The Transfiguration (Mark 2:13)

It was almost a week later when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain. I’m sure the disciples were a bit frightened when Jesus started to glow and then on top of it Elijah and Moses show up. I’m convinced that we would have been a bit shaken up to have that happen too. Peter seems to talk randomly when shaken. He suggests building 3 shelters, one for Jesus, one for Elijah and one for Moses. Why would they need the shelters? He didn’t suggest building shelters for himself and James and John and they would be more likely to need them. What might the shelters be for?
A cloud surrounds them and a voice comes from the cloud. Last time the voice came a dove was involved and it was at Jesus’ baptism. This time, the voice says,”This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” The first time it also said, “This is my Son”. Do you think that Peter and company were starting to get the idea that there was something different about Jesus?
Jesus told them not to share what happen here until the Son of Man had been risen from the dead. They discussed the event among themselves only. I wonder if they figured no one would believe them anyway. Can you picture Peter keeping a secret? Instead of wondering what it meant, it seems they got hung up on what rising from the dead meant.
Perhaps they were leaning toward wondering if Jesus might actually be the Messiah when they asked about the teachers of the law saying that Elijah had to come first, before the Messiah would come. Jesus’ reply went against everything that the teachers of the law had determined about the Messiah. They were teaching the conquering Messiah when in fact that would happen at the end of the age. They did not see the Messiah as coming as a suffering Messiah and then after leaving coming again as a conquering Messiah. They, like us, would have read what we wanted to read into that. Jesus specifically pointed out that it was written that the Son of Man would be rejected and and suffer. In referring to John the Baptist, He pointed out that Elijah had come already. I’m sure that if we compared Elijah and John the Baptist, there would be several likenesses.
What should I consider from this passage?
1. Having a mountaintop experience is great, but I am not to live “stuck” in that experience. I must come down from the mountain and face the life I had before ascending.
2. Being on the mountain will change my outlook and life from then on.
3. It is easy to miss the point of being on the mountain and get side-tracked on to something else.
4. When God chooses to reveal Himself to us, how should we react?
5. Others may not understand our experience and so sometimes it is better to wait until it is fulfilled before sharing with them.