About Mark: Unlike the other two synoptic Gospels, and Acts, Mark's Gospel will not report a final scene of ascension, where Jesus is exalted to sit at the right hand of God - where he now rules in majesty as King of Kings. Yet this is a crucial aspect of any written Gospel, or presentation of the Christian good news.
A Christian recognises that Jesus is the ruler of all things. We live now as subjects of his kingdom and kingship. Mark's book ends abruptly at the resurrection, before the ascension. At this present point of Mark's Gospel we see Jesus referring to the several culminating stages of the Messiah's mission, all beyond the present comprehension of the disciples. There is his death, and his resurrection.
Similarly, the transfiguration event described here bemuses and terrifies them, as it previews Christ's ascension. The account survives with Peter's own comment intact. He suggested building places for Elijah, Moses, and Jesus, but "He did not know what to say, for they were terrified" (6). If this is Peter's memoirs, as thought, then he deliberately wants us to know that he, like us, had a tendency to say stupid things (see too 8:32-33) now and again.
Bible: Mark 9:2-13, The Transfiguration
2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
The Coming of Elijah
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. 11 Then they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 12 He said to them, "Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go throughmany sufferings and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him."
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. 11 Then they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 12 He said to them, "Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go throughmany sufferings and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him."
THE DISCIPLES did not understand all that it meant until afterwards (9), continuing the theme of not "seeing everything clearly" (8:25). But later Peter will report, "We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, `This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain" (2 Peter 1:16-18).
Moses had told people of a Moses-like prophet who would come (Deuteronomy 18:15), and they must "Listen to Him." (compare Deuteronomy 18:15 and Mark 9:7). And John the Baptist, the fore-runner like Elijah (see Matthew 17:13), had also come. The King was indeed here! The Christian is a person who sees this, and lives by this, even though we have not seen it with our natural eyes.
Discipleship today:
As the disciples came down from the mountain they were trying to piece together a puzzle. Some parts make sense. Other parts seem to belong to a different puzzle. Some parts can't fit until others are in place first.
There was no obliging guru to help them. This was a journey to discovery that each person takes more or less alone. Yet although there was no widespread discussion of what they saw, we get the impression they wrestled with their questions among themselves.
Some concepts needed solid investigation, like the writings that the Son of Man would suffer many things (as in Isaiah 53) and suffer contempt (as in Psalm 22). Realising that the prophet John the Baptist fulfilled the prediction about the prophet Elijah, seems obvious to us now. But this transfiguration, and the later Ascension, were altogether incomprehensible in their present state of knowledge.
These parts of the puzzle couldn't be fitted yet. But Mark's story will not be complete without them. The rest of Mark's book proceeds to assemble the final picture. At the end, we should be better placed to accept and comply with God's voice here, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!"
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