Mark 9:1-13
Passage: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=259421270
The first verse of Chapter 9 seems to say, as interpreted from the perspective of those that lived in those ancient times, that within their lifetimes, the power of the Kingdom of God will be shown. However, if you pay close attention to the language used in the verse, it says that they will see that the kingdom of God has come with power. But what is meant by kingdom? And what is meant by they will see it? It does not necessarily mean that a true earthly kingdom will rise and show the power of God. “They will see” may very well just mean they will be made to believe in God’s power. The only thing that is guaranteed from this verse is that some of the people standing there today would believe in the power of God’s kingdom before they died. Another interpretation is that the Kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom at all, rather a kingdom of the afterlife, where those who prepared themselves well in this life will have eternal life in the Kingdom of God. This view is supported by other passages in the Gospel of Mark, such as in Mark 10:23. Wealth is commonly seen as bad for religious people because it serves as an “earthly” distraction and temptation from doing good works and going to heaven.
Verses 2-8 of Chapter 9 of Mark focus on the transfiguration of Jesus on the Mountain. The entire feeling of the passage is the overarching awe of the disciples at what is taking place in their presence. This is shown best by when Peter asks Jesus if the apostles could build tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. Rather than be able to accept the magnitude of the situation, Peter shows that he is utterly confused and terrified by what is happening by saying something so unnecessary and arbitrary. When the cloud of God appears to them this only compounds their terror. Once again, just as He did when Jesus was baptized, God proclaims Jesus his son. This repetition of God’s proclamation of Jesus as his son is extremely significant because it gives less room for loose interpretation of who Jesus was to those reading the Gospel of Mark. With God acknowledging Jesus as his rightful son on multiple occasions, it shows that he is much more significant than any other prophet or religious figure during that time. Due to the many different religions and figures during those ancient times that were claiming such title as children of God or gods plural, the magnitude of this proclamation may very well have been lost upon the apostles and those who read this passage or heard this story later. Yet, the repetition of God’s proclamation, and the fact that God is speaking directly to him, something he had not done since the time of Moses, gives Jesus extreme legitimacy as the Messiah.
The final passage I analyzed explained the coming of Elijah. Verses 9-13 is another situation among many, where Jesus tells the apostles or those he has helped to tell no one about what has happened until a later time, in this case after he has risen from the dead. The apostles were very confused as to what he meant about raising from the dead, once again showing a seemingly inadequate understanding of the message Jesus is trying to convey. The second part of the passage is about the coming of Elijah. Common belief among Jewish scholars of the time was that Elijah was to herald the coming of the kingdom of God. The Son of God cannot come without Elijah, which is why many Jews found it difficult to believe Jesus was the Son of God. However, Elijah does come during the transfiguration. Is this the coming of Elijah that was prophecied? The author of the Gospel of Mark, by the way he portrays Jesus’s behavior explaining this to his disciples in this scene, seems to believe just that.
In a larger contextual sense, this passage comes directly after Jesus foretells his death and resurrection to the disciples for the first time. They are extremely confused about what he means there as well, with Peter even rebuking him for his words. The transfiguration almost seems like it is a declaration that what he has said will come to pass, a great showing of his power and glory. Directly after the selected passage Jesus performs another miracle, casting a demon out of a boy and then again foretells about his death, an extremely significant repetition, even though the disciples are still confused about what he means.
The transfiguration, and the passages I included with it, give a lot of legitimacy to the assertion that Jesus is the Messiah to whoever was present there or heard the story after. This is because he is seen in the presence of Moses and Elijah, arguably the most important Jewish prophets of all time. Being with them would have given many Jews strong reason to believe that he was the true Son of God. What is interesting about this is he orders all of them never to speak about what has happened until after he has risen from the dead, adding to the overall theme of secrecy that Mark’s Jesus seems to wish for. He does not choose to use his miracles as public spectacles and a reason for people to believe in him. Instead, he chose to preach to earn the followers he had, unlike the interpretation of Jesus shown in the Gospel of John.
In Art-
The Transfiguration is an extremely popular biblical scene for artists to depict, and has been throughout history. The most common themes in these beautiful pieces of art is that Jesus and the prophets Moses and Elijah appear as larger than life as to show how important they are, while the disciples are smaller and in a general state of awe, confusion, or terror. Jesus and the prophets have their importance emphasized in other ways as well. They are at the top, the focal point of the paintings, and are usually also shimmering or glowing with light to show their divinity. In many pieces, such as these examples, the disciples show their confusion through bodily contortions, cowering away and shielding their eyes from the spectacle.
Works Cited/Credit for Art pieces
http://2x2virtualchurch.com/2013/02/05/teaching-the-transfiguration-through-art/
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