The Amazing Transfiguration of Jesus

Mark 9: 1-13

Key Verse: 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!”

In the last passage we heard Jesus’ words in Mark 9 verse 1, “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.” Before this Jesus talked about his suffering and death. The disciples were discouraged by his this, especially Peter who tried to redirect Jesus’ mission. They were still holding out for their big day which they thought would be when God establishes a kingdom on earth and they would be cabinet members. Now, it was looking like Jesus was really going to follow through with his departure. It doesn’t say specifically, but this news most likely made the disciples gloomy. Hopes and dreams were dashed. So, Jesus wanted to transition their earthly hopes to heavenly ones. Which is something some of us might need to do also. Six days later (according to verse 2), they had an amazing learning experience that would do just that. Let’s learn what the disciples experienced and how it helped them, and how it helps us. 

First, A Glorious Vision of Jesus. In verse 2, it says Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. He wanted to have an executive leader meeting with his main disciples. These are the same three he brought into the home of Jairus when he raised his daughter to life. Apparently, Peter was redeemed from trying to give bad advice before. These three (Peter, James and John), from many accounts suffered a lot for the kingdom of God later. James was the first to be martyred, and therefore he must have been very courageous preaching the gospel. Peter built the church by establishing Christianity in Rome strategically, at the center of the civilized world at that time. He was martyred there and the gospel spread to the whole world from Rome afterward. John was imprisoned and tortured, and then exiled until his old age, when God gave him a vision of the Revelations. 

What happened while they were on the mountain? Look at verse 2b & 3, “There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” The original Greek word used here for transfiguration is metamorphosis, which means something changing into something else like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. His appearance was changed from a very ordinary appearance, into his heavenly appearance. His appearance is described in multiple gospels, Matthew says his clothes became “white as the light”, Luke says “as bright as a flash of lightening.” So, his clothes were very bright white and without imperfections. Normally white clothes are hard to keep clean, it seems a clean white shirt is usually an invitation to get tomato sauce on it, or something else that says what was for lunch that day. Jesus traveled everywhere in the desert and was probably sandy and dusty normally. But he was completely changed here and his appearance and clothes became dazzling. Matthew says his face “Shone like the sun.” It was something that the gospels explain in written words, yet still written words fall short. Have you ever seen something amazing that you almost cannot describe? Where you say to someone “you just had to be there”. Like the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon, or the edge of the Milky Way galaxy which is so many millions of stars clustered together it just makes a hazy white streak in the sky. Or to think that the nearest star (besides our sun) Alpha Centauri is over 4 light years away, which means that the light from it we see is 4 years old from 2019, traveling at the speed of light. When we think about these things we see how big God is and how incredibly small we are. God is so awesome and his glory is so great. This is how the disciples must have felt at this time in awe of the presence of God. John saw even more of Jesus in his glory and wrote about it in Revelations 1 verses 13-16 that he was “dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

Speaking of things that are amazing, something that puts us in awe is that Jesus chose to not appear in such a way when he came down from heaven to this earth. Isaiah said, “he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him; nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Jesus’ true appearance is amazing, yet he gave it up to come to this world. He humbled himself so much. He wore simple clothing and dwelt with common people like the fisherman disciples. He did this out of his divine love. People today are chasing a glorified appearance, outwardly. They want to look good and make a positive impression, and of course present a good image on social media too. The undertone kind of seems more like “Look what I have and what you don’t have.” Each year I see how much better all my friend’s Christmas decorations are than mine, who post their pictures online - which all look much more impressive. So I don’t post mine. People want to impress others and seek glory in one way or another. They might even achieve their version of glory for a little while, but it does not last forever. What it really is, is an expression of their inner longing for an eternal glory, one that does last. Those who chase after the temporary glory of this earth do so selfishly and then actually, it's not impressive and attractive when they lack inner qualities of compassion, love, and humility. Majestic qualities that come from God. While making this futile attempt they might even risk losing out on the real true glory that is in heaven. A lot of time can be wasted in this world chasing after temporary glory, when the real path to glory is found in God’s word. 

Once James and John thought they made it big because they had an important connection like Jesus. They thought Jesus could hook them up with VIP status. Kind of like the way some people treat a friend who can get sky box tickets for them at a ball game. They came to Jesus and said “we want you to give us whatever we ask,” they wanted to sit with him in his glory, one on the right the other on the left! What did Jesus say to them? He said, “You don’t know what you are asking.” (Mark 10:38a) And after that spoke about the cup of suffering he would drink, which they could not handle. Their idea was shut down pretty fast. There is a pretty high prerequisite on that one.

There is a small Asian lady who is 80 years old. She was beautiful when she was younger as you can see in a few pictures on her wall. I think sometimes she misses those days. She served God her whole life, and taught the Bible patiently to many people. She smiles a lot and radiates love, and has a large collage of pictures on her wall of all the people she loves and prays for everyday. It’s kind of subtle, but when you talk to her you see how radiant she is and glowing with God’s love in her. It’s as if she is transfigured at that moment, with Christ-like attributes that are on the inside showing on the outside. This is because she has a lasting hope in the kingdom of God, not a hope in the fleeting glory of this world. 

While on the mountain Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke to Jesus. Luke chapter 9 describes them in a state of glorious splendor. Moses and Elijah were both great leaders of God’s people in their generations. Moses led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt with mighty miracles of God’s judgment. Then God gave Moses the Law of God to give the people to live by. So Moses represents the Law. Elijah was a regarded as the greatest prophet who challenged the king and queen to repent of idol worship. He defeated false prophets of Baal in a contest of fire. So these are two very important people in the Old Testament. Luke chapter 9 describes what they were talking about, verse 31 says they were discussing Jesus’ departure, which was about to be fulfilled at Jerusalem. In Greek, the word “exodus” is used here in place for “departure. Exodus means moving or going from one place to another. 

