Six days later, Jesus leads Peter, John, and James up a mountain where they pray. The disciples eventually fall asleep.
They awaken to see Jesus standing and talking with Moses and Elijah. Jesus' appearance has changed and he is now bright white as lightning. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus discuss what will happen to Jesus in Jerusalem.
The disciples are frightened. Peter is lost for words, but suggests that he could build three shelters, one for each of them.
A large cloud appears and envelopes them all. A voice comes out of the cloud - this is my son. Listen to him.
Suddenly, the two other figures disappear and only Jesus remains. The text is silent as to whether Jesus has returned to normal color at this time.
Jesus leads them down from the mountain and they discuss Elijah. Jesus states that Elijah has come and gone and the disciples understand that by this, Jesus is referring to John the Baptist.
The things I see:
1. Jesus has forgiven Peter in the whole "get behind me, Satan" incident. Peter never lost his anointing as trusted confidant of Jesus and future leader of the church.
2. The speaking cloud is reminiscent of Mount Sinai when Moses and Israel received the 10 Commandments. I am not aware of any other time when God's voice spoke from a cloud.
3. The Bible, in particular the Old Testament, paints a strange picture about life after death. Moses died, but God hid his body. Elijah never "died". Here, both appear with Jesus. In some ways, it is reminiscent of when Samuel appeared after being "summoned" by the Witch of Endor (technically, necromancer).
I am not sure what post-life theology can be drawn from these anecdotes other than sometimes, the deceased faithful can appear on earth.
Note, it does not say that these figures had corporal bodies. As for as we know, they were apparitions.
4. About John the Baptist, here again is another instance where Jesus can use confusing language. Based on a super literal reading of Matthew 17:11-13, one might conclude that Elijah was reincarnated as John the Baptist. However, the disciples somehow recognized the figure they saw as Elijah and said nothing about John the Baptist, who they would have met. So, it is understood that Jesus was discussing metaphorically, that "someone like Elijah" had come, meaning John the Baptist.
5. This also reminds me of when Jesus walks on water and the initial response from the disciples fear that they saw a ghost. Here, they are actually apparitions of the deceased and the response is similar: (1) they are afraid and (2) Peter speaks up first.
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