Listen to him (Mark 9a note)

“Listen to him!”

Mark 9:2-13
Key verse 9:7

1.      [2-3] When and whom did Jesus take with him and where? (2) How was Jesus transfigured before the disciples? (2b-3) Who appeared there and what did they do? (4) Why did Jesus show all this to the disciples? (cf. 1)

The disciples were happy to know that Jesus was the Messiah. With joy and a sense of pride, Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. But immediately Jesus announced that he must suffer and be rejected by the religious leaders and must be killed and then rise again in three days. It was all too much to digest for the disciples. The death of Jesus, the Messiah, was not in their mind at all. Even in any stretch of their wisdom and knowledge, such thing was unthinkable. For suffering and death were not for a godly man like Jesus but for those who do evil and ungodly things. Jesus rebuked Peter of his concern for the things of man, not the things of God. Jesus further announced that he would not accept those who would not denounce their own thinking like Peter. But practically all of them were thinking the same thing as Peter did. Then, who could follow Jesus? Did Jesus prove himself to be above the power of death? Here it is important that Jesus neither gave them an assurance of his resurrection nor made an effort to minimize suffering and death. Rather his word was full of the vividness of the suffering and death. As long as the suffering and death weigh down on their hearts, they would be unable to overcome it and all the powers that Jesus demonstrated would not do much in their hearts. How can their heart be revived with the hope that Jesus had despite the power of death? Or, what is the antidote for the power of death? Jesus promised 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.” (9:1)

Six days after this, Jesus took three disciples, James, John and Peter to the Mt Hermon, leaving the nine at the foot of the mountain. High on the top of the mountain, there was no one except Jesus and three disciples. There, Jesus was transfigured. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. Also, there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. (In Matt 17:3 and Luke 9:30. The order of these two are changed, Moses and Elijah)  

2.         [4] Who appeared there and what did they do? (4; Ref. Lk 9:31) Find what might be the significance of the appearance of Moses and Elijah along with Jesus (Mal 4:1-5-6). Discuss in what aspect, seeing this was out of the ordinary for the three (9:1).  

How was Moses understood for the believers? He was the lawgiver. But as anyone who violated the law died, so he also died (Heb 10:28, Jude 1:9). Even such a blessing given through Moses, God was not happy with them (1 Cor 10:2-5).  Yet as they saw, Moses was there with Elijah, the one who was ascended to heaven.

Elijah appealed to the Lord against Israel but God did not punish her. Instead, he reserved His remnants. (Rom 11:2) He was translated and went to heaven. Though his disciples searched for his body, they could not find his body. He was to come again to restore Israel back to the Lord (Mark 9:11-13). But John came as the figure of Elijah. Here Elijah’s life speaks of two things; he fought against the sins of Israel in order to turn their hearts to the Lord. The Lod took him and he ascended to heaven.

In his glory, Jesus was with Moses and Elijah and they were talking with Jesus. This scene was an explanation of what Jesus was about to do; his suffering, death and resurrection, and an answer to those who objected to Jesus’ suffering, and death.

3.         [5-6] What did Peter suggest? (5) Why (6)?  What does this tell us about them?

But not knowing its teaching, Peter was so elated and said this 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.”

The reason why Peter said this was because he did not know what to say and at the same time, they were so frightened (6). They saw the glory of the Kingdom of God and they were fearful of it. This is a similar response as the one Israel had when they received the Ten Commandments (Exo 20:18). In other words, the kingdom of God was full of His glory and before that glory, the disciples were so fearful to be almost frozen, though Peter daringly expressed his hope to be part of this glory by building three tabernacles. This exposed the weaknesses of the disciples in facing the glory of the kingdom of God. Peter was eager to be part of this place but at the same time, they were all gripped with terrifying fear, to the extent of being almost unbearable of that glory.  In this respect, the response of the three disciples was somewhat different from the response of Israel at the Mt. Horeb. They had the desire to be a part of the glorious kingdom but they were fearful of that glory. This was the glory that they were dreaming to attain to with the Savior Jesus. But it became evident that the glory that they were eager to enter into was so good and yet also so fearful as well. Then, why were they so fearful of the glory in the kingdom of God? This was the unanswered question left in their hearts.

This question must be answered in what they saw; Moses, Elijah talking with Jesus. Moses talked with Jesus. What did he talk about? Elijah talked with Jesus. What did he talk about? Moses talked with Jesus on what he did in his lifetime on earth. It was about the Law and the Covenant in the Law. The law brought the death of his people because of their disobedience. God took Moses’ life as well because he did not honor the Lord enough to His glory. Jesus must accommodate this to his ministry in order to enter the kingdom of God.  Elijah fought fiercely against the unbelief of Israel and God took him to heaven. In the life of Elijah, God warranted a life in glory when one devotes fully in the fight against the unbelief.

