Jesus Transformed (Mark 9:2b-13)

[Stephan Choe]

February 17, 2025

Key Verses 2b-3:         “Jesus was transformed in front of them, and his clothes became bright and very white, like no bleach on earth could make them so white.”

Mark 9 is the last chapter in which Jesus teaches his disciples in Galilee. At the end of this chapter, Jesus will be traveling to Jerusalem, so this story is the last thing Jesus teaches his disciples before he goes to Jerusalem and dies.

Before Jesus goes to Jerusalem, he takes his three disciples up a high mountain and gives them a vision of his glorious resurrection to prepare them for the suffering he will undergo and the resurrection that will follow.

Through this story, we hope to come to know Jesus' amazing heavenly image and to believe in our own resurrection. This will enable us to overcome the difficulties in this world and prepare for our joyful pilgrimage to heaven. In doing so, we hope to be victors in our faith and bring glory to Jesus Christ.

Verse 2a says, “Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him up into a high mountain.”

The date “six days later” is from the day Jesus proclaimed his death on the cross and resurrection after Peter's profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Lord.

Mark's Gospel doesn't tell us why Jesus went up the mountain, but Luke 9:28 says, “Jesus went up the mountain to pray.” Jesus wanted to prepare for his death and resurrection through prayer. He took with him three disciples, Peter, James, and John. These three disciples were to learn how to pray from Jesus. Above all, they were to firmly believe in Jesus' ransom death and glorious resurrection. After Jesus' resurrection, they were to become pillars of the Christian community, proclaiming the good news of Jesus' ransom death and resurrection.

First and foremost, as Jesus' chief disciple, Peter had to know and preach clearly about Jesus' suffering and resurrection for our sins. According to Acts 4, as the leader of the Christian community, he bravely preached Jesus' resurrection in the face of persecution. And he would die a martyr in Rome.

James is said to have had no fear of physical death because of his belief in the resurrection, so much so that he became the first of the apostles to be martyred after Jesus' resurrection (Acts 12:1-2).

John became a witness to the resurrection for many years and would later describe the resurrection world in his account of Christ's revelation during his exile on the island of Patmos.

It is no coincidence that Jesus did not take all twelve disciples up the mountain, but only three, which is similar to the incident when Moses took Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu up Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:1,9). At that time, the glory of God covered Mount Sinai for six days, and on the seventh day, God called Moses (Exodus 24:15-16).

When Jesus went up the mountain with the three disciples, we know that Jesus' intention was to show them the glory of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven and to strengthen their faith in Jesus and the kingdom of heaven.

Verses 2b and 3 say, “And Jesus was transfigured before them, and his clothes became bright and very white, like no bleach on earth could make them so white.”

According to Luke, Jesus was transfigured while praying (Luke 9:28).

Matthew 17:2 describes Jesus' transfiguration as follows “And he was transfigured before his disciples, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.”

The fact that Jesus' clothes became white means that Jesus is sinless and holy. The fact that his face shone like the sun means that he bears the image of God. There is no need for the sun or moon in heaven because God's face, or Jesus' face, shines like the sun. So God's Word says in Philippians 2:6.7

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

The disciples had seen Jesus in human form before: He was lowly, poor, and friendly. If we only believed in this Jesus, we would be missing something important. We've read similar stories about poor, lowly, kind princes in many fairy tales. These stories are interesting, but these characters can't help us.

But Jesus showed the three disciples a picture of himself in heaven, which is his true form as the Son of God. He was already in this form before creation. But he emptied himself and came into the world in human form to take on the sins of all people and die on the cross as a sacrifice of atonement. But after he dies, he will be resurrected and take on his original form. At the end of this world, he will come again in this form to gather all of God's children and lead them to heaven. This Jesus will give every child of God the same form as himself.

Before he died, Jesus wanted to give his three disciples a glimpse of the glory of heaven so that they would firmly believe in him as the Son of God and have confidence in heaven.

We must believe in the glorious Jesus Christ and have confidence in his resurrection. And we must carry in our hearts not only the image of the humble and friendly Jesus, but also the image of the glorious Jesus. Carrying the glorious image of Jesus will always fill us with hope and joy, and we will be able to overcome all the difficulties and temptations of the world and be victorious. This is the confidence of every Christian. We live on this earth, but our home is in heaven, where Jesus Christ reigns.

There is a lot of injustice and sin in the world. That's why we experience a lot of ugly and cruel things in this world. That's why many people live in suffering, with images of this ugly world in their hearts. They want to escape this suffering, but they can't.

We can only be free from the ugly images of this world by having in our hearts the glorious image of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of all people and rose again to reign in His glorious form.

