Scripture Daily

Context No. 2057 of 4322 · Mark

Context · Reflection

Mark 9:1-6: in context

1He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste death until they see God’s Kingdom come with power.” 2After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. 3His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus. 5Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain by themselves, and there he is transfigured before them. His clothing becomes dazzling white, whiter than any launderer could make it; Moses and Elijah appear and speak with him. For a moment, the disciples see through the ordinary appearance of their teacher to a glory usually hidden. Peter, overwhelmed and not knowing what to say, blurts out, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tents. They were seeing a glimpse of Christ's glory, and it was good simply to be there.

This mountain moment was a glimpse of glory, given at a particular time and for a purpose. Jesus was setting his face toward Jerusalem and the cross; hard days lay ahead for him and for his disciples. And here, before that road, they are given a glimpse of his hidden glory, a moment when the veil is drawn back and they see who he truly is, dazzling and unmistakable. It was good, as Peter said, to be there; a moment of glory to strengthen them for what lay ahead. God gives such glimpses, mountaintop moments, not as ends in themselves but to sustain his people for the valleys and crosses that follow. There is something here about the glimpses of glory God grants us. Most of the life of faith is lived in the ordinary, and much of it in the valley, in hardship, in the shadow of crosses we must carry. But God gives, at times, moments on the mountain: seasons of unusual nearness, glimpses of his glory, times when it is simply good to be in his presence and we would gladly stay. These are gifts, given not to be clung to but to strengthen us for the road ahead. Peter wanted to build tents and remain; but they could not stay on the mountain, for the valley and the cross awaited, and the glimpse of glory was given to sustain them through it. The disciples would remember this mountain; and later Peter would write, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty, the memory of that glory strengthening him through his own hard road. This teaches us how to receive such moments. When God grants a glimpse of his glory, a season of nearness, a time when it is good to be in his presence, we receive it with gratitude as a gift to strengthen us, not clinging to it as though we could stay on the mountain forever, but carrying it down into the valley and the ordinary and the cross. The glimpse of glory is given to sustain us for the road ahead. And beholding the glory of the Lord, Paul says, we are transformed into the same image. God unveils his glory to strengthen and to change us; and the mountaintop moments, received rightly, are provisions for the valley, glimpses of the glory that awaits, given to carry us through the hard road until we see it fully at last.

When God grants me a glimpse of his glory, a season of unusual nearness when it is simply good to be in his presence, do I try to cling to it and remain on the mountain, or can I receive it as the disciples were given the Transfiguration, a gift to strengthen me for the valley and the cross ahead, carrying the memory of that glory down into the ordinary and hard road, sustained by it until I see his glory fully at last?

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