Mark 9:2-13 - Hail to the Chief
- Joe Steenholdt
- 38 minutes ago
- 4 min read
God doesn't speak from Heaven often, but when He does, He tells you to listen to Jesus.
Gospels: Week 6 - Confession, offense, glory, and resurrection power
Mark 9:2–13 (NASB95)
2 Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; 3 and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.
7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” 8 All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. 10 They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. 11 They asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12 And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 “But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”
Heidelberg Catechism
Q. Why is he called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”?
A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father
and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit
to be:
our chief prophet and teacher
who perfectly reveals to us
the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance...
Summary
Today's Summary and Dig Deeper are reposted from March 21, 2023.
Jesus’ earthly life is usually described as His time of humiliation until His resurrection and ascension to heaven, which is then His exaltation. The transfiguration was a unique moment when a few of Jesus’ disciples glimpsed His divine glory. It is also a confirmation of His office as the chief prophet of God.
Mark mentions in verse 2 that after six days, the transfiguration occurred. Six days prior, Jesus was with His disciples in Caesarea Philippi, and Peter had testified that Jesus is the Christ (Mark 8:29). Then, on this mountain, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus speaking with two prominent Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah.
Plus, Jesus radiates such a pure light, reminiscent of Moses’ encounter with meeting the Lord on the mountain. It's recorded in Exodus that “When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him (34:30).” Next, a cloud overshadowed them, just like the pillar cloud would descend over the tabernacle in the Israelites’ time in the wilderness to show God’s presence.
All these elements on the mountain point to the fulfillment of Jesus as the Messiah. The voice in the cloud confirms He speaks for God, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” This is divine approval that Jesus, the Son of God, would declare the Word of God to His people, fulfilling His office as a prophet.
At the close of this event, the other prophets disappear, and only Jesus is in front of them. Jesus was not only a prophet but the chief prophet and the one the other prophets prophesied of and pointed to (cf. Deuteronomy 18:15; Malachi 4:5).
Dig Deeper
Jesus would confirm His prophetic message throughout His ministry by performing miracles, making predictions of things to come, and preaching and teaching with authority. Jesus did not just quote Scripture but was an embodiment of it and fulfillment before their eyes. As He states within the sermon of the mount in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
The way Jesus spoke was different from an ordinary teacher or prophet. Taken at His Word, He cannot merely be another prophet in a line of religious prophets or a great moral teacher. Even today, the Father’s voice calls us to listen to what Jesus says throughout Scripture. As Heidelberg Catechism QA31 notes, He perfectly reveals God’s secret counsel and will for our deliverance to us. He shows us the power of God to save: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).”
The plan to rescue His people was made visible and fulfilled through the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the prophet representing God to His people and God for His people.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Jesus is our chief prophet and teacher, the Word who became flesh who revealed the glory of God full of grace and truth (John 1:14)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Jesus, as a prophet, spoke words of warning and promise. Pray that you'll listen to Him in whatever He tells you in His Word;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
