Text for the Week: The Gospel Unveiled

Scripture: Mark 9:2-9

² Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain where they were alone. He was transformed in front of them, ³ and his clothes were amazingly bright, brighter than if they had been bleached white. ⁴ Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s make three shrines—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ He said this because he didn’t know how to respond, for the three of them were terrified.

⁷ Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice spoke from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!” ⁸ Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Human One had risen from the dead.

Questions

1. Mark rarely gives precise timelines for events why does he tell us the Transfiguration happen “six days later”?
2. Why are Moses and Elijah present with Jesus on the Mountain?
3. Is the transfiguration a story of Jesus being transformed or the disciples’ being given a “vision”, what does a religious vision mean to you?  (Do you expect to have one?)
4. Jesus implies that people would not be able to handle the story of his transformation because they had wrong expectations of the coming of the Selected One, how does this relate to people’s expectations of Jesus’ second coming?
5. Have you ever been overwhelmed trying to understand God, Jesus, and the Church, how did you overcome or resolve the difficulties?

Background

Related Scriptures: Exodus 24, 1 Kings 19, Psalm 24, Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 5:8

The phrase “six days later” is unusual and possibly an echo of Exodus 24:16 which itself echoes Genesis 1. The idea of this is that God (or here Jesus) prepares the people for six days before a personal encounter, to parallel six days of creating before resting.

Peter, James, and John being selected to witness this event shows that Jesus considered them leaders within the group.

The focus of the passage is on what the disciples experienced not on what happened to Jesus.

Jesus’ experience on the mountain parallels Moses and Elijah meeting God on the mountain and it is fitting that they are there to talk with Jesus during the experience.

The prevailing idea of Jesus’ day would be that Elijah (who had not died) would return to earth to preach, which would usher in the Messiah’s coming. Jesus gives them a better understanding that Elijah was a model of the prophet not the actual person.

The disciples are asking if this experience is what is meant. Jesus’ words about his death would have been confusing to them because he would have been expected as the Messiah to rule.

Reflection

I recently saw a brief clip where someone introduced the Transfiguration with Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”. While this individual did not elaborate on the connection I think that when we think about this specific beatitude it provides us a framework for understanding what happened to the disciples and even more it helps us understand our own relationship with Jesus. The Beatitudes reference to a pure heart is a reflection on Psalm 24 which says those who have a pure heart will ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in God’s sanctuary, Jesus condenses this to those of a pure heart will see God. But what does it mean to have a pure heart? The “heart” for Jesus was not simply a person’s emotional center, as we use the metaphor today, heart was shorthand for the core of a person’s thoughts and feelings. So to have a pure heart means to one’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations all pointed toward God. The one who can truly approach God’s dwelling place and “see God” is the person who is motivated by integrity in seeking God. We might say the person whose core value is to seek after God.

Mark illustrates this by Jesus asking the disciples who they believe Jesus is, and following it up with a teaching about taking up your cross. These passages work together to show us the disciples saw Jesus for who he is and were stating their commitment to follow him and Jesus responds by telling them they must be sure and ready to commit to the cross. Mark is illustrating the disciples are ready to ascend God’s mountain and are committed to taking up their crosses in single-minded devotion to Jesus. We are not told why only Peter, James, and John are taken up the mountain, clearly they are meant to represent the closest connection to Jesus, but why only these three we do not know. The three disciples who are completely committed to Jesus are taken up the mountain and here they witness something that they are not expecting, Jesus is transformed. But the emphasis of the passage is less on what happens to Jesus and more on the disciples’ experience. The episode is told as in a way that seems to indicate the disciples had a vision. In the modern West we tend to downplay visions as less than real but in the Bible a vision is a time when a person is granted the ability to look behind-the-scenes at the world the way God sees the world. The three disciples who ascend the mountain with Jesus are given this vantage point, and what they experience is Jesus glorified having a discussion with Moses and Elijah while a voice from Heaven speaks audibly. Mark wants us to understand that after Peter makes the claim that Jesus is the Messiah and the other disciples confirm it, and Jesus makes sure they understand the commitment necessary to follow him, the disciples begin to see the world the way Jesus does. The passage about the Transfiguration is the culmination of the unit that began with Jesus healing the blind man in 8:22. The unit is about being able to see, but not simply physically see, but see the world the way God sees the world, which includes a glorified Jesus, discussions with the faithful of the past, and direct communication from God.

The story of the Transfiguration is meant to help lend credibility to the claims made about Jesus but I think it also is meant to show us an element of the Christian life. When we walk with pure motives, thoughts, and hearts we begin to see the world differently, experiencing the curtain pulled back to find reality. The Transfiguration was an ordinary time in the disciples’ lives made extraordinary because of seeing God, and the same can be true of us. When we commit to walking with Jesus in the world he will lead us up the mountain to experience unclouded sight.

Takeaway

Motivated by pure hearts, following Jesus up the mountain, the disciples experienced the world more fully; we also have the opportunity to see the world behind the curtain when we walk with pure hearts.