Mark 9:2-13.  In yesterday’s reading Jesus challenged his followers to see clearly who he was and what he was about.  As the promised coming leader of Israel they were expecting him to kick the Romans out of Israel and set up a forever kingdom.  But for God a kingdom isn’t about Castles and Armies and Fields full of produce it’s about the people.  As sinners (people who have disobeyed and rebelled against God) we are not suitable to be citizens of his kingdom.  Only when the price for our rebellion is paid can God restore our citizenship.  That is what Jesus came to earth to do that first time.  The Jewish people were too focused on their physical kingdom and were missing the point about their relationship with God.  Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to deal with that but his death would be pointless if his followers didn’t get it, so first he needed to help them see. Remember that this section of Mark is about a journey, or actually two journeys; Jesus’ real physical journey to Jerusalem and to the cross and the spiritual/mental journey of his followers to an understanding of why their king needed to die.  Also keep in mind that Mark included the particular stories of Jesus’ life and arranged them in a way that would be helpful to the suffering believers in Rome.

Mark 9:1 was included in yesterday’s reading but it is also related to today’s.  Mark’s point didn’t end with the words he quoted. In fact this may be an entirely different quote from the one at the end of chapter 8 but the information all ties together.  Jesus has just informed his followers that he must suffer and die, a situation that obviously was troubling to them.  But Jesus told Peter that he needed to see things the way God looks at them; it’s not about places but about our souls.  But at the end of chapter 8 Jesus reaffirms that he is a king and he will reign with power.  Now here in chapter 9 he tells them that some of them will not die until they get a look at God’s powerful kingdom.  In Mark 9: 2-9 we see an event called the “Transfiguration”.  The word translated “transfiguration” in verse 2 is the Greek word “metamorphoo”.  We get the English word “metamorphosis” from this word and it means  “a change of form”; Jesus “morphed” some might say.  That word is used in Mark’s telling of this story and also in Matthew’s.  Luke tells the same story but uses different words.  The word “metamorphoo” is used in two other places in the New Testament, Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18.  In both of those places it talks about the change God makes in our lives.  In 2 Corinthians 3:18 it talks about how we will have the same kind of “glory” as Jesus.  That word glory can mean honor or dignity and deals with the opinion others have of us.  It is also used to descrbe the moon, sun, and stars.  In 1 Corinthians 15:35-57 Paul is telling the church in Corinth about some of the changes God is going to make in our physical lives.  He talks about a time in the future when our souls will inhabit new immortal bodies.  Paul uses the word “resurrection” which means something like “stand again” or “stand together”; we will stand together again after death in new forever bodies.  This is probably the sort of body that Peter, James, and John saw Jesus in on that mountain in Mark 9:2.

Notice that Jesus was seen talking to two men from Israel’s past, Moses and Elijah.  These would have been two of the top guys on any Jewish persons list of “Who I would Like to Meet from History”.  Moses was the original leader who communicated with God and received the Law that the Jews were to live by.  Both Moses and Elijah were considered prophets.  So by talking with these two guys we see Jesus identifying with all they stood for; Jesus’ coming suffering and death were not a break with the prophecies about the coming Israelite leader after all another prophet, Isaiah, actually predicted that the Messiah would suffer (Isaiah 53:6, see also Daniel 9:26).  I think the two ideas we see in this event are that Jesus’ death was in complete agreement with what the Old Testament taught about the coming king and that Jesus had power to conquer not just a land but the greatest foe of all mankind, death.  The cross was going to be not the end of the journey but a stop along the way to ending death, both spiritual and physical.

If there was any doubt in the minds of Jesus’ followers about him being the promised coming king God cleared that up at this event.  “This is my son, listen to him!”  Jesus was the promised king and he had the authority, direct from God.  Verse 9 seems to support the idea that at least one point of the whole event was to show his power over death.  In that verse Jesus told his three disciples not to tell anyone what happened until after he he had been resurrected.  This is not another example of Jesus keeping secrets but of Jesus waiting for the right time to reveal information.  Remember that is part of the meaning of the Greek word Mark used for “immediately”.  A major point of Mark’s story about Jesus is that everything was done at the right time, the Son of god who we are to listen to, had the authority and knew what to do and when to do it.  Jesus had the power, he was on the right path, and he was going to fulfill his purpose.

The fact that the disciples, even Jesus’ closest three, had a lot to learn is seen in their response to his mention of resurrection.  They had just seen Jesus talking with Elijah, probably his spirit, and they remembered that their teachers, growing up, had talked about Elijah coming back; being resurrected.  Evidently the teachers had linked the resurrection of Elijah with the coming of the Messiah.  This is based on a prediction in Malachi 4:5.  That prediction is that Elijah will return before a time of great judgment in the nation of Israel and that he will help people start to live the way God intended them to live.  That time of great judgment was also to be a time when the Messiah, the promised king, would bring healing to the nation.  Jesus confirmed the disciples understand, as far as it went, but then he brought back up the thing that had originally troubled Peter in Mark 8:31-31, “How is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated badly?”  Jesus then answers his own question by telling them that Elijah has already come.  In Matthew 11:11-14 Jesus identifies John the Baptist as Elijah.  This is not to say John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated because the Bible does not support the idea of reincarnation.  In this case Jesus is telling us that John the Baptist was one who cam and was “like” Elijah.  Some scholars think that the two witnesses  in Revelation 11 will be two Old Testament prophets resurrected for the task there and that Elijah will be one of these two in literal fulfillment of Malachi 4:5.  T is important to know that some prophecies in the Bible have more than one fulfillment and that is what we may be seeing here.  John the Baptist was “a” fulfillment before the coming of the Messiah as the “suffering servant” (Isaiah 53) and the actual real resurrected Elijah being one of the two witnesses coming before the coming of Jesus as ruling king in the book of Revelation.

I think that it’s cool how Jesus carefully showed his followers that he want some new thing but that he was the one predicted in the Old Testament.  That doesn’t mean it’s always easy to understand sometimes we let our own ideas or traditions get in the way of fully understanding what God is doing.  For the readers in Rome I think this part of the story would have confirmed to them that Jesus knew they were going to have trouble but also that he had the power and authority to deal with it when the time comes.  Jesus was on his way to be crucified in Jerusalem, there was no escaping that for him but there was going to be a resurrection and he was going to set up his kingdom.  The believers in Rome might not miss out on suffering or even death (which history tells us they did suffer) but they could see from this passage and the predictions already fulfilled that they were on the path to eternity with God, and they too would be restored to life one day.

God thank you for caring enough to take the time to save us.  Thank you for taking the time to show your original followers the path you were on and the path some of them and us would have to follow.  Give me courage to stay on the path no matter where it leads in this life.  Help me keep my eyes on the end of the path, eternity with you.