Mark 9:1-9- Listen To Him

And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."  Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.  Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.

Chapter 9 begins with the end of the last speech Jesus made about the cross.  At the end of the speech, Jesus was speaking about his disciples and he standing before the Father in heaven.  Mark then breaks the speech with the statement “Jesus was saying to them” and gives a saying which supposedly summarizes a longer speech.  The promise is very stark to us who know that the disciples and apostles are long since dead, and Jesus has not come in power.  However, given the placement of this saying so connected with the following story, it seems that the chapter-divider of the Bible may have not made a mistake (for a change).  Jesus was probably referring to this incident in the last remark—so I have divided it at the chapter.  

This incident is named “the transfiguration” and it has some similarities to Moses meeting with Yahweh on Mt. Sinai.  In that story, Moses was able to see Yahweh as he truly is and came down the mountain with his face shining (Exodus 34).  Jesus is also shining—or at least his garments.  In this way, Jesus is displayed before them in glory, as he would be before the Father—which he was just talking about in chapter 8.  Elijah is also meeting with Jesus and Moses on the mount, which makes sense, since he has been central to the story from the beginning of Mark.  

Peter’s statement seems innocent enough.  But he was speaking about establishing places of worship, like the tabernacle in the wilderness, one for each of them.  The Father then rebukes Peter, commanding him to listen to Jesus, his Son.  Either he was telling Peter to not do anything rash without hearing a command from Jesus, or, more likely, he is saying that Moses and Elijah is not to be listened to on the same level as the Son.  The tabernacle in the wilderness is the place where Moses would go to listen to God’s command.

"The kingdom is come with power" in this incident not because of the shiny robes or because of Moses and Elijah, but because the Father confirms the preeminence of the Son by commanding the disciples to listen to him.

There are those rare times when we obtain a "mountain-top" experience with God.  We get emotional and feel an important experience and really feel close to God.  We are at some kind of mystical pinnacle.  When we have these experiences, it is unique to us, and others may not understand it, if we tried to tell them.

When this happens, the temptation is to try to take control of it, just like Peter does here.  To guide it, to have it meet our needs or expectations, to direct the outcome of it.  What we need to remember is that an experience with God must be directed by God or else it won't have any benefit to us at all.  God is the major player, we are the minor players.  God is the Lover, we are the Beloved.  We must allow God to direct our experiences with Him, or else the experience won't have as much benefit to us.

It is interesting that the greatest benefit the three apostles obtain from this experience is the importance of listening to the Son.  The Father directs their attention back to the Son, to obeying him.  When we have a true experience with God, He will always direct us to pay attention to the Son, to listen to Him, to do what He says.