Context No. 3736 of 4322 · Mark

Mark 9:12-16: in context

12He said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised? 13But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to, even as it is written about him.” 14Coming to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and scribes questioning them. 15Immediately all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, greeted him. 16He asked the scribes, “What are you asking them?”

Coming down from the mountain of transfiguration, Jesus speaks of a mystery: yes, Elijah comes first to restore all things, and yet it is written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt. Jesus holds together two truths that seemed to clash: the expectation of restoration, and the necessity of the Messiah's suffering.

And he identifies John the Baptist as the promised Elijah, saying they did to him whatever they pleased. What stands out is Jesus' insistence that the Son of Man must suffer. The way to glory ran through the cross; the Messiah's mission was not to avoid suffering but to embrace it for our salvation. This was hard for the disciples, who wanted a triumphant Messiah, to accept. But Jesus keeps setting his suffering before them, that they might come to understand. The Christ who is transfigured in glory is the same Christ who must be despised and suffer; the two belong together in God's plan of redemption.

Do I accept the Christ who suffered as well as the Christ who is glorified, understanding that his path to glory ran through the cross, for my sake?

Sources

Mark 9:12: "How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised?"
Mark 9:13: "I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to."
Luke 24:26: "Didn't the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?"