That voice booms again

As we have move closer to Lent, the readings for this Sunday seems to jump a tadge, from Mark 1:29-39 to suddenly Mark 9:2-9. We have gone from the healing of Simon’s Mum-in-Law to climbing a hill and meeting God. What happens then? that voice booms again!

Recall some weeks ago when Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan. There was John baptising all whom would come out of the cities and towns and meet with him at the River. Then Jesus arrives and he is reluctantly baptised – you can find out why here.

There, that voice booms again down saying “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased“.

Mark 1:11 NRSV

Complicated Words

Now we move to the transfiguration, which may have lost a number of folk immediately. One person suggested that it was:

“An occasion of wonder and awe over the revelation of the person of God in Jesus Christ”

Brueggemann, Walter (ed)., “Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV, Vol. 2: Year B“, p 172 – alternative book sellers also exist…

I think it may need some additional clarity for me to understand this. Here’s a contemporary version.

Context

Peter has just been told, in the sternest terms, that he has misinterpreted the situation. Whereas Peter keeps seeing everything in human ways, Jesus is trying …yes that’s the correct word…trying to get his disciples to view things as God sees. That hymn ‘Be Thou My Vision‘ seems to ring true here. We are told to take up their cross – not a physical one, but one where we reject violence and seek God’s choice of forgiveness, reconciliation and love in community.

The inner circle of disciples, that is Peter, James and John, are led up a mountain by Jesus. Is this Mount Sinai, referenced in Exodus 24:15?

These three are also those who join Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane. Seems odd that the proto-disciple, Andrew, the first one to be called, isn’t there. Jesus is, seemingly albeit this is Mark’s Gospel, instantly dressed in white garments. Everything is changed it would seem; hence, he is transfigured. This is a transfer of clothing, giving up of the old.

We are told that Elijah appears along with Moses – it is like a timeline back to the start. Is this a critical moment in time, the beginning of the end? or the end of the beginning? Elijah (1 Kings 19:11) goes up a mountain to escape the authorities. Moses has to ascent the mountain as the original message from God has been rejected (Exodus 33:18).

Peter, industrious as he is, starts to plan for some booths (or tents, for the light was also intense!) to be built – that would suit Moses and Elijah down to the ground! But I can see Jesus shaking his head, “It’s ok Peter” he might whisper.

We are told that Peter was terrified. OK hands up…who of us wouldn’t be the same?

Showing Fear

But amongst all of the emotions we humans are capable of, is fear not an acceptable one? It isn’t a problem to be fearful, just a normal attribute. Just as the disciples showed fear in the boat with Jesus when the storm approached? How we act then is the key, for it is how we act not react which is important.

Being Faithful

Peter wants these abodes to be built as he is starting to glean that he needs to follow Jesus, remain with Jesus. However, if we take a look back to Mark 8: 27-30, we can see that Peter has only just considered this question of importance. When Jesus asks of the disciples “Who do you say that I am?“, they respond “John the Baptist and others, Elijah…one of the prophets“. It’s like they are scrambling around trying to find the right answer. Peter says “You are the Messiah“. The political one or a divine one? Here Peter has changed his tune…he calls Jesus Rabbi (Mark 9:5)

Has Peter actually grasped the point of Jesus? He now wants to emulate the Feast of the Tabernacles, or Booths or Sukkot.

Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD. . . . You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

Leviticus 23:34, 42-43

Sukkot is first mentioned in Genesis 33:17 when “Jacob journeyed to Sukkot and built a house for himself, and for his livestock he made booths. That is the reason that place is called Sukkot.” Recall that James is also known as Jacob. It is a time when Jews would remember what God had done to take them from slavery and provide for them whilst they were in the wilderness. Peter and crowd were now up a mountain – it seemed the right thing to do.

Faulty Timing

I had one of those watches which needed constant shaking to see it wound up. Overnight, it was always a few minutes slow. Peter may have had one of those watches perhaps. Elijah and Moses had served God and the people well – now Jesus was bringing the people into a new Kin_dom here on Earth, God’s Kin_dom. Jesus still needed to complete that work by going to the Cross. But Jesus wasn’t a Rabbi, hence…

That voice booms again!

And on cue – with a proper watch – “This is my beloved Son, listen to him“

This isn’t a new commandment, as with Moses, or a still small voice, as with Elijah, but a loud rebuke from God. There’s that additional ‘listen to him’.
Do we?

And then they were alone once again. Jesus quietly says that they shouldn’t mention this to anyone. It isn’t a secret as we would presume. Nor is it a marketing ploy to maintain his current popularity. This is about the underlying message, which Mark is trying to portray in this Gospel. If we had to explain about nuclear fundamental particles we might want to understand it first. Here the disciples are confused about the dead shall arise (Mark 9:10).

Final Thoughts

Jesus was fully human, as shown by his continuing to heal people and teaching about God’s Kin_dom – rather than the hierarchy of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus was also fully divine, highlighted through this scene. God’s power is shown through the linkage between Moses through Elijah to Jesus, through that booming voice.

Just as Jesus was baptised, where that voice was heard, this sign of Jesus’s divinity is also marked by that booming voice. Jesus was always both fully human and divine – this is a sign to remind us that it always was so.

So the Transfiguration is Jesus now seen as not only the Son of Man, but the Son of God.

What are your thoughts?