[1] "And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
[2] "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. [3] His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. [4] And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
[5] 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.” [6] (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
[7] Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
[8] Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
[9] 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. [10] They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
[11] And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
[12] Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? [13] But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
The first thing that grabbed my attention this morning was Peter interrupting Jesus, Moses and Elijah's conversation. I mean, really? Here they are experiencing something completely super-natural, and Peter can't keep his mouth shut! I find it funny that Mark adds the note about him not knowing what to say because they were so frightened, by way of explanation. Peter clearly had an issue with opening his mouth and saying things without thinking them through. I wish that didn't feel so familiar!
I believe in his heart he was probably thinking, "this is awesome, I want to make sure that we don't have to leave for a long time, because Moses was up on the mountain for like 40 days." He was trying to be a good servant and think about Jesus, Moses and Elijah's needs, notice he only mentioned three tents. However, he was totally missing the main event. I think sometimes I am too much like Peter. I might be in a very solemn, Holy Spirit empowered moment, and I am thinking about next steps, or what needs to be said, etc. I often miss the quiet voice of the Lord in those moments, because my own thoughts are so loud. I need to learn to quiet my thoughts and just listen.
Secondly, I found verse ten interesting. I might be reading into it a bit, but Mark records that the main thing they were talking about among themselves (Peter, James and John) was what Jesus meant when He said they couldn't mention this until the "Son of Man had risen from the dead". They were trying to figure out what rising from the dead meant. I think that is quite clear to us now, but at the time, they had no idea that Jesus was going to be crucified and die! They were all making plans to help Him rule when He established God's kingdom on earth! In fact, after that experience, they probably figured they were shoe-ins for the role of Jesus' trusted advisors. Despite the numerous times Jesus mentioned His impeding death, the Apostles just never understood what He was talking about, and I am sure that was part of the discussion here. Clearly Jesus was the "Son of Man", and any mention of Him dying must have made their minds go "Tilt!"
I find that there are certain verses that I just don't want to read or hear proclaimed, things that I would rather weren't in the Bible. I take the approach of Billy Crystal in "The Princess Bride" plugging my ears and telling everyone, "I'm not listening!" I think that is a bit of what was happening with the Apostles here, any mention by Jesus of His death, was just politely (or not) ignored! It didn't fit their own narrative for the way things were going to work out, and so they just refused to listen. In Mark's Gospel, over the next few chapters, Jesus repeatedly speaks about His death, and every time they "don't understand".
Here is a great example - Jesus is speaking of His death a third time, and check out James' and John's request immediately after Jesus finishes telling them He is going to die - Mark 10:32-37 NIV:
[32] "They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. [33] “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, [34] who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
[35] Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
[36] “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
[37] They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
Yep, it seems they totally missed or politely ignored everything Jesus just told them! They jumped from "We are going up to Jerusalem" to thinking about Jesus being enthroned in Glory, as the Messiah and King, and them sitting by His side! They apparently completely missed all Jesus' commentary about Him being beaten, spit on and killed. To be fair, its hard to understand things when you don't have a paradigm for understanding! I can hear someone talking about meta-physics and it sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher, "wak-a-wak-a-wak-a-wakka." I have no understanding of the principals they are using and discussing and thus, it is lost on me. When we read about Jesus talking about His impending death, we have the correct historical understanding, but they were not so lucky.
So this morning I am encouraged to stop my loud thoughts, and try to listen when I am hearing from the Lord, or in the midst of one of those seasons of visitation. I don't want to miss what He is saying! I am also encouraged to ask for understanding, for enlightenment, so that I don't miss what the Lord is saying, and what He means. I know that I will never fully grasp the perfection of His words, but I can certainly do better than I am presently doing! Finally, I am encouraged to look back at my life and see those things that I didn't want to hear, the things that I was trying to block out by telling Him I'm not listening! I want to hear and respond correctly, and trying to ignore His word isn't that!
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