We gain a glimpse of what the Lord’s death really means by the arrival of Moses and Elijah who showed up at this time. It was not an ordinary person’s death. They prophesied about him as our Messiah and Savior. So that means that Jesus’ death is the fulfillment of the prophecies they wrote about. His death is the good news of salvation for all people. Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross. Through his death we can make an exodus from spiritual slavery, sin, and death, and live a new life in him. 

Why did Jesus want his disciples to see this event – his transfiguration and discussion with Moses and Elijah? As the they saw Moses and Elijah on the mountain, they had proof right at that moment that there was life beyond the grave. And they saw the awesome image of Jesus in heavenly form. The disciples had just heard about his suffering and death in Mark chapter 8. It was a heavy subject for them. But now they are learning that after suffering, glory comes. Actually, they had already suffered a lot to follow Jesus themselves before this. They had left their careers behind and were often away from home. In the course of serving all kinds of people, they became hungry and tired. When they tried to take a short vacation, it was interrupted by a large crowd. When they wanted to have fellowship alone that too was interrupted. They had to bear with the criticism of the religious leaders. They might have wondered, “is it worth it?” And, “What am I doing this for?” Yet in spite of all these hardships they continued to be faithful. Of course, they hoped for a reward, but when Jesus spoke of his death it seemed to invalidate all their labor and sacrifice. It was almost too much for them. Right at the point of severe discouragement however, this powerful audio-visual demonstration gave them hope again. It also helped pivot their hopes from this world to the kingdom of God. We understand how the disciples feel. At times we may be discouraged too. We may be inclined to wonder why we don’t spend our time selfishly like worldly people do who seem to have more than us. Or why we should deal with people who don’t like us because we are Christians. Or why we should be humble instead of being proud. Or why God called some of us to leave our families behind in another country in order to serve him as a missionary. It seems to be without tangible benefits. But in this passage, we are taught that suffering is temporary and comes before glory. We can have strength when we remember that our hope is in the kingdom of God, that one day because of our love for God and faithfulness we will see the glorious image of Jesus in his heavenly form! And the prophets too! And we will see each other in glorious heavenly form. 

Second, Listen to Jesus! Peter saw transfigured Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah and was in awe, and terrified too. He seemed to not know what to say, so he said what was on his mind at the moment in verse 5, “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.” Peter again renews his habit of making uncalled for bold suggestions. In Matthew’s gospel it says that Peter offered to do the work himself to erect the shelters himself, to sweeten the deal. Maybe he wanted to hang out with his new friends Eli and Mo for a while, and Jesus. He did not want to go back down where there were many needy people coming all day long. We may have a similar feeling when we are on vacation, and we think about having to return home to go back to work. Or some have said they experience it after the international conference, and call it “post conference syndrome”. Now look at verse 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!’” This was the voice of God giving a very important instructions, spoken direct and in command form. God only spoke audibly three times in the New Testament, and at this time God was speaking to the disciples. God challenged them to listen to Jesus, especially Peter. Peter really needed to listen better and speak less. For a person to listen they need to pay attention, and they should not be thinking about what they want to say next or what they have to do later. They should be open hearted and willing to accept something even if it isn’t what they want to hear. They should not be set on their own plans and desires. It seems the disciples were sometimes practicing selective hearing with Jesus, hearing the things they wanted to hear. In previous passages we’ve studied, he rebuked his them for being “dull” and “hard hearted.” Which means they weren’t listening. Still, he prayed for them to listen to him better, and he bore with them, slowly their ability to listen increased, and they were ready to serve God whole heartedly as we see in the book of Acts later. 

Listening to Jesus is to read his Word and study the Bible, and put the Word of God into practice. Listening to Jesus is to deny ourselves and carry our cross and follow him. It involves accepting God’s will for our lives and asking his guidance in prayer. In my college days I recall I did not want to listen to God tell me to live a godly life. I was at the crossroads of transferring to a four year university and I was accepted to a university with a Big 10 college campus, where thought I could enjoy college life like my peers were doing. But of course, it did not feel right in my conscience so I prayed, and right as I prayed the phone rang and my Bible teacher said she prayed and felt led to tell me to stay local at UIC, rather than falling off the wagon which was my plan. So I was convicted that God answered my prayer for direction and I listened to him. The voice of God is unlikely to be an audible voice from heaven speaking to us, since he did it so few times in the Bible. However, if we want to find God’s will, we simply need to pray and ask, and read his Word. But then when the answer comes, we must be willing to accept it. Sometimes the answer comes in the Scriptures and convicts us, and other times it comes through other servants of God we trust. So we have to ask ourselves, are we listening to Jesus, or are we listening only to what you want to hear? 

After this event the disciples found themselves alone with Jesus (verse 8). As they were coming down the mountain, they were given strict orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves and discussed what “rising from the dead” meant. At least they began to think about Jesus’ words more, and were not discussing random things having no bread like in the last passage. With more fervent spiritual desire now, they asked “Why do the teachers of the law say Elijah must come first?” They were trying to gage when these things might happen, based on when Elijah will come again. Jesus explained to them that Elijah had already come and that he also suffered. Matthew’s gospel says that the disciples realized at that moment he was referring to John the Baptist. Who was not Elijah, but came in the spirit of Elijah. 

Today we got a glimpse of the glory of Jesus who is the Son of God, and we are reminded that suffering is temporary and comes before glory. On our journey to the kingdom of God we must listen to Jesus, by being obedient to his Word.