Mark 9:1-13

We are back in Mark this week, Mark chapter 9. As you’re turning there it’s important to remember the context coming out of chapter 8 and into our passage this morning. If you remember, Jesus asked His disciples about the public opinion surrounding Him. Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, but then refused to accept the truth of Jesus being rejected, suffering, and being killed. They had been expecting a triumphant king who would overthrow Rome and establish Jerusalem as the central seat of power in the world. 

The disciples were shocked. If that wasn’t enough, Jesus then told them that if they wanted to be His disciples, they would have to walk the road of suffering and rejection as well, and willingly so. So with the disciples in this state of confusion, we enter chapter 9. 

Read Mark 9:1

At first, this can sound a bit confusing. It sounds like Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God is coming soon in all its power, so soon that some who were there would still be alive when it happened. Well this can’t be a right interpretation because even today, the Kingdom of God has not yet come in that way, and I’m pretty sure all the disciples are dead. So what is Jesus referring to?

Most scholars would agree that Jesus was referring here to the Transfiguration which we’ll read about in just a moment. What we’ll see though as one commentator puts it, is “a visible type of the eschatological coming of the kingdom.” Jesus being the King of that Kingdom. 

This interpretation makes the most sense given the context surrounding the account, as well as the truth that some of the disciples there were witness to it. So let’s read about it.

Read Mark 9:2-13

Big Question: What does the Transfiguration reveal about Jesus?

1.. His glory (2-3)

Peter, James and John are considered the inner circle amongst the disciples. They seem to experience more with Jesus than any of the others. And so Jesus takes them with Him up to the top of a mountain. Now remember, up to this point, they had seen the power that Jesus had through the miracles that He performed. He calmed storms, cast out demons, brought people back from the dead. But there was still some confusion around the depth of who He really was. 

Luke tells us that while they were there, the disciples were in and out of sleep. Can you imagine that this is what you wake up to see? They become fully awake, Luke says, and when they were, they saw Jesus “transfigured before them.” 

Transfigured is the Greek word “metamorphoo.” We know that word, metamorphosis. Most well-known is probably the process a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. In its truest sense, the word “metamorphoo” is “an inward condition which produces an outward expression which proceeds from and is representative of inward character and nature.” In other words, it’s an outward expression of what is on the inside. 

John 17:5 - “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (High Priestly Prayer) Jesus existed in eternity past in the fullness of glory. But…

Philippians 2:6-7 - “Who (Jesus), though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” He emptied Himself of His position in heaven, but not of His glory.

And so 6 days after the disciples are thrown the curveball of the suffering Messiah, Jesus reveals to them what is on the inside. He is transfigured before them. His clothes become “radiant,” so bright that Mark says no amount of bleach could come close to the purity of white. Matthew adds that “His face shone like the sun.” I mean what a moment for these disciples.

But there’s more meaning here if we dig in a little bit. The disciples were expecting an immediate kingdom on Earth, but Jesus was showing them that yes, a kingdom is coming, and it’s more glorious than you could ever imagine. 

Revelation 21 speaks of the future kingdom, and in verses 23-24 John writes, “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk…” He continues in 22:5, “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” The future kingdom will have no need for a sun or moon because the glory of God is so bright! It will illuminate the whole Earth! 

And guys, here’s the crazy thing. In Philippians, Paul tells us that our lowly bodies will be transformed to be like His glorious body. C.S. Lewis in his book The Weight of Glory says that “the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship.” We could talk about the glory of God all morning, but we need to move on.

2.. His fulfillment of the Law and Prophets (4-6)

Why Elijah and Moses? The Jewish people associated Moses with the Law. He was the one God used to bring freedom to Israel. He was the one the Law was given to. And he was the one who wrote down the Law that became a way of life for the Jewish people. So Moses = the Law. Elijah on the other hand represented the Prophets. We’ve talked a few times now about how a lot of people thought that Jesus was Elijah fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6. But this moment here is the fulfillment. Elijah will return before the great Day of the Lord. Both of these men had mountaintop experiences with God, and both of these men are back on the mountain, this time with the Messiah, who the entirety of their ministries pointed to. Luke tells us that they were talking about “His departure which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.” 

Peter, oh Peter, he doesn’t know what to do. Verse 6 says he didn’t know what to say because he was terrified. Usually in those moments it’s best just not to say anything. But he wants to cherish this moment. He doesn’t want it to end! And he interrupts Jesus. Jesus, talking to Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest men in the history of Israel, and Peter interrupts them. He says, “Lord this is beautiful. It is beautiful that we are here. Let us make somewhere for the 3 of you to stay. I don’t want this moment to end!”

