Mount of transfiguration
During his earthly life and ministry, Jesus was under a veil, as it were. He was ordinary to look at and would not have stood out in a crowd. Isaiah 53:2-3 says: “ . . . He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” On the Mount of Transfiguration, the veil was pulled back, so that Peter, James, and John could catch a glimpse of Jesus’ glorified state.
Mark, in the previous chapter, (Mark 8:29) records that Peter had confessed Jesus as the Christ. Immediately after that (Mark 8:31) we read that Jesus “began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” These things that would happen to Jesus would also impact the lives of the disciples. Not only was Jesus going to be crucified, the disciples would also bear the cross. In fact, shortly after that, He preached (Mark 8:34) that “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
This must have been discouraging. Not only was He not going to kill the Romans and deliver the people, but He was to be killed by the Romans. So, in preparation, the Lord graciously gave Peter, James, and John a glimpse of what lay beyond the cross for Him and for them.
WHAT THEY SAW
Mark 9:2-4 “. . . Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.”
Amazement soon turned to terror because they recognised that what they were seeing was a theophany—God’s own presence. The radiance of His clothes was reminiscent of Ps 104:1-2 “. . . O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendour and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment. . . ” The fact that they were in the presence of God was confirmed by the appearance of Moses and Elijah, who had both spoken to God atop Mount Sinai, as recorded in Ex 19 and 1 Kings 19. There was also the time when Moses asked to see the Lord’s glory. We read the Lord’s reply (Ex 33:20) “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” The disciples would have known about how the Lord instructed Moses (Ex 19:24) saying, “But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” Yet here Peter, James, and John were, on the Mount of Transfiguration, standing way too close to God Himself. Moses’ face would glow when he came down from the mountain, reflecting the glory of God. But Jesus’ glow was different, for He was the very glory of God.
WHAT THEY HEARD
Mark 9:5-8 “And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him.’ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.”
Why did Peter want to make the three tents? Other than being unable to think properly because of being terrified, Peter may have thought that he liked this shining Jesus rather than the I’m-going-to-die Jesus. And maybe by making the tents, he felt that he could stay the status quo. He wanted Jesus to stay this way. Graciously, God ignored Peter, even as he was still speaking, which is a detail that we see in Luke 9:34 and Matt 17:5, and the cloud overshadowed them. Then they heard God speak in an audible voice saying, “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” At the baptism of Jesus, God had said the same words. What was new this time were the words: Listen to Him. Some people yearn to hear God’s voice audibly. God has no greater message for His people today than, “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” And we hear His voice in the pages of scripture.
WHAT THEY UNDERSTOOD
Mark 9:9-13 “And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, ‘Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?’ And he said to them, ‘Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.’”
We love mountain-top experiences and do not like coming down the mountain. Wonderful as that experience was, it would not define disciples’ ministry. It was coming down the mountain—figuratively pointing to the suffering and death that they were to undergo—that would defined the Lord’s ministry and theirs. The disciples understood what resurrection meant, having even seen people raised from the dead, so why were they so disturbed when Jesus spoke of the Son of Man rising from the dead? They were disturbed because it meant that the Son of Man would have to die. Their theology had no room for the Messiah to come and suffer. According to Malachi 4, Elijah needed to come and restore all things, and prepare the ground for the Messiah to bring deliverance. If the Messiah had instead to suffer and die, without delivering the people from the Roman yoke, then it meant that Elijah had not done a good job. So, in order to get Jesus to correctly align His perspective with theirs theology, they asked Him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”
Jesus, while agreeing that Elijah “does come to restore all things,” asked a counter question about why the Bible also teaches that the Messiah would suffer and be treated with contempt. And then Jesus indicated to them that if John the Baptist—the Elijah who was supposed to prepare the way for the Messiah—had been killed, how much more the Messiah would suffer. In fact, John the Baptist’s ministry had sparked a great revival and brought back true Old-Testament faith in preparation for Jesus’ ministry. Mark 1:5 records, “All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.” But this was not a political restoration but a spiritual one. It was only through suffering and death would the glory come.
Christ used His transfiguration to encourage them regarding what was in store for them in the future. The true centre piece of His glory was His obedience in suffering and death, through which He would glorify not just Himself but all of God’s children for ever. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Thus it was in His sacrifice that He displayed the justice, mercy, and wisdom of God. Christ’s glory is most fully displayed on the cross.
Other than at His baptism and transfiguration, God’s voice was heard audibly from heaven on one other occasion and is recorded in John 12:27-32, where God clearly indicated that His Name will be glorified at the cross when Christ is lifted up. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” The cross should be the centre of our mission and lives too. The glory is coming, and by the Lord’s kindness, we sometimes see glimpses of it in our own lives, and when we do, we are tempted to camp there, as if expecting it to be the new normal. No, we have to come down the mountain with Christ, pick up the cross with Him, and walk with Him through suffering.