February 13, 2011 FEBRUARY 13, 2011 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON THIS IS MY BELOVED

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1 FEBRUARY 13, 2011 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON MINISTRY INVOCATION O, Lord: Your majesty and power rule our lives. We give thanks for Your Presence and Your peace over us. Keep us in Your care forever. Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND There were reasons for exposing Peter, James, and John to the transfiguration of Christ. The Kingdom of God and His Glory would have initial revelation in the transfiguration. The transfiguration was not a vision or dream but a real-life event that would be remembered. THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ. TEXT: Mark 9:2 13 (NAS) 2 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; 3 and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. 5 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. 6 For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. 7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, This is My beloved Son, listen to Him! 8 All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. 9 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. 10 They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. 11 They asked Him, saying, Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first? 12 And He said to them, Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him. 1

2 COMMENTARY Questions often have been raised about the historicity of the account. A number of indications, however, suggest that the event really took place. First, this is the only description in Mark of a transcendent Christ, although Mark elsewhere certainly affirmed the deity of Jesus. Mark, elsewhere, described Jesus in human terms. Secondly, the exact chronological reference in verse 2, suggests a historical reminiscence. Thirdly, the reference to Jesus as Rabbi in verse 5 uses a term that was not used in the early church, if one may judge from its absence in Acts and the Epistles. Some have claimed that the story is a misplaced account of a resurrection appearance. It differs from such accounts in several particulars: Resurrection stories usually begin with Jesus being absent and then appearing. In the account of the transfiguration, He was present from the beginning. Resurrection stories sometimes begin with Jesus present but unrecognized and progress to recognition (Luke 24:15 31; John 20:11 18; 21:4 7). In contrast, Mark s narrative begins with the recognizable and moves to the unexpected transformation. In resurrection appearances, Jesus usually spoke to those around him during His appearance, but in this one, He said nothing until the transfiguration was complete and He and the disciples were coming down the mountain. The prominence of Moses and Elijah in the transfiguration is also significant because elsewhere they were not associated with the resurrection. A reasonable conclusion, therefore, is that the transfiguration actually happened, that it was an objective experience and not just a vision, and that the participants reported it to the early church. If in fact Peter was a source of information for Mark, the account is an eyewitness report. The story functions in Mark to show that Jesus is more than what he appeared to be, that he is in fact the Son of God in the most advanced sense of that term. He had to suffer, but suffering was not his ultimate destiny. His ultimate destiny was to be glorified. The transfiguration is a preview of the full establishment of the Kingdom of God at the glorious return of Jesus prophesied in 8:38. The transfiguration served as a preview of the full establishment of the Kingdom of God at Jesus return. The experience, occurring as it did soon after the first passion prediction, no doubt reassured the original disciples. 2

3 Verses 2, 3. After six days. St. Luke (9:28) says, About eight days after these sayings. There is no real discrepancy here. There were six whole days that intervened between our Lord s words and the Transfiguration itself. Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John. He chose these three, as the leaders among the disciples, and He showed to them His glory, because He intended also to show them afterwards His bitter agony in the garden. This magnificent splendor, shown together with the Voice of the Father, This is my beloved Son, would assure them that Christ was truly God, but that His essential Deity was hidden by the evil of the flesh; and that, although He was about to be crucified and slain, yet his Godhead could not suffer or die. It was an evidence beforehand, a prospective evidence, that He underwent death, even the death of the cross, not constrained by infirmity or necessity, but of His own will, for the redemption of man. It was plain that, since He could invest His body with this Divine glory, He could have saved Himself from death, if He had so willed. St. Peter s reference to the transfiguration shows what a deep and abiding impression it made on his mind. St. James, too, was there, as one who was to be among the first to die for His sake. St. John also was with them, who, having seen the glory of the Son of God, which is subject to no limits of time, might be bold to send forth his grand testimony, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And bringeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. The Lord taught His disciples that they must not look for the brightness of the Divine glory in the depths of this world, but in the kingdom of heavenly blessedness, and led them apart, because holy men are, in intention and desire, separated from evil, as they will be altogether separated from it in the world to come. Into a high mountain. The Mount of Transfiguration was in all probability Hermon, a position of extreme grandeur and beauty, its snowy peaks overlooking the whole extent of Palestine. The remote heights above the sources of the Jordan witnessed the moment when, His work in His own peculiar sphere being ended, He set his face for the last time to go up to Jerusalem. Although compelled to dismiss from our minds the old tradition of Tabor as the scene of the Transfiguration, we still think of that mountain as near to Nazareth, where our Lord was brought up; and of Hermon, where he was transfigured. And he was transfigured before them. The fashion of His appearance was changed. It was no illusion, no imaginary appearance, but a real transformation. It was the Divine glory within Him manifesting itself through His humanity; and yet not that glory of Deity which no man had seen or can see; but such a manifestation that the disciples might, in some degree, behold the glory and majesty of Deity through the veil of His flesh. The Lord, in His transfiguration, changed the essence or form of His countenance and assumed a mighty splendor, so that, as St. Matthew (17:2) tells us, his face did shine as the 3

