In Mark 9:2-13 tells the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. The lesson is clear: Jesus is more than a prophet of God; he is God.
We’ve been studying Jesus for months now through this book. Now we come to a climax, a vision.
- C.S. Lewis gave a series of talks over the BBC at the height of WW2. Those talks were then compiled into a book called “Mere Christianity”. Here’s probably the most famous quote from the book: “I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic– on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg– or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
Three Prophets
Jesus gives his inner circle a glimpse of his divinity, mirroring Moses’ Mount Sinai experience in Exodus. Moses and Elijah then appear, proving the continuity of Jesus’ mission with the Law and Prophets.
Mark 9:2-4 (NLT) Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) Mark’s “six days” is most probably a chronological parallel with Moses’ six-day sojourn on Mount Sinai (Exod 24:16), thus establishing the first of many points of contact with that seminal event in Israel’s history.
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The vision is not of their doing, but is a divine revelation to them, modeled after the greatest revelation of God in the OT on Mount Sinai. True insight into the mysterious Son of Man is afforded not by human wisdom but by divine revelation.
- Exodus 33:21-23 (NLT) The LORD continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”
- Why Moses and Elijah?
- First, Representative of the Law and Prophets. Consider last words of the OT:
- Malachi 4:4-6 (NLT) “Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant—all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel. Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The appearance of Moses and Elijah in the transfiguration narrative likely recalls this passage and their prophetic roles as joint preparers of the final Prophet to come (so Deut 18:15, 18 [see also 4Q175, lines 5-8], Mal 4:5-6).
- Second, shows continuity of Jesus with OT
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The presence of Moses and Elijah thus signifies that Jesus is not a “walk on” in the divine economy, nor is his revelation as Son of God (v. 7) an anomaly or arbitrary expression of the divine will. Rather, the presence of Moses and Elijah as forerunners attests to the culmination of a purposeful revelation of God’s Son with the history of Israel.
Only Jesus
Peter panics at the sight of this transfiguration, offering to build memorials for these three legendary characters. The Father draws attention to only Jesus, and suddenly the other two are gone.
Mark 9:5-8 (NLT) Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.
Just Listen
On the way back down the mountain the disciples are fixated on what the teachers were saying about Elijah. Jesus brings the focus back to what the Scriptures were saying about him.
Mark 9:9-13 (NLT) As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.” Then they asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?” Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt? But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.”
- Stop listening to teachers who have it wrong. Just listen to Jesus. He points us back to the Scriptures to see it all with fresh eyes. It’s about Jesus and the shocking plan to save the world hidden in the OT all along: he must suffer and be treated with contempt by the teachers who had it wrong.
- Just listen to him.
Close
All of scripture puts a spotlight on the person and work of Jesus. Whenever someone turns to him, the veil is taken away.
- 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NLT) But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
