Sermon Tone Analysis

*TITLE:  *   Manifestation and Mission

 

*SCRIPTURE: *   Mark 9:2-9

 

 

*EXEGESIS:      (Top of page)*

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*CHAPTERS 8-9:*  THE CONTEXT

 

The story of the transfiguration is located almost exactly at the mid-point of this Gospel, and is the climax of its turning point, which began with Peter's confession (8:29).

Until now, Jesus has been teaching and healing.

Now he will begin his journey to Jerusalem, where he will die.

Immediately prior to the transfiguration, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah (8:27-30), and Jesus foretells his death and resurrection -- to which Peter expresses serious objection (8:31-33) -- and then Jesus begins to teach his disciples the sacrificial nature of discipleship (8:34-38).

Following these words of sacrifice and death, the transfiguration reaffirms Jesus' identity, reveals his glory, and calls the disciples to listen to him.

"It meant the validation of Jesus, that Jesus' interpretation of the role of the Messiah was true, that in spite of the shock which the proclamation of his own suffering and approaching death gave them, he was the Lord's anointed, 'my beloved Son' " (Luccock, 775).

The section of this Gospel in which the transfiguration story is told is bounded on both ends by the healing of a blind man (8:22 - 10:52) -- but the disciples remain blind throughout.

Peter makes a good start by identifying Jesus as the Messiah (8:29), but his response to Jesus' prediction of his death make it clear that he expects a different kind of Messiah than Jesus offers.

"Peter's confession has the right words but the wrong meaning" (Craddock 127).

During the transfiguration itself (vv.

2-9), Jesus does not speak even one word.

In 9:1, however, which concludes the section where Jesus foretells his death and resurrection, Jesus promises, "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."

Indeed, in the transfiguration, Peter, James, and John catch quite a glimpse of kingdom glory.

Some have proposed that the transfiguration story is really a resurrection appearance that Mark has placed out of sequence in this Gospel (Matthew and Luke use Mark's Gospel as one of their primary sources, so we would expect them to agree with Mark's account).

Few scholars support that idea today.

In other resurrection accounts, no prophet from the past accompanies Jesus -- Jesus does the talking rather than a voice from heaven -- and there is no mention of Jesus' dazzling clothing or face.

The transfiguration, then, "cannot be convincingly interpreted as a misplaced resurrection story" (Hooker, 214).

Immediately after the transfiguration story, Jesus and the three disciples descend from the mountaintop into a very un-mountaintop situation.

A crowd has gathered around a boy with a spirit that convulses him.

Disciples who remained at the base of the mountain have failed to cast out the spirit, so Jesus does it.

The problem is the disciples' lack of faith and prayer.

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*VERSES 2-4:*  AND HE WAS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM

 

/2Six 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 /(Greek:  /metemorphothe/ -- was changed or transformed) /before them, //3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.

//4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

/

 

 

This account has a number of points in common with the story of Moses at Sinai (Exod.

24, 34).

In the Exodus account, Moses was accompanied by three men (Exod.

24:9; Mark 9:2); a cloud covered the mountain for six days, and God spoke from the cloud (Exod.

24:16; Mark 9:2, 7); Moses saw, at least in part, God's glory (Exod.

33:17-23; Mark 9:3); the skin of Moses' face shone dazzling bright (Exod.

34:30; Mark 9:3); the people of Israel were afraid (Exod.

34:30); and on coming down from the mountain, Moses encountered faithless "disciples" (32:7-8; Mark 9:14-29).

"/After/ six days, of course, means that this narrative takes place on the seventh day.

The number seven is a favorite of Jewish writers of the first century for signaling the presence and purpose of God" (Allen, 32).

Peter, James, and John constitute Jesus' inner circle.

Jesus will choose them to accompany him at particularly sensitive moments, such as the healing of Jairus' daughter (5:37) his apocalyptic prophecies (13:3), and Gethsemane (14:33).

Mark double-emphasizes that, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus leads these three "apart, by themselves" (v. 2), their solitude signaling an event of great significance.

The location on a high mountain (v. 2) is more significant theologically than geographically.

Mount Hermon best fits the description of this mountain, but Mark does not count it important to tell us its name.

High mountains are places where people encounter God.

In this Gospel, Jesus goes up mountains to call and appoint the twelve (3:13), and to pray (6:46).

On this high mountain, Jesus is transfigured (Greek:  /metemorphothe/ -- changed or transformed) before them.

This is the Greek word from which we get our word metamorphosis, which we use to describe the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly -- a truly dramatic transformation.

"The verb occurs only four times in the Greek Bible (9:2; Matt 17:2; Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 3:18), and in each instance it denotes a radical transformation….

In Mark's transfiguration narrative, metamorphoun does not signify a change in Jesus' nature but rather an outward visible transformation of his appearance to accord with his nature" (Edwards, 263).

