The Gospel of Mark
TRANSFIGURATION 9,2-18
Like the scene on Mount Sinai, the Transfiguration is a theophany, a revelation of God in majesty. God appears to humans (Moses or the three disciples) and speaks to them (the voice from the cloud). In a special way, at the Transfiguration God is revealing himself through the human Jesus. The divine glory of Jesus briefly shines through his humanity. This is an anticipation of what was foretold by Jesus in 8,38-9,1 and also later on in his discourse about the end,13,26.
The similarities between Moses' experience on Mount Sinai and the Transfiguration show that they are of the same genre (style of writing):
In Exodus 24,1.9 Moses goes up the mountain with three named persons plus 72 others. Only Moses though was to go near the Lord.
In Ex 34,29, Moses' face shone because he had been talking with God.
In Ex 24,15-16, the cloud of God's presence covers the mountain.
In Ex 24,16, God calls from the cloud.
"After six days" in verse 2 is the only reference to time in the main body of the Gospel. The effect is to link this Transfiguration scene with all that happened at Caesarea Philippi, 8,27-9,1. "We must share his sufferings if we are to share his glory" as St Paul says (Rm 8,17-18) is the background here. We have seen that the saying in 9,1 forms an introduction to this scene.
The mountain is unnamed and for good reason. Mountains are important because they are the meeting place of heaven and earth. The Bible in both Testaments is full of mountains where God meets humans. Thus the high mountain of the Transfiguration allows us to think of many Biblical mountains but first and foremost will be Mount Sinai (which is known as Horeb in the tradition of Deuteronomy). (It so happens that Sinai is a very long way from Caesarea Philippi.)
This scene of the Transfiguration is clearly marked off from the everyday world. They go up the mountain (9,2) apart, by themselves (Mark's emphasis). We are told of the descent is at the beginning of verse 9.
There Jesus is transfigured, using the traditional term, transformed might be a better word. Mark compared to Matthew, Mt 17,24, is far more vivid in his description of this transformation or change in Jesus. We can recall the Apocalypse and victors clad in white garments (Apoc 7,9).
Elijah and Moses are now seen talking with Jesus. Just how we are not told nor how the disciples knew who they were (name tags someone once suggested). But that is not important, while the traditional view that Moses represents the Law and Elijah the prophets is also off-target. Moses too is called a prophet (Dt 18,8). In 8,28 we saw how "one of the prophets" echoes this verse in Deuteronomy. Thus I hinted there that both Elijah and Moses were part of the common understanding of Jesus just as they are present here. Both Elijah and Moses met and spoke with God on Mount Sinai or Horeb. Both went up to heaven in mysterious ways.
"Making booths" may suggest that Peter wanted to hang on to the experience, to give it a sense of permanence. His attitude would be that of divine awe.
The cloud as in the book of Exodus is a sign of the divine presence. Here we note that the voice comes from the cloud, Jesus says nothing to the disciples. Whereas at Jesus' baptism the voice spoke to Jesus himself "you" (1,11), here it speaks to the disciples and tells them to listen to Jesus. Once again, Ps 2,7 is invoked.
Verse 8 is therefore quite clear but distinctive to Mark. They looked around and saw only Jesus with themselves. Moses and Elijah have disappeared, their experience on Sinai-Horeb was old revelation. The new revelation present with them is Jesus and only Jesus. Matthew's version is more stark, focused entirely on Jesus.
Verse 8 is clear: "they saw no one but Jesus alone with themselves". To translate "they saw no one with them except Jesus" has the wrong emphasis, influenced perhaps by Matthew.
Mark's emphasis on the involvement of the disciples is also evident at the beginning, 9,2 though it is not easy to spot in translation.
This connects the experiences of Jesus with the disciples in a special way. What follows "on the way" indicates that the way of Jesus is also the way of the disciples.
Coming down the Mountain: 9,9-13
Jesus and the three disciples went up the mountain in verse 2 and they come down in verse 9. The experience of what happened at the top is thus clearly marked off. It could be suggested that Peter's wish to build three booths in verse 5 was an attempt to hold on to this one-off experience. It's back to real life though in verse 14.
Their first question on the way down is about the resurrection, initiated by Jesus himself. All that the disciples have experienced at Caesarea Philippi and on the mountain (8,27-9,8) will fall into place only after the resurrection. Premature revelation would lead to a false understanding of Jesus as Messiah.
The puzzlement of the disciples in verse 10 is unique to Mark. It is quite possible that they knew about the resurrection of the dead at the end of time as expressed in Dn 12,2-3. What will be new for them with the resurrection of Jesus is that it will take place within history.
Perhaps that puzzlement about the timetable for the end of time sparked their question about Elijah, whose return was predicted by the prophet Malachi (Mal 4,5-6). Elijah's role was already mentioned at Caesarea Philippi, 8,28.
The return of Elijah as expected by Malachi would be a call to judgement right at the end of time, just like Daniel's comments on the resurrection. Jesus by adding the Son of Man is correcting this, that there would be suffering for both Jesus Son of Man and John the Baptist the returning Elijah. These are events taking place within history. The end is not yet (13,35).
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