Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary
Mark’s gospel presents the ministry of Jesus as the pivotal event in a two-tiered struggle for the triumph of the reign of God, fought on both an earthly plane and a heavenly one. Mark presents Jesus confronting Satanic temptation and evil spirits long before he contends with human authorities, either Jewish or Roman. In Mark 9, precisely at the halfway point of the gospel dividing Jesus’ Galilean ministry from the Jerusalem showdown, three disciples follow Jesus up a mountain and there experience a scene of epiphanic glory (Mk 9:2-9). Concurrently, the other nine struggle against intransigent supra-human evil that has taken over a young boy in the nearby town (9:14-29).
The scene we call the “transfiguration of the Lord” is best taken at face-value—as a chronicle based on three disciples’ testimony to a supra-ordinary, epiphanic experience in which a divine voice declared Jesus “son of God.” It is the second instance of such divine attestation to Jesus’ true identity, the first having taken place at Jesus’ baptism. Human confession of this truth will occur at Jesus’ death (the centurion, Mk 14:37-39). Notably, each of these three epiphanic events in Mark includes the “rending” or removal of a veil or barrier: the tearing of the heavens at Jesus’ baptism, the exposure to human sight of a dimension in which beings commune in brilliant, unearthly light; and the mysterious rending, top-to-bottom, of the main Temple curtain at the time of Jesus’ death.
Atop the mountain, the heavenly voice speaks not to Jesus, as at his baptism (“You are my son …”), but to the disciples (“This is my son…), adding a command: “Listen to him.” To this point, Peter in particular has resisted the hard truth that Jesus insists upon: he will undergo rejection, trial, and death, and “after three days rise again” (8:31). With an intriguing allusion to Moses’ “six days” on the mountain before receiving the commandments, Mark sets the timing of the transfiguration “six days” (9:2) after Jesus’ stinging rebuke of Peter, indicating that he becomes an ally of “Satan” when he protests that Jesus need not die (8:32-33). (Note that Jesus sees Peter’s resistance as unwitting collusion with supra-human powers also seeking to deter him from his path.) Nothing short of the heavenly voice of God commands Peter, James, and John to “listen to him” – that is, to Jesus the Son of God, not to the silken voice of Temptation suggesting that it need not be so. Also notable: Jesus immediately returns to the subject of his death and rising as they descend the mountain.
This text presents preachers with two challenges: First, we cannot do justice to Mark unless we respect the vastness of his canvas. For Mark, Jesus’ redemptive mission is pivotal in a struggle over the fate of humanity that involves powers both heavenly and earthly. Second, we need to keep this cosmic struggle central, yet step aside just long enough to make sense of literary details for our listeners, especially OT allusions. Moses (revered bringer of Torah) and Elijah (most revered of the prophets, equal to Isaiah) accompany Jesus, signifying the deep traditions leading to this moment. Both Moses and Elijah were “taken” from the earth in unusual ways, and both experienced close, personal encounters with the Divine Presence themselves. And while many commentators dismiss as terrified blathering Peter’s mention of constructing “booths” (the temporary habitations of Israelites during the Festival of Booths, commemorating their forbears’ wilderness wanderings), Zechariah 14:16ff suggests that God’s reign will come in its fullness during that particular festival.
It is significant that the visual spectacle fades. Yet, Jesus continues to speak, as he did before. Now, his disciples listen. That the redemptive path of Jesus does not circumvent suffering and death is no easier for today’s Church to hear than it was for them. Yet neither they nor we can “unsee” the scene on the mountain. We follow Jesus on a mission mysteriously vast, and vastly consequential.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 