It's all happening
- echo Hunch 60
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.
In a Nutshell
Again, Peter was stopped in his tracks. Now was the time to learn to listen, mouth shut, ears open
Questions
Think about the fact that Mark's gospel is also Peter's story.
Peter was eager to help. His fishing business had helped Jesus set up His school on Lake Galilee. Now, he thought he could make some kind of shelter for Jesus. A creative idea. But Peter was too eager to speak and needed to be reminded to listen. He was checked again, only this time it was a voice from heaven which James and John also heard. It echo'ed in their memories for the rest of their lives. Later Peter wrote
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we passed on to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when he received honour and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my belovéd Son, with whom I am well pleased" we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the mountain. And we have the prophetic word made sure … (2 Peter 1:16-19)
When Moses received the law, he went up the mountain on his own. When these disciples of Jesus heard the voice of Jesus' Father on the mountain, they shared a vision of Jesus meeting with Elijah and Moses. These were Jesus' three closest friends. This was something new and something big. It would change the way they heard God's word. It changed forever the way God's word is taught. After Jesus completed what His Father sent Him to do, it became possible for Peter to say to all who believe :
But you are a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, God's own people, who declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were no people but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).
We smile now. But Peter was then put in his place; the voice from Heaven stopped his chatter. Remember, before this Peter had wanted to tell Jesus off. But now, it almost sounds as if Jesus' Heavenly Father had had enough of Peter's interruptions. This is how Peter came to realise that all who listen to Jesus will be cared for by Jesus' Heavenly Father. And not just Moses, or Elijah, and not just Jesus, Peter, James and John. But all of us, sons and daughters of Our Father in Heaven. It was Almighty God who interrupted Peter. His voice echoed in Peter's ears for the rest of his life This is my belovéd Son; listen to Him! And then Jesus again told these three again about the way the Son of Man would be treated. It would be similar to the treatment meted out to Elijah. Only unlike Elijah this One would not be taken by a heavenly chariot. He had to die a lonely and gruesome death. The time would come to tell the others about this experience but only after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And what was Peter thinking?
Think
again Peter! Are you listening?
Peter, James and John did not realise that this Son of Man Jesus taught about was also the Messiah. The Herodians may have made that connection, but they had closed their ears to Jesus' teaching about the Son of Man as servant. That was crucial. The Messiah was sent as God's servant; God's suffering servant. That was the teaching Jesus' disciples could not get. Jesus knew they had to learn this truth from His own lips. Without that their ideas and schemes could only cause havoc. When Jesus was raised from the dead it helped them understand this experience on the mountain like nothing else could.
Here on the mountain the three saw Jesus with Moses and Elijah - a dream was dreamt together, a seed was sown by which they could see how God, through this Rabbi, was bringing the whole of Israel's history to its true climax. The exodus from Egypt when the people lived in tents would now be commemorated in a new way. Peter was surely onto something. Later, after Jesus' ascension, he put it in these terms:
Belovéd, I beseech you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul ….(1 Peter 2:11)
So Mark tells us about Peter's education, his learning curve. It was then that Jesus commanded them to wait until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Then they could teach the others what this time on the mountain meant. Jesus' heavenly glory is freely available to all who simply thank God for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus also stops us taking off before we are ready. We learn patience, and we become teachable.