View from the Mountain
Opening Prayer
Great and glorious God, enlarge my vision that I might see things as You do, as they truly are.
Read MARK 9:2–13
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“This was a spiritual experience of the first order for the three disciples, and an experience of supreme spiritual exultation for their Master. The unseen world, which is after all the most real world, came breaking through while Jesus prayed” (James S. Stewart, 1896–1990).
Think Further
Mark’s Gospel is filled with pointers to Jesus’ identity, but in the story of the transfiguration it is as if the curtain is lifted to allow the reader a glimpse of true reality, showing Jesus as divine, as the beloved Son. Peter, who so spectacularly failed in the previous passage, is invited to share in this revelation with James and John, who will also fail (Mark 10:35–41). We should not allow our failures to prevent us from seeking more of God, who wants to reveal more of himself to us.
Like Peter, we should not be surprised if we struggle to understand what God reveals. In the Greco-Roman world, if a deity appeared it was often met with the building of a shrine. It may be that this is what Peter is falling back on with his suggestion of “shelters” (5). However, it is the Old Testament which points towards the meaning, as Moses went up the mountain of Sinai to meet with God. The
cloud descended and, after six days, God spoke to him (Exod. 24:15, 16). In our passage, Moses and Elijah meet Jesus on the mountain, perhaps symbolizing the Law and the Prophets. Yet it is Jesus to whom we should listen, for he is the beloved Son, as we were first told at his baptism (Mark 1:11).
However, as well as this link with the past there is also a link to the future, for there is some evidence that Moses and Elijah were regarded as heralds of the end times (e.g., Mal. 4:5,6). Clouds are associated with eschatology (e.g., Mark 14:62), as is transformation (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:51–53; Phil. 3:21). Thus, although Peter’s expectations of a new age have been shown to be inadequate, there is no doubt that in Jesus, the Messiah, the new age does begin (Mark 8:33).
Apply
How would you view the situations you are currently facing differently, if you saw them from God’s perspective?
Closing prayer
Mighty God, You can turn around failures into victories. You did that for Peter and You have done it for me. I thank and praise You.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.