In our study of Mark last time we concluded our study of Mark 8:38; where Jesus stated:
Mark 8:38; "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
In our study of shame we saw that our choices regarding the ministry of God the Holy Spirit determine weather we will have shame from the production of human good or reward from the production of divine good in the glory of our resurrection body at our evaluation.
Mark 9:1; Jesus kept saying to them (imperfect active indicative of the Greek word "lego")"in truth" the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word "amen" and idiom that refers to a statement of truth.
I say unto you, there be some (Peter, James and John) standing here (with the Lord Jesus Christ), who shall not taste death (experience physical death) until they see the kingdom of God come with power. Net note 4
He is saying that there are people standing there who are not going to die physically before they see this because Jesus Christ is going to show His glory to them. Peter, James and John, are going to see a preview of the second advent.
Mark 9:2;"After six days" (the lapse of time before the prophecy is fulfilled) "Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, into an high mountain by themselves and he was transformed in front of them.
The word translated "transfigured" is the Greek word "metamorphoo" that means to be changed or transformed. In this case His visage was changed so he looked like He will look in His resurrection body in the second advent.
Mark 9:3; and his clothes became radiantly bright white, more than any launderer in the world could bleach them.
The Greek word translated "radiantly" is "stilbo" that means to glisten or shine so he was shining bright white like the sun.
Mark 9:4; and they saw Elijah and Moses who were speaking together to Jesus.
Moses and Elijah are the heralds of the second advent of Jesus Christ. They are the two witnesses described in Rev 11:3-12; they will be resuscitated to function as witnesses of Jesus return during the tribulation and they will receive their resurrection bodies at the second advent of Jesus along with the other Old Testament saints.
Mark 9:5; And Peter says to Jesus, Teacher it is good for us to be here. Might we make three tabernacles one for you one for Moses and one for Elijah. Net note 10
The words translated " let us make" in the NASB and KJB is more accurately translated "might we make" because it is the aorist active subjunctive of the Greek word "poieo." The subjunctive mood indicates that Peter is asking Jesus for permission to build them.
The Greek word "kalon" that is translated "good" does not refer to human or divine good, it simply means to be free from defects. So he is actually saying, "Things are very nice up here."
The idea is that the environment was so wonderful that Peter wants to stay there. The environment is excellent, here is Moses and Elijah and the Lord and the two other disciples, and it is just a nice situation all the way around.
As far as Peter was concerned he was in good company and what he wants to do is to perpetuate this good environment. However, the one thing that Peter has forgotten is that pleasant circumstances do not perpetuate happiness only doctrine makes happiness.
Believers who have doctrine can enjoy pleasant circumstances but they can also have happiness in adversity. What Peter is really saying is, Lord let's just stay here and forget all about all that mess down in the valley.
Like many believers today, Peter wants to perpetuate a superficial mountaintop experience instead of carrying his mountaintop along with him everywhere he goes through a doctrinal frame of reference and doctrinal application.
What Peter is saying is that happiness is a pleasant set of circumstances, and what the Lord is going to say to him is happiness is what you think. If you carry doctrine around in your thinking you are going to be happy but if you depend upon pleasant circumstances for happiness you will not find happiness.
Happiness is created and perpetuated on the inside by the application of Bible doctrine. Happiness cannot be created or perpetuated by improving our environment.
Mark 9:6; The wording in the Greek is "He (Peter) did not know what He (Jesus) answered so they (the disciples) became very fearful."
Most translations don't translate this verse very well implying that Peter didn't know what to say. That makes no sense because Peter had just asked Jesus about building three tabernacles.
When you unwind the pronouns in the original we see that Jesus probably didn't answer Peter so they all became afraid and for good reason. Peter should have just kept his mouth shut because he had no frame of reference to say anything. The YLT gets it best.
The parallel passage in Matt 17:5; states that Peter's comment was cut off by what occurred next and that is what caused the disciples to become afraid.
Mark 9:7;"a bright cloud formed and surrounded them: and a voice out of the cloud said this is (this keeps on being) my beloved Son, listen to him (keep on listening to him)." It was not time for Peter to be speaking it was time for him to be listening.
Again the parallel passage adds some additional detail. Matt 17:6-7;
Mark 9:8; "And suddenly they looked around for themselves and saw that Jesus was alone with them." Notice they didn't get up they just looked up and they saw that they were alone with Jesus.
That was a lesson. What Jesus Christ has to say is important, and if you are going to learn it then you had better be quiet and get your eyes on Him and Him alone and listen.
