And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up behind a mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them, Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters–one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and the voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. [Mark 9:1-8]
This passage falls right in the middle of Mark’s gospel; it’s kind of climactic. And in Mark’s gospel you often get these time connectors between the various episodes that just say, ‘then immediately Jesus did this,’ ‘then immediately Jesus did that.’ But here it’s different. Here it actually says, “after six days” this weird thing happened up the mountain.
It’s a deliberate connector. Jesus has just said that some of his disciples would glimpse the kingdom of God, and then we read “after six days.” This sets up what happens next as a pretty key incident, it casts this scene as a key to everything, the Law and the Prophets, the Old Testament, had promised about the kingdom of God.
Peter, James and John go up a mountain with Jesus, and they experience some kind of vision. Jesus is transfigured, we’re told, with bright, shiny clothes. And then suddenly they see Moses and Elijah. Peter, true to form, makes a bit of a fool of himself and says – ohh, let me make you a tent so we can all stay up here on the mountain. Love the way Peter always is the same character right across the Gospels. His personality is preserved beautifully. Anyway, they hear a voice from heaven that says, “this is my Son, listen to him.” And then that vision has gone.
For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. [2 Peter 1:16-18]
But we miss the point if we think of this scene, which is called the Transfiguration of Jesus, as just a sound and light show designed to show you how special Jesus is.
The key is who’s there on the mountain with him. It’s not Abraham and David, they’re pretty good guys. It’s not Noah and Isaiah, pretty important Old Testament guys. It’s Moses and Elijah. The giver of the law and the founder of the prophets. And the point seems to be that what we call the Old Testament, ancient Jews called the Law and the Prophets. So having Moses and Elijah there is as if to say the representatives of the whole of the scriptures, the two pillars of scriptures, representing the law, representing the prophets are witnesses to Jesus, and then we hear the words, “This is my Son, listen to him.”
They’re a way of saying that Jesus is the one to listen to, about how to read the Law and the Prophets, how to read God’s word. Regardless of what some first century Jews wanted in the Kingdom of God, for many it was smashing the Romans. The divine plan of the Law and the Prophets as interpreted by Jesus is that the Kingdom of God will come through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.
Perhaps the key words of this scene right at the centre of Mark’s gospel are in Greek akouete autou, listen to Him. Christ is what the entire divine plan is about. At least that’s the claim of the New Testament that we have to get our heads around if we want to understand Christianity.
When our culture begins to define how we read the Bible, akouete autou. When we find ourselves looking in the Bible for psychological self help tips, we hear back akouete autou. When we try to make the Bible say what we want it to say, the heavenly voice says akouete autou, listen to Him.
By John Dickson
Bible Unlocked
Want to hear the rest of the episode?
Check out episode 137: “Bible Unlocked”
