Scripture Reading(s)
Mark 9:2-9
9:2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
9:3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.
9:4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
9:5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
9:6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
9:7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”
9:8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9:9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Reflections
The true identity of Christ is revealed in these few short verses. However, the time had not yet come for the world to know the true identity of Christ just yet. He was on a mission and which was to come and conquer sin once and for all.
The world was in need of a Saviour and Jesus Christ is the only one who could fit that role. Sin had taken over and was plunging the world into utter darkness. Sin was ever growing and destructive and completely and utterly separated us from God. The only solution was for an all perfect, sinless and loving Saviour, Jesus Christ to come save this world.
These passages ultimately put Christ’s Glory on display. Verse 7 highlights this point in more depth. The cloud represents God’s glory, in the Old Testament a cloud was a sign of God’s presence. God had now come in the person of Jesus Christ and was ever present to personally reach the hearts of lives that needed saving. As God’s words echoed on that mountain, the main point we can take from it is we are to “listen to Him”. The disciples and the rest of us were to listen and obey Him.
Today, God’s presence is still with us. He is still calling us to listen and obey the call of abandoning our sin and turning our lives over to Him.
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
We can only speculate what it was like up on that mountain, when Jesus’ gory was shown to the 3 disciples. We know that it must have been impressive, though. We know this because the 3 disciples who were expecting Jesus eventually take out the Roman government decided in that moment that they were perfectly happy just hanging out on the mountain with him.
I can’t say that they did anything wrong here, as I would probably also want to set in the light of God once I experienced it. Eventually we will all get the chance to do so. Until then we must do as God instructed the disciples on that mountain,
This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!