4 sun. This splendor was not in the air, nor in the eyes of the disciples, but in the Person of the Son of God a splendor, which communicated itself to His raiment, so that his garments became glistering, exceeding white; so as no fuller on earth can whiten them. This figure is taken from natural things. The first idea of fuller is that of one who cleanses by stamping with the feet. His business is to restore the soiled cloth to its natural whiteness. The evangelist uses an earthly thing to represent the heavenly. The heavenly Fuller gives a purity and a brightness infinitely exceeding the power of any fuller on earth. Verse 4. And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses. Moses and Elijah were there because Moses was the lawgiver of the old covenant, and Elijah was conspicuous among the prophets, so that they were the representatives, the one of the Law, and the other of the goodly fellowship of the prophets. They appear together to bear witness to Christ as the true Messiah, the Savior of the world, prefigured in the Law, and foretold by the prophets. They appear to bear witness to Him and then to resign their offices to the great Lawgiver and Prophet whom they foreshadowed. Then, further, Moses died, but Elijah was translated. Moses, therefore, represents the dead saints who shall rise from their graves and come forth at his coming, while Elijah represents those who shall be found alive at his advent. Our Lord brought with Him, at His transfiguration, Moses who had died, and Elijah who had been translated, that He might show his power over both the quick and the dead. They appeared in glory; the Divine splendor irradiated them. They spake of his decease, literally, his departure his departure not only out of Jerusalem, but out of this life, by his death upon the cross. The death of Christ was shown to be the ultimate end to which the Law and the prophets pointed. Even in that hour of His glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration, this was their theme; and thus, the disciples were nerved to look with hope and faith to that which they had contemplated with dismay. Verse 5. Peter answereth, and saith to Jesus. We learn from St. Luke (9:33) that this happened just as Moses and Elijah were departing. Peter was excited and there was fear mingled with his excitement. He was bewildered. His first idea was to seek that they might remain, for He saw that they were just preparing to depart. It is, perhaps, too curious a question to ask how the three disciples knew them to be Moses and Elijah. The same Divine power which presented them with a vision of the other world gave them an intuitive knowledge on the subject. We may, perhaps, infer that in that world to come, there will be not only recognition, but knowledge of those whose faces we have not seen in the flesh. It is probable that the Transfiguration took place at night. The whole manifestation would be rendered more conspicuous and striking amidst the darkness and stillness of night, but St. Luke is careful to add, when 4

5 they were fully awake. This word might be rendered, having remained awake. The intention of the evangelist is evidently to show that it was not in a dream or a vision of the night that they saw this. It was a great reality, on which they looked with open eyes. Verse 6. They became sore afraid. A sense of great awe and terror overpowered the bliss and brightness of the scene. All the revelations of the other world strike terror, even though abated as this manifestation was by the presence of their dear Lord and Savior. Verse 7. There came a cloud overshadowing them. The cloud enfolded them all, so that they could not be seen. St. Matthew (17:5) says it was a bright cloud. The cloud was a symbol of the grandeur and unapproachable glory of God. The disciples were admitted within this cloud that they might have a foretaste of future glory and that they might be witnesses of what took place under the cloud, and especially that they might be able to give evidence throughout all ages of the voice which they heard come out of the cloud from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son: hear ye him. At the same time that this cloud was the symbol, it was also the veil of Deity. Moreover, the cloud abated and subdued the splendor of Christ s appearance, which otherwise the mortal eyes of the disciples could not have borne. It will be observed that St. Mark omitted the words, found in St. Matthew (17:5), in whom I am well pleased. So does St. Luke, but it is remarkable that they are found in St. Peter from whence we might have expected to find them. In St. Luke (9:35), the most approved readings give, This is my Son, my chosen. The words, my beloved Son, are impressed upon us in order that epithets so sweet and endearing might kindle our love and devotion. Hear ye him not Moses, who has now departed, but Christ himself, the new Author of a new Law. Hear ye him was not said when our Lord was baptized, because he was then only just proclaimed to the world. These words signified the abolition of the old dispensation and the establishment of the new covenant in Christ. Verse 8. And suddenly looking round about, they saw no one any more, save Jesus only with themselves. St. Matthew here says (17:6), When the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. St. Mark omitted this, but stated that which implied what St. Matthew recorded. It was the touch of Jesus that caused them to look round about, and in a moment perceived that they were alone with Jesus, as they were before this manifestation began The order of incidents in the Transfiguration appears to have been this: Our Lord is praying. The disciples, fatigued with the ascent of the mountain, are heavy with sleep; and Christ is transfigured. Then appear Moses and Elijah; and they are talking with Jesus about his exodus his decease to be accomplished at Jerusalem. The 5

