Mark - Chapter 9
9:1-13
The Kingdom of God and the Transfiguration:
The Jesus we meet in Mark, for all of His power of miracles, remains intensely human. He feels pity, anger, hunger, and weariness. Even in a miracle scene such as walking on the water, He shows a human concern for the disciples who are rowing in the wind. In the transfiguration Jesus expresses no emotion, takes no action, and on this mountain speaks no words to His chosen inner circle of disciples until after the vision ends. He appears in glory in a passive revealing of His inner nature to the small innermost group.
What are we who want to be disciples now to make of this vision?
The first half of the text shows an experience of transformation and the second half reflects on its meaning. We see that in the first portion of the vision Jesus is seen with two of the early most powerful men of God's choosing, Moses and Elijah. In the last portion of the vision Jesus is seen alone, reflecting that in Him alone will be found true glory. (Why these two? Matthew 22:35-40).
The first portion is filled with clues for us to gain some understanding of meaning. The high mountain is a place nearer to heaven, from which comes all revelation. The cloud is a symbol of the divine presence, (as in Exodus 13 & 19 & 33 and Numbers 9). The voice from the cloud is of God, (as in Exodus 24 & 25). The brightness of the garments of Jesus reflects back to the brightness of the glory of God (called the Shekinah glory) as seen in the cloud that guided the Hebrews daily and became a pillar of fire to brighten their nights. That same radiance was seen in the face of Moses when he returned from his own mountain meeting with the Lord on Sinai (as seen in Exodus 34). The “listen to him” language from above hints to the Lord speaking directly to Elijah in the still small voice of instruction (as in 1st Kings 19).
Two themes of Mark are seen here. The command to silence (verse 9) once more brings out the Messianic Secret theme all through this gospel. Only here, a time limit is set, “... until the Son of man shall have risen from the dead...”. This detail offers us finally the reason for the secret to be kept. There is no way to rightly understand who Jesus is until one has seen Him suffer, die, and rise again.
The transfiguration of Jesus in view of His death and resurrection should enable us to accept the path of suffering as the way of true glory. Here also we are given the words of Jesus as He and His three followers return the truth that the prophecy of the return of Elijah (as seen in Malachi 4) is fulfilled in the appearance of John the Baptist (as explained in Matthew 17). This vision is the visual proof to these chosen three (and to us) that all things are made full by the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
9:14-29
The Boy the Disciples Could Not Heal:
This story about a boy who suffers from seizures caused by an unclean spirit appears in each of the first three gospels. It speaks of powerless disciples and suggests two channels for tapping into the power of God. In each of the first three gospels this story immediately follows the story of the transfiguration., The glory of the Master is in contrast to the lack of power and faith of His chosen followers. In healing the boy, Jesus rebukes not only the unclean spirit (verse 25) but also the disciples who should have been able to bring the cure but clearly could not (verses 19 & 28). Here Jesus offers His words on the cause and the cure of powerlessness.
In verse 14 it is clear that while Jesus and three disciples were on the mountain, the scribes had been arguing with the remaining disciples about their inability to heal this boy. The disciples are being made to look very bad in the eyes of the crowd. The miracle needed is an exorcism and the boy's affliction seems to be a deaf and dumb spirit. The symptoms described here seem close to what we now call epilepsy. But there is a spirit involved and we see in verse 25 that it is subject to the power of Jesus.
Two stories are seen here. One in verses 14-19 contrast the faithlessness and impotence of the disciples to the power and authority of the Lord. The other one shows the compassion of the response of Jesus even to the unbelieving faith of the boy's father. This story is about faith and lack of faith. By accusing His own disciples of faithlessness, Jesus indicates the cause of it. He says the failure to heal is because of their unbelief. He contrasts the father's attitude, which while imperfect is subject to growth. The doubt of the father is seen in his first words to Jesus of “...if you can...”. The reply of the Lord is powerful and strong, and He teaches the father that “... all things are possible to him who believes...”. This is a direct challenge to the father's lack of faith.
First, these words include the faith of Jesus because He firmly believes in the power of God to heal the boy, and because of that the healing is possible and the father is invited to believe that this is so. Second, these words allow the father's potential for growing faith to be shown. Third, the words of Jesus carry the father's heart to more general faith as Jesus does not mention faith only in this healing alone. Nowhere in Mark does Jesus explicitly invite faith in Himself. Yet here, the appeal to believe in Him is here implicitly stated.
The father's reply gives us insight into the nature of faith: “I believe, help my unbelief”. The statement is not actually contradictory. He has shown initial faithful hope in bringing the boy to Jesus and has made a desperate plea for help in verse 22, yet also brings his doubt forward by his words, “if you can”. He shows both unbelief and faith in one conversation and here is the lesson for us. He asks for help for his tormented son as well as for his own feeble faith. Jesus answers the plea by healing the boy and giving both kinds of help requested.
The body of the story is about faith but the conclusion is about prayer. Prayer in Mark is not a manipulation of God to get our way but is a communing with God to submit our will to His. Jesus also teaches that fasting is a helpful doorway to overcome our own lack of faith and power.
9:30-50
Prediction:
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
This is the last scene in Galilee according to Mark. Galilee as mentioned here is a symbol for the place from which Jesus calls people to follow Him (as seen in 1:16-20) and the place to which He asks them to meet Him after he arose (14:28 & 16:7). His prediction here in these verses is wide ranging as to what must happen in the later days of the earthly life of the Lord. The disciples did not understand the words of Jesus about death and resurrection and they were afraid to ask Him to explain. This must truly have been a hard teaching to grasp for it seemed contrary to all they hoped for their ministry.
Rather than the disciples asking Jesus for an explanation, He asks them what they have been discussing among themselves as they followed Him. The group is struck with embarrassment for they recognize the distance between their desire for greatness and the teaching of Jesus of denial of self. They have been talking about who among them is the greatest and in this moment their following of Jesus is outward only. The Lord's idea of greatness is far different from theirs. He uses an acted out parable of a child among them to make His point.
Now John interrupts the teaching to mention a man who is casting out devils in the name of Jesus but who is not a member of their group. Jesus commands that they not forbid the work and the point here seems to be that the issue is not that the man was not following Jesus but that he was not following the twelve. The teaching is that true followers do not have to belong to some special group to act properly in His name.
Jesus now warns of becoming a cause of sin to others. The language is harsh as he teaches about hands and feet and eyes any of which can be indicators of sin and must be removed. “Cut it off” is not a command to be taken literally but to be taken seriously. The value of entering the kingdom of God makes every other value expendable. Disciples whose lives are not examples of lowly service or by caring and love for others are like salt which has lost its flavor. Jesus measures greatness not by success in worldly things but by service.
As we read these words today, we see them from a far different perspective and it helps us to remember that the disciples felt clearly the bite and sharpness of this teaching. They saw Jesus live out this important teaching in all He did and they got His point which was directed at their own lives but still they did not yet fully understand its full meaning. Understanding would come later.