One of the reasons some people never learn doctrine is because they always have their eyes on people and people disillusion them. Our focus has to be on Jesus Christ alone. Heb 12:2;
Mark 9:9; "And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead
It was a very long time after the resurrection before Peter wrote about it, but he finally decided he could write about this when he knew that he was dying
2Peter 1:16; "For we have not followed cleverly concocted fables (myths), when we made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses to his majesty." Peter is referring to the mount of transfiguration.
v17 "For he received from (from the immediate source of) God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the Majestic Glory (referring to God's essence), This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" a quotation from the event where Peter James and John saw Jesus transfigured and heard the voice of God the Father.
2Pet 1:18; "And we heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him (Jesus Christ) in the holy mountain."
v19 "We also have a more sure word of prophecy." "We have" is present linear (we keep on having), we have it in the Word of God, we have it in Bible doctrine; "more sure" is literally, more reliable, more real or more certain.
What is more reliable than seeing it with your eyes and hearing it with your ears? What you have written in the Word of God today, the Word of God which lives and abides forever is more real than seeing it with your eyes and hearing it with your ears. Faith is more certain than empiricism.
Jesus didn't teach the whole realm of doctrine. We have more than Jesus taught in three years recorded in God's Word and we can read it.
"which you do well to pay attention (as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the day star arises in your hearts." To pay attention to in your hearts means to learn it and recall it. You do well to learn doctrine because it is more reliable than anything you will see with your eyes and hear with your ears.
The transfiguration represented the Lord Jesus Christ in His second advent. Peter saw it; Peter heard it; but what he saw and what he heard is not as reliable as what is contained in the written Word of God.
v20 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture (about the second advent) originates from one's own explanation" In other words, we didn't dream this up.
v21 "For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." The Bible is more reliable because it is God's Word.
When you have doctrine in your thinking whatever you see or hear in life, whatever you are able to discern whether it is God's plan, whether it is Satanic, or man's imagination or devices. Whatever it happens to be you can sort it out. 1Cor 2:14:
Peter is saying he has learned the lesson of the mount of transfiguration. Doctrine was here before he came; doctrine will be here after he dies. The Word of God lives and abides forever. Mark 13:31;
Mark 9:10;They kept the saying to themselves as Jesus had commanded, but disputed among themselves what this rising from the dead meant.
This time they notice His reference to rising from the dead that they had missed when he mentioned it previously in Mark 8:31;
Mark 9:11; His disciples asked him, saying, Why do the scribes that Elijah must come first?"
This is a doctrinal question. They are confused because the scribes appear to teaching one thing and Jesus is teaching something else from the mount of transfiguration.
Why Jesus Christ came to the world before Elijah is what they can't understand. On the mount of transfiguration Elijah came after Jesus had been on the earth. Malachi 4:5,6; makes it very clear that Elijah was to come before Christ.
The scribes have been teaching this. But now they have seen from the mount of transfiguration that instead of Elijah coming first Christ came first and they don't understand. So Jesus immediately explains it.
Mark 9:12; "And He said to them." "Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things." And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised.
What He is explaining is that there are two advents not just one, and in each advent Jesus Christ is the King. His herald precedes the King.
He then goes on amplify this and show them that for the first advent John the Baptzer is the herald and for the Second Advent the heralds are Elijah and Moses. Elijah and Moses are going to come at the proper time.
The theology the scribes were teaching was not biblically oriented because they only taught about one advent. They were further disoriented in their theology by the fact that the last two verses in the Old Testament talk about Elijah coming.
Elijah does not personally come first. He will be the herald for the second advent but his counterpart is for the first advent was John the Baptizer.
At the first advent the King will suffer many things, be despised, and rejected. He is indicating that the Jews will team up with the Romans to put Jesus on the cross and the basis for doing so will be their emotion.
Emotions as a slave are wonderful; but emotions as your master distort everything in life and lead to misery and suffering. When emotion teams up with religion it becomes a monster. It is the monster of religious emotionalism that destroys not only Jesus Christ also destroyed His herald, John the Baptizer.
Mark 9:13; "But I say unto you, That Elijah is come already and they did whatever they wanted to him just as it is written about him." In this case is John the Baptizer was Elijah.
Remember Herodias hated John the Baptizer because he had told Herod that it was not lawful for Him to have her because she was his brother's wife. Mark 6:17-28;
She got so emotionally upset that she had him killed. This is what happens when emotions get out of control. Emotions should be your slave and not your master. The same thing will happen to Jesus when the mob demands His crucifixion. Mark 15:12-15;
Mark 9:14; When they (Jesus, Peter James and John) came down the mountain to the other disciples (who they had left at the bottom of the mountain) they saw a large crowd around them and the scribes arguing with them