6 disciples roused from their sleep by the supernatural brightness and by the conversation, and now, fully awake, behold the glory of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, talking with Him. As Moses and Elijah are preparing for their departure, Peter, excited, enchanted, bewildered, and yet grieved to see that they were going, sought to detain them by the proposal to make some temporary resting-place for them. Then comes the bright overshadowing cloud and a voice out of the cloud, This is my beloved Son: hear ye him. At the sound of this voice the disciples fell terrified to the earth, but they were soon comforted by Christ, and, looking up, they saw Him alone with themselves. Verse 9. He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of man should have risen again from the dead. They were not even to tell their fellow-disciples, lest it might cause vexation or envy that they had not been thus favored. The time of our Lord s resurrection would be a fitting opportunity for revealing this mystery; then the disciples would understand and believe it, when, after his passion and death, which were an offence to them, they should see Him rising in glory, of which event the Transfiguration was a type. For, by the Resurrection they would certainly know that Christ underwent the death of the cross, not by constraint, but of His own accord, and out of His great love for us. Verses 10, 11. Questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean; that is, His own rising from the dead, of which our Lord had just been speaking. No doubt, the general resurrection at the end of the world was an article of faith with which the disciples were familiar, but they could not understand, when He spoke of His own immediate rising from the dead. Their perplexities led them to ask Him the question or to make the remark to Him, The scribes say that Elijah must first come; with a view to obtaining some clearer understanding. They had just seen Elijah in the Transfiguration, and they had seen him disappear. They wondered why he should have departed. They thought that he ought to have remained, that he might be the forerunner of Christ and of His Kingdom and Glory, according to the prophecy of Malachi (4:6). This the scribes taught, but they erred in the confusion of times, for they did not distinguish the first coming of Christ in the flesh from his second advent to judgment. The thought upon the mind of the disciples appears to have been this: They heard Christ speak of His own resurrection as close at hand, and they had seen the type of it in His transfiguration; and they thought that immediately after that, Christ s Kingdom would come and He would reign gloriously. Why, then, had not Elijah remained, that he might be his precursor? St. Matthew (17:13) tells us that our Lord s words which followed, showed the disciples that when He said that Elijah was to come first and restore all things, He meant them to understand that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist. 6

7 Verse 12 Jesus affirmed the truthfulness of the scribal teaching, in this instance because it was also the teaching of Scripture. The primary passage about the suffering of the Son of Man that Jesus had in mind must have been Isa 52:13 53:12. Psalm 22 is another possibility. Significantly, Jesus shifted the emphasis. Elijah is not the central or crucial issue but the suffering of the Son of Man. John/Elijah was important as Christ s forerunner in suffering and death. Only the cross makes Elijah s role clear. Verse 13 If finding passages that predict the suffering of Jesus is difficult, finding ones that predict the suffering of John/Elijah is even more difficult. Evidently, the allusion to which Jesus was referring was 1 Kings 19:2, 10, where Jezebel threatened the prophet. There is a striking parallel between the death of John at the instigation of a wicked woman who manipulated a weak king and the persecution of Elijah by another such woman, who manipulated another king. Mark and his contemporaries probably saw, in John s death, a prophecy of the death of Jesus. RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS What was the significance of these three disciples experiencing the transfiguration of Jesus? In what ways does the transfiguration substantiate Christ as Savior? CLOSING PRAYER O, God: We give thanks for the revelation of Your Son Jesus in our lives. Your loving kindness has allowed us to see new ways of seeing You. We receive, now, Your grace that abides with us, as we have received the redemption that You have given us in Christ. Amen. 7