Tuesdays with Mark (9: 2-8)

If you look at the stained-glass window above the altar at Palmer Church, you will see a depiction of the scene from today’s scripture lesson. The light through that window of the Transfiguration of Jesus has shined down upon all the people who have prayed here, worshipped here, been baptized and married and memorialized here.
The story begins: “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves.” We are not exactly sure what the time reference is here, but I would guess that this is six days after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ. If that is the case, then I imagine that these six days had been a pretty challenging time for the disciples. Peter had been rebuked by Jesus for rebuking him. It was a very awkward and painful moment, not just for Peter, but for all of them. The picture that Jesus has painted for them about what it means to be his disciple— to pick up your cross and follow me—is one that they had not counted upon and one they don’t really understand.
Jesus takes them up the mountain and there he is completely changed and transformed. We are to remember Moses here, when he went up the mountain (see Exodus 24, 34) to listen to God and to receive the 10 commandments. There, on the mountain, Moses was filled with light.
While Jesus and the three are on the mountain in Mark’s Gospel, two other figures show up: Moses and Elijah. Moses was emblematic of the law; Elijah was emblematic of the prophets. It was understood that Moses and Elijah would come again when the Kingdom of God would come in its fullness (see Malachi 4: 4-5). So, when Moses and Elijah appear the three (we might surmise) would think that this was a Kingdom moment, a moment when God was breaking through, a moment when they were given such a clear vision that their doubts and struggles would be put aside. Maybe this happened.
Impetuous Peter suggests that they should build “three dwellings,” or three booths. This reminds us of the Jewish feast of Booths, a fall festival when the Jews would build little huts to remind them of how God had protected them during their sojourn through the wilderness. Maybe Peter wants to make camp; perhaps he just wants to freeze the moment, like in a painting; or perhaps he just doesn’t have any idea what he is saying—he just speaks out of his fear and awe.
A voice then breaks forth: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” These are almost the exact words that God gave to Jesus when he was baptized (see Mark 1: 11f). There is, though, one addition: “listen.” God gives this message because the disciples weren’t listening to Jesus, and they weren’t listening because Jesus said some things that they didn’t want to hear.
And then the whole moment is gone—Jesus looks normal, Moses and Elijah are gone, all is quiet.
What happens then? Jesus and the rest of the disciples go down the mountain starting with 9: 9. But before we proceed, let me add one more piece of scripture from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth: “All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as through reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another… (3:18f)
In this passage Paul is referring to Jesus at the Transfiguration. When Moses came down the mountaintop (Exodus) people had to turn away their faces because his face was so bright that it blinded them. But with Jesus, Paul says not to turn away, but to turn towards; and when we do we will be transformed by his light radiating on us.
At the bible study this morning I gave the men a spiritual principle: we become what we look at. Think about that. If we look at things that are light, that are about life and joy and hope and kindness and faith, all of our peering will impact and affect our minds and hearts and souls. But we if look at things that are not about light, that tend towards or even indulge in the darkness, then this, too, will impact and affect who we are and think and live. So, what are we looking at, reading, and studying?
In this passage from 2 Corinthians, Paul is saying that when we look at the face of Jesus we will be transfigured like him. How do we look into the face of Jesus? If we look intently and faithfully enough, we may just see him in…well… everyone’s face.
Think about that. Pray about that. Ponder all that when you next look at our window of the Transfiguration above the altar.