The Transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:1-13)

The first verse of chapter 9 is difficult to understand exactly. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.’ Was he referring to what would take place a few months later on the Day of Pentecost or was he referring to what would take place on the Mount of Transfiguration a few days later? The one detail that is found in both events is that the three disciples, Peter, James and John, were involved.

We have been considering the incidents recorded in the Gospel of Mark as discipleship classrooms in which the pupils learned a variety of truths about their Master. Sometimes a teacher can decide to give special instruction to some pupils, and here we see Jesus giving a unique class to Peter, James and John. Why did he do this?

Several answers have been given to this question. One is that they were the favourite disciples of Jesus, that he gave them special insights that he did not give to the others. Even within that trio, John seems to have been the particular focus of Jesus’ attention. The problem with this suggestion is that it gives the impression that Jesus did not want all his disciples to share in this event because he loved some more than others.

Another suggestion is that they were the three disciples who had made most progress in the spiritual life. After all, they had been among the first of the group to become disciples and so had seen more of Jesus than had those called later. Yet that would indicate that Andrew and Philip and Nathanael, each of whom had been an early disciple, had failed to make the same progress as Peter, James and John, and there is no real evidence that the latter three were better than the rest at this stage.

A third suggestion is that Jesus was teaching the importance of sharing with one another important discoveries about himself. It is interesting that Jesus told them not to tell anyone about this incident until after he had risen from the dead. After he had left this world at his ascension, his followers might want to know what he would look like in heaven after he had been glorified. Peter, James and John would be able to tell them because of what they had witnessed on the top of the mountain. I suspect that this is one of the reasons why Jesus did this. Their experience would enable believers who had never seen this event to understand it.

Sometimes we have experiences with Jesus that should not be shared immediately. If Peter, James and John had spoken about this incident as soon as they reached the other disciples, the others would not have believed them because it would seem so unreal. But it would not be unreal after he had risen from the dead. His resurrection would be such a change of understanding for the disciples that they would be ready to hear about the wonderful event at the top of the mountain.

It is interesting that Peter refers to this unknown mountain as the holy mountain (2 Pet. 1:18). Why was it holy? It could not have been merely because of the presence of Jesus, otherwise then we would need to regard every place where he had been as holy. Peter regarded that place as holy because there the three disciples discovered who Jesus actually is. They discovered there the majesty of Jesus (2 Pet. 1:16-17). Going back to Mark 9:1 and as to when the coming of the kingdom was revealed, Peter seems to say that it occurred at the transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16). So what did they see?

The change

Luke in his account says that the transformation of Jesus occurred while he was praying. It is likely that he was praying about what was going to happen to him. He was not praying because he was afraid of the event, but because prayer was appropriate for the occasion. We can see from the fact that he prayed at this time that he prayed about everything. No doubt, he was also praying for his three disciples as they were about to encounter something extraordinary.

As the disciples looked at Jesus they saw an incredible sight. His whole body became bright with light, and it was so bright that his clothes could not hide it. Indeed his clothes were affected by it and they became brighter than could have been imagined before. In other words, they could see that he possessed glory and was able to give glory to other objects. They had been given an insight into who Jesus was and what he would be like after he had risen from the dead.

Imagine what the pupils thought of their Teacher as they observed that he was more than they had previously imagined. If they had been able to think clearly they should have thought of the many Old Testament passages that speak about God as being light. And they should have thought about the claims that Jesus made for himself about being the light of the world.

This obviously has applications for us when we think about heaven. There Jesus, with the Father and the Spirit, is the source of glory and he is the one who gives glory to all creatures that are there. His presence makes heaven glorious.

The conversation

As the disciples looked on, two visitors appeared and spoke with Jesus. We are not told how the disciples realised they were Moses and Elijah. Perhaps they heard their names mentioned during the conversion or maybe they heard Jesus addressing them when they arrived. The one feature that is obvious in this regard is that Moses and Elijah had retained their personalities and could easily be identified.

What can be said about Moses and Elijah here? Luke tells us that they were glorified when they appeared, which means that that the three disciples saw what the residents of heaven look like. The Old Testament tells us that Elijah went to heaven without dying, but that was not the case with Moses because his death and burial are described in Deuteronomy. So at some stage Moses had been raised from the dead and here he is, glorified.

Moreover although they were residents of heaven they were able to come to a location on earth where sinners were present (the three disciples) and remain unaffected by the sin of those individuals. The disciples would have realised later that Moses and Elijah had been totally liberated from the power of sin and its ability to affect them anymore.

Mark does not tell us what Jesus and the heavenly visitors were speaking about, but Luke does. The topic of conversation was the death of Jesus that he would experience soon. What did Peter feel when he heard the conversation, especially because recently he had so protested strongly against such an outcome? Did he realise that the death would not be a defeat but an accomplishment? It does not look as if he did.

Nevertheless Peter felt obliged to contribute to the conversation. Luke tells us that Peter spoke when he noticed that Moses and Elijah were about to leave. His words indicate that he did not want the conversation to end. Yet they were unwise words, coming from someone who was overwhelmed by what he was going through. Discovering new things about Jesus can be a terrifying experience because he is so great.

Imagine if we made friends with a man who occasionally told us about things in London. Then one day he took us to London and we found ourselves in the king’s palace, and discovered that our friend was the king. We would be overwhelmed by his significance and perhaps afraid because we may have disagreed with him previously when we had been discussing a matter with him, perhaps connected to the running of his kingdom. Such a scenario is a faint picture of what Peter had gone through here on the mountain.

It looks as if Peter had failed to recognise the unique greatness of Jesus and instead wanted to connect him permanently with the roles of Moses and Elijah. They had been great leaders of Israel in the past and perhaps Peter wanted them to remain and help bring in the Kingdom. Whether he thought that or not, he was about to be reminded of the supremacy of Jesus.

The correction

The disciples found themselves in a cloud, which I suspect is the Shekinah cloud once found in the tabernacle and the temple and which indicated the presence of God. And from it they heard the voice of the Father stating the uniqueness of Jesus. The sentence, as recorded by Mark, highlights the eternal relationship Jesus had with the Father and the unique authority he possessed over the disciples. No matter how great their experience had been they were not to put it above listening to Jesus.

The next time they saw the cloud was on the Ascension Day when Jesus returned to heaven and a cloud received him out of their sight. Perhaps the three disciples recalled the transfiguration as they watched Jesus disappear into heaven.

The confusion

The presence of Elijah on the mountain had obviously confused the disciples. They knew that Malachi had predicted that Elijah would reappear as the announcer of the arrival of the kingdom. So they did what we should do with all things that puzzle us – speak to Jesus about it.

His explanation involved stressing that they could not forget about the cross and that John the Baptist was the one who fulfilled the prediction about the role of Elijah. Jesus reminded them that there were other recorded events to be fulfilled as well as the coming of the kingdom, and those recorded events included the prophecies in the Old Testament about his sufferings.

The lesson for us from the confusion is that sometimes our profound experiences can raise questions as well as provide answers. When that happens, we are to see what the Bible has to say, and it is the Bible that validates our experiences and not the other way round. If the disciples had been left to their own interpretation of what had happened, they would have made mistakes.