“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.” [i]
Welcome to Chapter 9! It’s
sort of odd – this placement of a verse – since it’s a continuation of what was
happening at the end of Chapter 8 (Jesus speaking to the crowd and to the
disciples as to what “following” meant).
What does this promise
mean? There are differing interpretations. “…his resurrection and ascension,
the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, the spread of Christianity, or the
destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.” [ii] BTW, I’ve included an aside at the end of this post about the
destruction of Jerusalem that you might find informative.
I like the translation
from THE MESSAGE at the conclusion of the first verse – “…, see the kingdom of
God arrive in full force” – which then ties into the second verse – “Six days
later, three of them did see it.” It
becomes much more integral, more immediate to the telling in Chapter 9.
So what did they see –
Peter, James and John? What is known as the Transfiguration. For comparison to
what MARK shares, I’ve included two other gospel accounts: Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 9:28-36
On the high mountain, most
likely Mount Hermon, the foursome walk. It’s there something jaw-dropping happens.
Jesus is transfigured – “to change in form” or “to be transformed.”
MARK tells us the clothes
of Jesus became radiant. The Greek word “stilbein” described this radiance… like
“the glistening gleam of burnished brass or gold or of polished steel or of the
golden glare of the sunlight.” [iii] Often, God’s presence
has been associated with “light.” In the Old Testament, references to this
light are made – Psalm 104:2
and Daniel 7:9.
This would be
magnificent,… awesome,…. How could you not be mesmerized by such a happening?
And to top that...
Moses and Elijah then
appear. At this point, I’d be overwhelmed! One who died but whose burial place
was never located – Deuteronomy 34:6; the other who ascended into heaven – 2 Kings 2:11.
(Read 2:1-18 for
what is a fascinating, moving story about Elijah and Elisha.)
Why in the world have
Moses and Elijah appeared? Moses and Elijah “represent the covenant of Torah
and the prophetic denunciations of corruption and idolatry, respectively.” [iv] Moses was the supreme
law-giver of Israel, and Elijah was the greatest of the prophets. The amount of
respect and admiration for these two individuals had to be HUGE. And again,… to
see these two men had to be overwhelming.
Why the chat with Jesus?
Luke 9:31 tells us that the subject was about Jesus’ coming death.
Exploring further, “Why
did Jesus pick these three specific disciples to join him, knowing this
transfiguration was going to happen?”
Previously, Peter caused doubt
to arise when Jesus stated he would be rejected, killed and resurrected. Given
what Peter knew about Messiahship, none of what Jesus said made sense and Peter
set about to change his mind. Jesus replied, “Get behind me temptation.” NOTE – I substituted “temptation” for
“Satan.” Jesus was covering bases
and quick – not wanting doubt to weave its way into the hearts and minds of his
disciples.
But what if…? What if
Jesus needed what Leah * called “a holy pep talk”? What if Jesus wanted
confirmation that he was on the right path, doing what God had called him to
do? What if Jesus wanted to help Peter, along with James and John (the
emotional “sons of thunder”), understand what was to happen? To make it rock
solid and evident? Because ultimately, it became a confirmation for all of
them.
What about Peter’s rather
rash desire to have three dwellings built? What was that about?
The Jewish Annotated New Testament states these dwellings might refer
to Sukkot (a biblical holiday). “It
is one of the three biblically mandated festivals on which Hebrews were
commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. It follows the
solemn holiday of Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. …The Hebrew word sukkōt
is
the plural of sukkah (booth or
tabernacle), which is a walled structure covered with plant material such as
palm leaves. …On each day of the holiday (seven days), meals are eaten inside
the sukkah and some people sleep
there as well.” [v]
In essence, Peter is
saying, “Let’s provide a dwelling for these three illustrious men. And let’s keep
them here!” Before that can happen though, God comes down on the mountain in
the form of a cloud – what is known as “the
shekinah glory.” This cloud was symbolic of God’s presence (Exodus 13:21,
Exodus 40:34-38,
Numbers 14:14).
The disciples are
“embraced by the brilliance of God. They hear God the Father speaking of his
love for the son, just as he did when Jesus was baptized at the beginning of
MARK (1:9-11).” [vi] It is here that they have
seen the kingdom of God arrive in full force. How powerful is that?!?
Food for thought:
·
What kind of
perspective would we have on the mountaintop?
·
Can we have a
transfiguration perspective? What would you do with it?
I leave you with this. A
three-on-three moment in time. “What the disciples see in Jesus, Moses and
Elijah on the mountain is something they have in common. In these three
glorified bodies, the disciples are seeing themselves beyond the grave.” [vii]
NEXT
But I thought…, weren’t we
taught…; coming down from the mountaintop
AS AN ASIDE…
By the summer of 68 AD,
Jews were nearing defeat by the Roman legions and in 69 AD, Vespasian was made
emperor of Rome and gave his son Titus the honor of delivering the final death
blows to the rebellious Jews and their capital city. The siege began soon
thereafter.
In The Wars of the Jews, Book 6, Josephus notes that in 70 AD, on the
8th day of the Roman month Lous
(Jewish month Ab), the ramps were
finished and Titus ordered the battering-rams brought up and made ready for an
assault on the Temple.
As soon as the walls were
breached on the 9th of Ab, a Roman
military force of about 30,000 troops under the command of Titus marched into
Jerusalem and began a systematic slaughter of the Jews and the destruction of
the Temple and Jerusalem—exactly as Jesus foretold 40 years earlier.
The Romans brutally
slaughtered an estimated 600,000 people in Jerusalem including many of the
Passover visitors who had been trapped there for the 143 days during the Roman
siege. Many of the people who were not killed by Roman soldiers were shipped
off to the gladiatorial games, Roman mines, and otherwise exiled from Judea and
scattered throughout the Roman empire and other nations.
Josephus records that the
Romans put the city and the Temple to the torch and that these fires were still
burning a month later on the 8th day of the Roman month Gorpieus (Jewish month Elul).
The magnificent Temple
that Herod had built was completely destroyed as the fires raged inside and
out. These fires were so hot that the gold fittings, and the gold gilding
inside and on its outside walls, melted and ran into the cracks between and in
the stones. During the pillaging of the Temple these stones were broken up to
get at the gold. Therefore, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy that no stone would be
left on another—the destruction was total. [viii]
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