In these two was the understanding of what Jesus was about to do; he must suffer, rejected, and must be killed. If we put the two in one, Jesus must die under the law as Moses died under the law, and Jesus would rise from the dead and ascend to heaven like Elijah as he would fight fiercely against the unbelief of Israel. Combining works of these two missions entails the entirety of Jesus’s way of life, that is to go from suffering, rejection, death, and then to resurrection in glory. This was the purpose of Jesus’ coming: Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Mat 5:17 NIV)

This is further confirmed by the prophecy of Malachi 3:

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction. (Mal 4)

Mal ch 4 is about the coming of the day. This day of the Lord is typified by burning like a furnace (4:1) for all the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble, on which the fire will burn. In anticipation of the day, Israel was warned to remember the Law of Moses and watch out for the coming of Elijah. These two will help them escape to be burned totally like stubble. If they were to heed to these two so as to escape such judgment, then as these two are pointing to Jesus, the Messiah, the disciples were also must heed to what Jesus was teaching them.  

4.         [7-8] What happened before the disciples and what voice did they hear? (7) What did it mean? (cf. 8:31,34) Then, what happened? (8)

7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

Out of cloud, God spoke to these disciples. The Lord not only knew them but also gave them His word; This event was not just an event created by Jesus to enlighten their understanding of what Jesus was about to. Rather, this event happened before the Lord for the sake of the disciples. It was God’s provision for them so that He might save them and those who would follow them. What was His word? Jesus is His Son. He loves what Jesus was about to do. Because of this, they were to listen to him even if it would be against their will and understanding. Simply what Jesus was about to do was God’s plan and He was happy about it.

What was the one thing that this encounter spoke to the disciples? The Lord who sent Moses and Elijah was all for what Jesus was about to do for he wanted these disciples to join with Him in His glorious kingdom. Jesus might have planned this. But ultimately, it was the Lord who in His discretion put together this meeting for the sake of these disciples and for us as well.

  5.       [9-10] What order did Jesus give the three disciples as they were coming down the mountain? (9; cf. 1) Why? What did the disciples discuss among themselves? (10)

They were to treasure this experience within themselves for the time being.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

The three tasted a glimpse of the glory of the Kingdom of God. It was so short but was very powerful. They did not have enough time to digest fully the meaning and significance of this encounter. Yet they came to the reality; there was Jesus alone as he was with themselves. Jesus told them not to tell anyone what they had seen. They must not tell this even to his fellow disciples. Only three, no one else must know this until he had risen from the dead. They were to muse over this event in silence while they were going through Jesus’ suffering, rejection, and death. a) discussion among themselves will nullify the power of their experience because from the moment of discussion, the power and glory would be analyzed and reasoned according to the human minds(i.e., in unbelief); none of them had any faculty to understand in God’s perspective. b) The meaning and its power must work against or along with what Jesus was to go through, his suffering, rejection, and death to give them the proper significance and right impact in their lives. c)The Lord will not give such experience to all men for the purpose of saving them. Jesus could have taken the twelve all to this transfiguration. But Jesus did not do. For in coming years and ages, there would be more people like the nine disciples than the three and they must follow Jesus by faith in his word. In other words, the cross and resurrection are the only vantage point from which Jesus’ life and ministry can/must be understood (J. Carson).  d) it is possible that Jesus revealed this with a particular purpose, creating a nidus of faith among his followers. Its like a small yeast of faith by which the entire dough might be filled with the faith (Ref. 10:35-41).  

 

 6.        [11-13] What question did they ask Jesus? (11) Why? (cf. 4; Mal 4:5-6) What was Jesus’ answer? (12a,13a) What does the Scripture say about the Son of Man? (12b; cf. Isa 53:1-9) How did they treat Elijah? (13)  Why did Jesus say this?

This was one of the two questions that came up to the hearts of these three. The first one was what the meaning of rising from the dead meant. They were captured(seized) by this and unable to undo that thought. The second one was about Elijah for they were told by the teachers of the law that Elijah must come first and then the Messiah would follow him. “Has Elijah come?” If Jesus was the Messiah, then Elijah should have come already.  

This understanding came from Mal 4:5-6 as was noted above. But they saw Elijah along with Jesus in the kingdom glory. So, the question might be how the prophecy of Mal 4:5 and the transfiguration of Jesus with Moses and Elijah comes together in a cohesive manner. Jesus answered this with a counter-question:

12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?

Their logic was if Elijah comes first and restore all things, then why Jesus, the Messiah, must go through suffering, death, totally unnecessary work? Here the word ‘to be sure (’ is translated to ‘indeed, however, on the one hand, so then”. Though what is said is correct in its face value, there is a subtle difference in real meaning or implication. Because of this, in order to correct or provide the true meaning of this prophecy, Jesus raised a counter-question.