Jesus' clothing becomes dazzling white, like the snow-white clothing of the Ancient of days in Daniel 7:9.

In that account, "behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (7:13-14).

Mark also uses the phrase, Son of Man, in his account of the transfiguration (9:9).

Note also the similarities between the description of the Son of man in Daniel and this description of Jesus in Philippians:   "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted (Jesus), and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil.

2:9-11 ).

This glimpse of Christ's glory speaks more loudly than any words to promise these disciples that Jesus' prediction of suffering and death hardly constitutes the whole picture.

Jesus will undergo suffering and death and so will his disciples, but their final destination will be glory.

"And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses" (v.

4).

The order of the names is the reverse of what we would expect.

Moses came first chronologically, and was the more important of the two.

Edwards sees it differently, saying that "the Greek has Elijah appearing with Moses, which seems to imply a certain subordination of Elijah to Moses" (Edwards, 265).

Matthew (17:3) and Luke (9:30) "correct" Mark's order, placing Moses' name before Elijah's.

It has oft been noted that Moses was the great lawgiver and Elijah the great prophet, so that these two men embody the Law and the Prophets.

However, if it were Mark's intent to have these two embody the Law and Prophets, we would expect Moses' name to appear first so that we would have the traditional order, Law and Prophets, rather than Prophets and Law.

Others have suggested that Elijah and Moses are included because they both suffered for their faith, but that was true of many faithful people.

Still others have suggested that these two are similar in that neither suffered death.  2 Kings 2:1-12 tells us that Elijah did not die, and some rabbis held that Moses did not die either -- but Deut.

34:5-6 records Moses' death and burial.

One solid connection is that Moses and Elijah both experienced dramatic encounters with God on mountains.

Geddert analyzes it this way, "Moses is the precursor and Elijah the preparer (Mal.

4:5-6).

Elijah's preparatory role is much more strongly emphasized in Mark, explaining the order in which they are listed….

According to Malachi, final preparations for God's intervention include careful attention to the commands God gave Moses on the mountain (4:4), and a spiritual renewal initiated by the returned Elijah (4:5-6)….

(However), Elijah and Moses may make an appearance, but Jesus is the central figure"  (Geddert, 219).

Lane adds, "It was appropriate that Jesus, whose work was inaugurated in the wilderness at his baptism and whose way through the desert was directed by the Spirit (Ch.

1:9-13), should be accompanied in this moment of high revelation by the eminent prophets of the wilderness who stand by his side to testify to his character and mission" (Lane, 319).

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*VERSES 5-6:*  LET US MAKE THREE DWELLINGS

 

/5Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings /(Greek:  /skenas/ -- booths or tabernacles)/, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

//6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

/

 

It seems odd that Peter should refer to Jesus as rabbi so soon after confessing him as Messiah (8:29).

However, the word rabbi means teacher and, until now, Jesus has conducted a teaching~/healing ministry.

It is also clear that Peter, in spite of his confession of Jesus as Messiah, does not really understand what that means.

He is struggling to come to grips with Jesus' true identity and role, and his confusion surfaces here.

He doesn't know what to say but, being Peter, he feels compelled to say something.

Peter also feels a need to do something.

When one is befuddled, it sometimes helps to be busy doing something -- anything.

Peter is overwhelmed at being in the company of the Messiah and these two great prophets, and feels a need to do something -- anything -- to honor the occasion and, perhaps, to prolong the experience.

He suggests building three /skenas/ -- booths or tabernacles such as those in which Jews dwell to observe the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Lev.

23:42-44), which commemorates the Exodus and the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness.

Mark shows his disdain for Peter's suggestion by telling us that Peter did not know what to say because they (presumably all three disciples) were terrified (v.

6).

However, Peter's suggestion may not have been as far off the mark as it might seem.

The Feast of Booths had taken on an eschatological flavor as the gathering of the faithful.

It was "understood by many as looking ahead to the glorious day of Israel's deliverance" (Evans, 242).

But Jesus does not authorize Peter to follow through with his suggestion to build booths: 

 

-- Perhaps because Peter is trying to prolong this great experience rather than getting back to the ordinary day-to-day work of discipleship.

-- Perhaps because Peter proposes equal treatment for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, not realizing the degree to which Moses and Elijah are subordinate to Jesus.

-- Perhaps because Peter is trying to take charge -- to gain control of the situation when he should be watching and listening.

This idea gains credibility from v. 7, in which the voice from the cloud tells the disciples to listen to Jesus.

Mark's comment about the disciples being terrified (v. 6) makes us sympathetic.

Who among us has not been terrified -- unsure what to do -- desperate to find something to do?

These disciples are terribly human and vulnerable.

Instead of criticizing Peter, we would do better to put ourselves in his shoes, to feel his fear, and to experience being overwhelmed by a situation wholly unlike anything that we have ever experienced.

Would we have done better if Jesus had taken us up that mountain?