Mark 9:1-13--The Transfiguration

Mark 9:1-13
English Standard Version

9 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

The Transfiguration
2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 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.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

9 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. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 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? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

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Verse 1 takes us back a little bit to the end of chapter 8 when Jesus had told the crowds, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

About eight days later (according to the book of Luke), Jesus turned to the apostles and revealed that at least one of them would not die before they would see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.  There's debate on what this means whether it was talking about those that would be present at Pentecost (which would be all of them other than Judas which is why He had to say "some," or whether that is talking about the prophetic visions that John would see in the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ.  Either way, He let them know that if some of them were going to live to see His kingdom come, that meant that others were going to not be around to see it--again, we are at least talking about Judas.

After this, Jesus invited the three apostles that He had the closest relationships with (Peter, James and John) to come up onto the mountain with Him.  His heart was heavy about needing to go to the cross soon.  While on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was transfigured before the eyes of these three apostles to look like what He looks like in His full glory--with clothes as white as lightning, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them.  He was shining more brilliant than the Sun, and had it not been for the cloud covering Him (probably the same cloud the hid the nation of Israel from looking upon Him in the wilderness when He was the one who led the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness), they would have been blinded or maybe even killed by coming in contact with His unmuted glory.

He's not there alone though.  Moses and Elijah are there talking to Him about all the things that He must suffer and how He must go to the cross and His imminent ascension back to heaven, "30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." (Luke 9:30-31).

Peter interrupts the conversation to say something even though he doesn't know what to say (and probably doesn't know what he's saying).  He is not just a fisherman, but a tent maker by trade, and he offers to make three tents (maybe like the lean-tos they built during the Feast of Booths or maybe Peter has something more elaborate in mind like the Tabernacle, we don't really know) for Jesus, Moses and Elijah to live in.  Peter wanted them to be able to live there in that glorified state forever and for them to stay with him--he's again being used to tempt Jesus to not go through with the plan, just like when Jesus had told Peter "Get behind me, Satan" just a few verses earlier.  It seems like such a good thing to want to live in that mountaintop experience forever, but that experience was to prepare Jesus and the apostles for what they were able to go through next.  The apostles needed to hear the Father's voice coming out of the cloud that was overshadowing them, "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.  Listen to Him."

At this, Moses and Elijah disappeared, and only Jesus remained (that speaks volumes to me).  Peter, James and John were so afraid they had fallen down on the ground and Jesus came over and touched them to let them know it was all over and to tell them not to be afraid, but He charged them to not tell anyone what they had seen or heard there on the mountain until after His resurrection had taken place.  Why?  Because it was not yet time for Him to be crucified--it must align with Passover to fulfill all righteousness.  He needed to control the timing of His death, burial and resurrection.

He then explains to them that even though they saw Elijah speaking with Jesus, this is not the meaning of the prophecy that Elijah would come first to restore all things.  The one who came in the spirit of Elijah, John the Baptist, had already come and the Jewish leaders and the Romans did not listen to him, and they killed him already.  Jesus also reminds them that the Scriptures foretold that the Messiah, the Christ, would suffer many things and be treated with contempt, so they should not be surprised at any of the things that they heard Jesus, Moses and Elijah talking about, nor should they be surprised by the things they would see and hear with their own eyes and ears in the coming days.