5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Though there are various understandings of what v6 means, the basic meaning is the restoration of the love between fathers and children, which is the emblematic character of the Lord.  To have a proper understanding, we will look into the details of what Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:1-2 kings 1:18. i. Elijah fought against Israel’s unbelief or apostasy throughout his life. It was aimed at one dynasty, Ahab’s. In order to turn the hearts of Israel to the Lord, he made all our effort at the Mountain Carmel. But this did not bear the desired effect though he could get rid of Baal prophets and turned the hearts of some of Israel. The kingdom was still under pagan queen Jezebel. Not seeing what he wished to see, Elijah sought the Lord and His will at Mt Horeb and the Lord gave him His word of promise, the destruction of Ahab’s dynasty in for the coming years. Then he was translated to heaven and his work was taken over by Elisha. The prophecy given to Elijah was fulfilled at the time of Elisha, the total destruction of Ahab’s dynasty.  Simply, when Elijah was translated to heaven, the majority of the nation was still in unbelief under apostasy of King Ahab and his pagan wife Jezebel. So Mal 4:5 is about the work and effort of Elijah. There was no mention of the total restoration of Israel to the Lord. In other words, even after Elijah’s efforts, still, the majority of the nation would live in unbelief. Pointing this to the disciples, Jesus made a very probing question to them.

13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”

Jesus was talking about John the Baptist, the figure of Elijah. Though the entire nation came to him and was baptized, yet the majority of the nation still remained in unbelief. Also, those who were not baptized by John did not believe Jesus and eventually condemned Jesus to death. The implication was very clear: Elijah’s death by their hand spoke powerfully that there were so many unrepentant and remained hostile to the Lord among His people. This called for the absolute need for redemption of the sins of the nation.

If powerful words of God, or pleading for the truth, or cajoling words in love would work to turn the hearts of sinful men, then so many prophets plead for the nation could have born a great outcome. But their calls for repentance with the spirit of life-giving sacrifice (Isaiah’s martyrdom) did not yield tangible fruit for the nation. Then there was no other way but redemption by the hand of the Lord.

These three disciples must muse over Jesus’ question as they were going through Jesus’ suffering, rejection, and death. Jesus gave them ample of tools or facts or truths to unlock this question. To find the answer to this question is to find the full meaning, purpose, and necessity of Jesus’ suffering, rejection, and death. When they unlock this question, they would see the glory of Jesus’ resurrection in power and in joy, without a terrifying fear as they did at the Mt of transfiguration.

7.         Discuss how Jesus’ transfiguration would have helped the three in their view of suffering, rejection, death and resurrection.

 

This event left an indelible mark in their hearts. During their journey to Jerusalem, James and John’s hope for glory stood out among the twelve and inspired the rest to the hope of glory beyond Jesus’ suffering and death (Mark 10:35-41)

Throughout the history of the early church, these three played the key role in stamping on anti-gospel forces at the beginning of the church.

In its beginning, James’ stalwart stance in the Gospel of suffering resulted in his martyrdom and that empowered the church in the spirit of power in suffering and death.

Next, Peter was used to advancing the Gospel of suffering against Jewish belief. He remembered this (2 Pet 1:16) and the glory of Jesus was set in his heart as the source of the undeniable hope and strength to endure hardship along with Christ. Because of this, Peter could overcome his weakness because he remembered Jesus’ glory. He stood by the truth of suffering to the end of his life (2 Pet 1:3-15) by remembering the glory of Jesus. Peter could run away as he faced execution in Rome. But he chose to die along with Christ and went back to Rome. There he was executed on the cross.

Lastly, in John’s writings, we see that the glory of Jesus was upheld high; he put forth the glory of Jesus at the beginning of his gospel (1:14).  

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Joh 1:14 NIV)

He was steadfast in his message of life-giving love, the foundation of which was the will to participate in the suffering of Jesus. John strongly asserted that he had seen the glory of Jesus (1 John 1:1,2,3; 4:14) John was the only one who stood by Jesus when he was hung on the cross

The Apostle Paul was not an exception to this. Jesus in his glory appeared to him on the road to Damascus and he was compelled to follow the message given through the vision:

 Acts 26:19 "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. (Act 26:19 NIV)

What do all these tell us? Seeing, and believing the glory of the kingdom of God help us to endure the hardship of the cross of Jesus. Since life comes in and through suffering and death, the hope of resurrection or seeing the glory of the kingdom of God is a must for us.

Many people defect from the faith because they are not willing to take pain and suffering. Out of such efforts comes antinomian ‘theology’ deflecting the power of the cross of Jesus.  But here Moses and Elijah’s concurrence with what Jesus was about to do spoke powerfully against such a way of salvation.