vivid hallucination, but a genuine experience of something seen with their own eyes, which was now being, and would also be in the future, manifested on earth.