Death and Transfiguration
This episode in Mark’s gospel is singularly the most mysterious episode in the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God: Jesus is Transfigured – has become blindingly white light – and is seen by three disciples speaking to Moses and the prophet Elijah. [i]
The text in Mark begins, “Six days later….” Six days later than what? Then when Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter answered, correctly, “You are the Christ!” Then Jesus told them that he would suffer many things, be rejected, killed, and after three days he would rise again. And he followed that by saying those who want to become a follower of his must pick up their cross “and follow me.” Peter objects strenuously and is told to be quiet and get with the program.
Six days later is also another way of saying, “On the seventh day…” which for the Bible means much more than just “a week later.” God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the Seventh. The seventh day is ordained in the Ten Commandments as a day of Sabbath rest. Sabbath rest is meant to take us out of the tedium of our day-to-day activities and thoughts and use the time to remember and experience the presence of God in all things, in all places, at all times.
Then there’s the location on a mountain. Mountains have long been considered “thin places,” higher in altitude, thinner in air, and closer to God. Moses sat atop Mount Sinai for six days, and on the seventh day God spoke to him. And Elijah wanted to see God, hid in a crevice as God passed by. After much thunder and violence, he heard a still, small voice, a sigh, and knew at once that YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was there nearby. Moses and Elijah were experienced mountaineers who both were known to have spoken directly to God.
Curiously, the Bible offers no narrative account of either of them dying – Moses literally just disappears from the narrative, and Elijah, as we read in 2 Kings, flies off in his chariot of fire into the wild blue yonder we know not where! [ii] Both are believed to have the capacity to return to planet Earth. Therefore, who better to be seen with Jesus on a mountain top than Moses and Elijah – the Law and the Prophets. The text tells us they are talking to Jesus who suddenly appears to be radioactive, blindingly bright. His appearance, the location and the presence of Moses and Elijah suggests that the two visitors are once again talking to God.
Try to imagine for a moment viewing this scene. At the very least, it would leave us breathless, even speech less. Not Peter! Peter decides to get in on the conversation. He calls Jesus “Rabbi,” and offers to set up three dwellings, or three booths. Why booths? Could it be because that is how the people Moses led lived in the wilderness for forty years? It has been suggested by some that Peter wants to turn this into an extended mountaintop campout retreat. The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ the Son of God will be held over for one more week with cameo appearances from Moses and Elijah! In a rare moment of candor, the text tells us Peter has no idea what he’s talking about because he and the others are terrified. Which Moses and Elijah would agree is the proper response to a direct encounter with God. Which seems to be the meaning of this entire episode: if you want to know who Jesus is, to be in his bright white presence is to be as if you are in the presence of God.
Then comes thick darkness. And a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him!” We, the listeners have heard this voice before when Jesus heard it at his baptism by John, who by the way, dresses a lot like Elijah. That voice was addressed to Jesus alone. This time it is addressed to Peter, James and John, and of course every one of us. The voice comes with a new commandment: Listen to him!
One suspects the first reaction from Peter to this voice will be, “Whoever Jesus is, he’s no ordinary rabbi chatting it up with Moses and Elijah! He’s God’s Son. God’s Beloved!” No doubt, followed by, “What does this all mean?”
Mark is anything but subtle in his purpose of telling us these stories. He begins the Gospel, “The Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. A few verses later, a voice tells Jesus standing in the River Jordan, “You are my Son, my Beloved.” Midway through the Gospel Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” After several failed attempts, Peter blurts out, “You are the Christos, the Anointed, the Christ Messiah of God.” But as we know, as in this story of Transfiguration, Peter once again has no idea what he is talking about. Six days later the voice from the baptism returns in the midst of this terrifying mystical experience to remind one and all, this is the Son of God, God’s Beloved. And in case we were to forget who he is, as the story now turns us toward Jerusalem, the final words that are spoken at the foot of the cross by none other than a Roman Centurion who proclaims, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” [iii]
We should not forget this all happens on the Sabbath – a time to stop all else that we are doing to listen to God. To remember who we are and whose we are. To ponder a text like this one in which truly astonishing things are going on. And then remember, amidst all the other hub-bub and the endless fire-hose-like stream of events, information, disinformation all aimed at getting and maintaining our attention, if we were to simply stop, and “listen to him,” we will see more astonishing things than this going on all around us every day. If only we take the time out.
Perhaps this story is meant to remind us of the most astonishing truth of all: by water and the holy spirit we have been incorporated into the body of Christ in our baptism, which, we are told, is a bond that is indissoluble. [iv] We are Christ’s own forever. When we take time out to listen to him, he tells us, “You are my beloved; I am well pleased with you!” I am always with you. Our God is not far off. We are those people who know who Jesus is. Truly he is the Son of God, who promises to be with us always, to the end of the age. And for this we give thanks! Amen.
PS On the way down from the mountain, Jesus “ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” Could it be because he wants everyone to have a chance to see him for who he really is for themselves?
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