The Apostle Peter was very afraid when he had not yet received the glorious image of Jesus into his heart. That is why, on the night of Jesus' arrest, he denied Jesus three times in the face of death. But later, when he believed in Jesus' resurrection and received the glorious image of Jesus into his heart, he was filled with courage and hope. He wrote to the Christians scattered by persecution, saying,

“Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope, an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, in heavenly places, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3, 4).

And he said in 2 Peter 1:16-18

“For we have not made known unto you the power and advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to cunningly made stories; but we have seen his great majesty with our own eyes. For he was honored and glorified of God the Father, when out of the highest glory this voice came unto him, saying, <This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased>; and we heard this voice from heaven, when we were with him in the holy mountain.”

The apostle John was actually a short-tempered man when he did not receive the glorious image of Jesus Christ into his heart. He once wanted fire to come down from heaven and consume the town of Samaria when the inhabitants refused to accept Jesus and his disciples. But later, when he believed in Jesus' resurrection and received the glorious image of Jesus into his heart, he was freed from his anger and became an apostle of love. Although he was persecuted and exiled to the island of Patmos, he was filled with hope and wrote about the resurrection world in the book of Revelation.

Verse 4 says, “Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and he was talking with Jesus.”

Luke follows this up by saying, “And they were transfigured and spoke to him about his end, which he would fulfill in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31).

The word “end” here means both “end” and “completion.” So this prophecy means that Jesus would complete his mission by dying in the flesh.

God gave his laws through Moses, but people broke those laws and were punished for it. So God sent prophets like Elijah to urge them to repent. But they didn't repent. So God sent his son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice to atone for their sins. When Jesus prayed, God sent Moses and Elijah to encourage Jesus to die on the cross and rise from the dead. In doing so, Jesus would complete God's redemptive work.

Both prophets, Moses and Elijah, lived lives of suffering on earth to fulfill God's will. Moses suffered for 40 years because of the rebellious people and was nearly stoned to death.

Elijah suffered greatly from King Ahab's persecution and felt alone as he had to fight against the sins of the royal family and the people.

If we only looked at their earthly lives, we would feel great sympathy for their suffering, because they rarely had good times in their earthly lives, but this Bible text shows us that after they physically died, they lived in glory in heaven. The time of suffering on earth is but a short moment compared to the glorious eternal time in heaven.

That's why the Apostle Paul told us

“For I am convinced that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

How did Peter react when he saw Jesus' glory?

Verses 5-6 tell us Peter's response.

“Then Peter said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, this place is good for us. Let us build three tents, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for the Lord.

But he was confused and did not know what he was saying.”

But he said what he wanted in his heart. Peter didn't want to go back to the world of all problems and difficulties, he wanted to stay with Jesus in glory forever. He wanted to live in glory without a cross. He wanted to come to glory without suffering.

What was God's response to his proposal?

Verses 7 and 8 say “And a cloud came and overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my beloved Son; listen to him;' and they suddenly looked around, and saw no one with them except Jesus.”

God gave them an answer: Jesus is the Son of God; they should listen to him; they should believe in him as the Son of God and follow his words.

Jesus said that through his suffering, death, and resurrection, he would receive the glory of God. Jesus also said that his disciples must also receive the glory of the resurrection through the way of the cross. Therefore, through faith in the resurrection, they must endure the difficulties and hardships of this world with joy and victory.

Jesus Christ encourages us to endure all difficulties with joy and victory through faith in the resurrection.

I will never forget when my wife, Esther, went home to God. At the time, she was suffering greatly from stomach cancer.

In the hospital, Esther's condition gradually worsened. On the morning of Monday, December 9, 2019, the doctor suggested giving Esther a morphine injection to relieve her pain, but I told him that my two sons were coming in the evening and I would listen to their opinions first and give him an answer. So Esther did not receive the morphine injection on December 9, but only on the morning of December 10.

From Monday (December 9) to midnight on Tuesday (December 10), Esther fought a fierce spiritual and physical battle, and she won. In great pain, Esther asked God three times, “Why do I have to suffer like this?” Then Esther said, “Papa, Papa, Papa!” “Papa” was Esther's title for God. Then Esther said three times, “Forgive me!” She was asking God to forgive her because she had complained to God about her illness.

After saying this, Esther miraculously had a calm face and soon fell asleep. These were the last words I heard from Esther, and I stayed with her in the hospital room. From then on, Esther slept peacefully until she went to God at 4:00 p.m. on December 13th.

Because I could believe in her glorious resurrection to heaven, I was able to overcome all my grief and remain joyful, so I carved John 11:25 on her tombstone:

“I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”

As Jesus descended from the mountain, he commanded his three disciples not to tell anyone about their experience on the mountain until after his resurrection. He told them not to tell anyone about this event until after his resurrection so that people would not misunderstand his resurrection and have false expectations.

We should keep the glorious image of the risen Christ in our hearts and always have a living hope. Amen!