Mark 9:1-13 – Defining Moments
Today, as we continue through The Life of Jesus, we are looking at a passage of scripture that I have never preached on before. It’s the Transfiguration, and it’s mentioned in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9. Let’s read tonight from Mark 9:1-13.
This passage turned out to be a defining moment for Jesus and His disciples. To get a better picture of what happened on the Mount, let me harmonize the 3 accounts. Jesus took 3 of His disciples up on a high mountain to pray. Peter, James, and James’ brother John were the 3. They all had strong personalities, and all had vivid nicknames – The Rock, and the Sons of Thunder.
So the 4 of them went up to pray. While Jesus was praying, He changed. The word is transfigured – His whole appearance changed. The Greek word is metamorphosis, which is the same word we use in English to describe what a caterpillar does to become a butterfly. It’s a complete change. Jesus’ face changed and shone like the sun. Matthew says His clothes were as white as the light, Luke says they were as bright as lightning, and of course we read from Mark how they “became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.”
Then, Moses and Elijah appeared. They were 2 of the greatest servants of God from the OT. Moses was a great leader, and Elijah was a great prophet. Moses died just before his people entered the Promised Land, and God buried him, and Elijah never died at all, being taken to heaven in a fiery chariot.
Anyway, when Mo and Eli show up, they begin talking to Jesus. Luke says in 9:31 that, “they spoke about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the prophets, are talking to Jesus about how He was about to fulfill the both of them. He was about to become the standard and the means of holiness, and He’s about to become the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus is about to fulfill completely all that the two of them had tried to do throughout their whole lives. They were no doubt talking to Him as a superior and not as a peer.
Well, I don’t know how long this conversation lasted, but by and by it came to a close. As Mo and Eli were leaving, as Luke tells us, Peter pipes in: “Rabbi [Mt: Lord, Lk: Master], it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” This was such a party that Peter didn’t want it to end.
Well, while Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared. It wrapped around them, and from the cloud came a voice: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Matthew adds, “With Him I am well pleased.” Luke says that the speaker says He chose Jesus. At any rate, clearly God the Father was declaring to the disciples, and to Jesus for that matter, that Jesus was on the right track. God the Father approved of who Jesus was, what He was doing, and gave affirmation to Him.
This, I think, was a defining moment for Jesus, as I mentioned earlier. Jesus was entering a difficult time in His ministry. The crowds were thinning out. Just before this, John says that, “From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.” His teachings were getting harder to follow and accept. He was upping the requirements for following Him – or rather, expecting more and more from those who did. Expecting His followers to give more and more.
So to hear the Father’s words was a tremendous encouragement. I think that if we say, “Well, He was God – He knew He was right – what did He need encouragement for?”, then we are short-changing His humanity. If we think that He didn’t need to hear approval, just because He was divine, then we are minimizing His humanity in the process.
This was a defining moment for Him. It showed Him that He was doing well. It spurred Him on to keep being faithful to His mission. But as the story progresses, I think this becomes a defining moment for His disciples too. When the Father spoke, the disciples ended up on their hands and knees and faces in fear. The voice stopped, Jesus came over and touched them, as Matthew says, and told them not to be afraid. They raised their heads, looked around, and it was just the 4 of them again.
They all came down off the mountain, and Jesus told them not to tell anyone about all this yet. Not until after Jesus rose from the grave, anyway. Because, obviously, they were going to want to tell everybody about this. This was a big deal, and they weren’t going to want to keep it secret from the other disciples. Yet Jesus told them to be quiet about it.
Why? I think it goes back to the defining moment thing. This was a life-changing event, but only for those who were there. Peter, James and John would always remember, but it wouldn’t mean so much for the others. The 3 were to ponder it in their heart, and it would make sense later. They got a glimpse of who Jesus really was: approved by God, approved by OT heroes. Jesus was no ordinary charismatic leader. Jesus was the chosen One, the Messiah, the One of whom the OT spoke. He was worth following because He was God’s messenger.
I was thinking of defining moments in my own life. Those times that something makes perfect sense. Those times that God seems so real. Those times that the faith is almost more real than you can imagine. Those times that you can almost touch God’s presence. Those times that God’s word or God’s message is pointed directly at you, and you know it, and it feels good. It feels good, not because it’s necessarily a good message, but it feels good because it reminds you that this thing is real. It’s not just some story. It’s not just some old book written by men trying to control other people. It feels good because you know that it’s all real. Those are the defining moments I mean.
It may be when you were saved. It may be when you really gave your everything to Him. It may be when you were praying and God whispered to your heart. It may be when you were appreciating nature’s beauty and suddenly you had a “My God, how great Thou art” revelation. It may be that you were going through a hard time and something reminded you of how much God really does love you. It may be a verse that popped right off the pages of your Bible, a life verse, a verse you have hung your faith on many times over. It may be a sermon that kept you going when you were at a time in your life when you were plagues with doubts. It might be a song, a quote, a note, or a bookmark that has had a part in who you are today. These are defining moments.
The problem with defining moments is that they are only moments: they do not last. They are not meant to last. Peter wanted to build 3 shelters because he did not want that moment to end. He wanted it to keep going on. But it did not last.
In fact, Peter only wanted to build temporary shelters. He did not want to build a temple – the word was “tabernacles”. He wanted to build 3 tents, meant to be taken down, because… as much as he wanted the moment to last, he knew it wouldn’t. He wanted it to last as long as it could, but he knew at some point he would have to come down off the mountain.
Some people try to live on the mountain all the time. If they are not “feeling” it, then there’s something wrong with them or with God or with the faith. If there are no feelings, then they might as well give up. It’s what happens at summer camps for kids. It’s what happens at Bible camps for adults. It’s what happens in marriages. When the feeling fades, so does the commitment, and then it all just dies.
But defining moments are only meant to spur us. They are not meant to be lived in. Defining moments are instant flashes of truth and insight that will keep us going when we are walking in darkness, or least, when things are a lot less clear. Defining moments are like flashlight batteries: they give you light when things get dark.
That’s what the Transfiguration was for Jesus. He got the Father’s approval for the very dark times that lay ahead of Him. That’s what the Transfiguration was for the disciples, too. It gave them a glimpse into who Jesus really was, to help fuel their faith when things got tough.
And God gives you defining moments for the same reasons. That is, so that you can look back on times in your life when you knew that you knew that you knew that God was alive and in love with you. When you knew that He was in control of the events surrounding you. When you knew that you were forgiven and approved of by God. God will use those defining moments time and again if you will choose to remember them.
It’s no wonder why God told His people to set up memorial stones: because they were likely to forget what He had done for them. Time and again He told His people to remember what He had done and who He was. And we forget too. We forget His blessings towards us. We forget His benefits, mostly eternal but not all, towards those who love Him and trust Him. We forget that we have been forgiven, because we sure act a lot like the sinners we used to be. We forget the answered prayers over the years. We forget the insight He gives us into His word when we just read it. We forget that if He could change our lives around, then He can change others’ too. We forget all that He has done for us – His life, His death, His resurrection.
So today I call you to remember. Remember those times in your lives when you knew God was speaking to you. Maybe during prayer, maybe during Bible reading, maybe during communion. I encourage you to look back at what was going on in your life at the time and what that moment meant to you. Remember how you felt, before and after. Now look back and see that God has been faithful ever since. Remembering these things will help keep you going in the days that lie ahead. Whether God’s plans for you involve pain or pleasure, heartache or joy, remember defining moments from the past and be encouraged to keep living for Him in the future.
