John Calvin Commentary Matthew 17:5

"While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." — Matthew 17:5 (ASV)

Lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Their eyes were covered by a cloud, to inform them that they were not yet prepared for seeing the brightness of the heavenly glory. For when the Lord gave signs of His presence, He also used coverings to restrain the arrogance of the human mind. So now, intending to teach His disciples a lesson of humility, He withdraws the sight of the heavenly glory from their eyes.

This warning is also addressed to us, that we should not seek to pry into secrets that lie beyond our senses. Instead, everyone should keep within the limits of sobriety, according to the measure of their faith. In short, this cloud should serve as a bridle for us, so that our curiosity does not indulge in excessive license. The disciples, too, were warned that they must return to their former spiritual warfare and therefore must not expect a triumph prematurely.

And, lo, a voice from the cloud. It is noteworthy that the voice of God was heard from the cloud, but neither a body nor a face was seen. Let us therefore remember the warning Moses gives us, that God has no visible shape, lest we deceive ourselves by imagining that He resembled a man (Deuteronomy 4:15).

There were, no doubt, various appearances under which God made Himself known to the holy fathers in ancient times; but in all cases He refrained from using signs that might induce them to make idols for themselves. And certainly, since human minds are too strongly inclined to foolish imaginations, there was no need to add fuel to the fire.⁴⁸⁰

This manifestation of God's glory was remarkable above all others. When He places a cloud between Himself and us, and invites us to Himself by His voice, what madness it is to attempt to represent Him before our eyes with a block of wood or stone! Let us therefore strive to enter by faith alone, and not by our physical eyes, into that inaccessible light in which God dwells. The voice came from the cloud so that the disciples, knowing it came from God, might receive it with due reverence.

This is my beloved Son. I willingly agree with those who think there is an implied contrast between Moses and Elijah and Christ, and that the disciples of God’s own Son are here instructed to seek no other teacher. The word Son is emphatic and raises Him above servants.

Two titles are given to Christ here, which are not only fitting to honor Him but also to aid our faith: a beloved Son, and a Master. The Father calls Him my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, and thus declares Him to be the Mediator, by whom He reconciles the world to Himself.

When He commands us to hear Him, He appoints Him as the supreme and only teacher of His Church. It was His design to distinguish Christ from all others, as we truly and strictly infer from those words that by nature He was God’s only Son. Similarly, we learn that He alone is beloved by the Father, and that He alone is appointed to be our Teacher, so that in Him all authority may dwell.

But it might perhaps be objected: Does God not love angels and men? It is easy to reply that the fatherly love of God, which extends to angels and men, proceeds from Him as its source.

The Son is beloved by the Father, not in such a way that other creatures become objects of His hatred, but so that He communicates to them what belongs to Himself. There is a difference, undoubtedly, between our condition and that of the angels. They were never alienated from God and therefore did not need Him to reconcile them, while we are enemies because of sin, until Christ procures His favor for us.

Still, it is a settled principle that God is gracious to both only insofar as He embraces us in Christ, for even the angels would not be firmly united to God if Christ were not their Head. It may also be observed that since the Father here speaks of Himself as distinct from the Son, there is a distinction of persons, for they are one in essence and alike in glory.

Hear Him. I mentioned a little earlier that these words were intended to draw the Church's attention to Christ as the only Teacher, so that it may depend on His words alone. For, though Christ came to uphold the authority of the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), He nevertheless holds the highest rank, so that by the brightness of His gospel, He causes the sparks that shone in the Old Testament to disappear. He is the Sun of righteousness, whose arrival brought the full light of day. And this is the reason the Apostle says (Hebrews 1:1) that

God, who at sundry times and in various ways spoke formerly by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His beloved Son.

In short, Christ is as truly heard today in the Law and in the Prophets as in His Gospel, so that in Him dwells the authority of a Master, which He claims for Himself alone, saying, One is your Master, even Christ (Matthew 23:8).

But His authority is not fully acknowledged unless all human voices are silent before Him. If we are to submit to His doctrine, all that has been invented by humans must be thrown down and destroyed.

He is, no doubt, sending out teachers every day, but their task is to state purely and honestly what they have learned from Him, and not to corrupt the gospel with their own additions. In a word, no one can be regarded as a faithful teacher of the Church unless he is himself a disciple of Christ and brings others to be taught by Him.

⁴⁸⁰ “Il n’estoit ia besoin de ietter de l’huile au feu pour enflamber davantage le mal;” — “there was no necessity for throwing oil on the fire to inflame the evil still more.”;” — “there was no necessity for throwing oil on the fire to inflame the evil still more.”