But again, we have to dig a bit deeper to understand the implication of Moses and Elijah being the ones present. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” In other words, to bring them to completion. The Law was no longer necessary because Jesus brought a New Covenant, one marked by His blood, freely given to those who believe. There was no sacrificial system needed any longer. The prophets were no longer necessary because Jesus was God in flesh. Jesus brought to completion hundreds of prophecies, and gave us the complete Word of God through His Spirit. Jesus brought all of this to completion. 

So again, these disciples, confused by the suffering Messiah, were being shown the true nature of why Jesus had come, and one of the main reasons was to bring to completion the Law and the Prophets.

3.. His authority as the Son of God (7)

Does this sound familiar? Maybe in a few different ways. At Jesus’ baptism when the heavens opened and the Lord spoke, “this is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” Does it take your mind back a little further? 

Exodus 33:9 - “When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.”

In 2 Chronicles 5 when the ark was brought into the temple, verse 13 and 14 say, “the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” 

A cloud descended on Mt. Sinai and in Exodus 19, and it says “Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.”

There is great significance in the cloud descending. It’s how God descended to speak with Moses. He told him in Exodus 19, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” So there was great imagery and importance here. But more important is what came out of the cloud. God spoke, audibly, much like He did at the baptism. “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him!”

Again, confusion around the suffering Messiah. Difficulty believing it to be true. And then a voice thunders from heaven, “This is my Son, the Son of God, listen to what He tells you.” And while this is a monumental moment, there’s still some encouragement for us in the fact that the disciples still struggled to believe, all the way up to the crucifixion, and until they saw the resurrected Jesus!

They are coming down the mountain, Jesus tells them not to tell anybody about what they just experienced, until after the resurrection. Imagine trying to keep something like that to yourself! But they did it, and instead they were talking to each other about what it meant that Jesus would rise from the dead. What is Jesus talking about? How, when, what?! And as they are talking to each other, another question arises which they ask Jesus in verse 11. Read vs. 11-13. 

4.. He must suffer before glory (12-13)

Pretty logical question that they ask, especially after what they just experienced. “Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come before the Messiah?” And so Jesus explains, “they are right, Elijah does come first.” By the way the coming of Elijah is a spiritual coming in which the hearts of people would be brought to repentance, but the day that the Messiah comes is the Day of the Lord, which is the 2nd coming of Christ. But there is more meaning, again, we have to dig a little deeper.

And those same Scriptures that prophesy Elijah coming before the Messiah, tell us that the Messiah was going to suffer. “And if I am the Messiah,” Jesus says, “and the Scriptures say that I am going to suffer, then that’s what’s going to happen.” 

“And by the way,” Jesus continues, “Elijah has already come!” How is that possible? Well Luke tells us that John the Baptist would "go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

And when Jesus says that they “did to him whatever they pleased,” Jesus is talking about John the Baptist who suffered under the imprisonment of Herod. 

Let me sum it up for us this morning from a commentary on Mark: 

“The biblical pattern is clear. Elijah was rejected and persecuted; Messiah’s forerunner, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, was rejected and killed, and Messiah Himself was rejected and murdered. In the future, however, the prophesied Elijah will come, the Lord Jesus Christ will return, and the kingdom will be established.”

Application:

What does the Transfiguration mean for us today?

I think this can be a difficult question to answer, because this was such a specific event then, and will be a specific reality in the future, but we don’t behold the glory of Jesus as they did or as we one day will. We can marvel at other aspects of His glory. We can be found in awe and wonder at His magnificence. 

Of course we must be thankful that Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. He ushered in a New Covenant of His blood. He brought to completion the sacrificial system that required weekly, monthly and yearly sacrifices to atone for sin. Jesus took the sins of the world, past, present and future, to the cross, all at once, and became the perfect sacrifice that was needed as a once and for all free way to salvation. And so we are thankful. 

But I want to just focus in on the words that God spoke out of the cloud. He said, “this is my beloved Son, listen to Him.” Listen to Him. 

If we believe the Bible to be true, without error, then we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. As such, He carries ultimate authority as God in the flesh. Therefore, when He talks, we listen. And we don’t make exceptions only when His teachings make us feel good. No, we take the full account of His life and ministry, and we submit ourselves to it. We listen to Jesus. We learn from Jesus. We fashion our words and our way of life around Jesus. And as we learn from Him, we understand more about Him, we see more of His glory, and it causes us to want to pursue Him more fervently, and it becomes the heartbeat of our lives. 

And one day, we will enter into glory and will come face to face with Jesus, and one day beyond that, we will live in eternity where there is no need for sun nor moon, because the glory of Jesus shines brighter than all.