February 16 - Mark 9:1-13: An Unexpected Christ

You have probably said about someone, "That day I saw the real Ted." (if you know someone of that sort.)  Not that the Ted you knew for the past two years was a fictional character or a simulation of Ted.  What you meant, if you had known a Ted and this had happened to you, was, I saw through to one of his essential qualities.  We have shared jokes and done jobs together but that day (imagine some experience you shared that allowed you to see something that truly represented Ted's inner, more permanent character) you saw something that was central to his identity.

In the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John saw, that day, the real Jesus.  Jesus had always been divine; He did not hide from them His true identity.  For reasons we would probably have well understood, the disciples could not come to grips with the Messiah's true identity.  In this story, Mark reveals not only the real Jesus, but also the disciples' sense of shock.  Peter was stupefied by what he saw to the point that he blurted out the only ceremonial suggestion he could think of; the sight left James and John dumbfounded.  The man they had been following around was in fact God.  Sure He claimed to be the son of God, but anybody can say the words.  And yes He did miracles,  but even Pharaoh's wise men could turn staffs into snakes.  But for this... there was no explanation.  Jesus, still with a fleshy body, revealed His true character - a timeless, glorious God who talked with the long dead founders of their religion, culture, and national identity.  He shone with an unparalleled radiance and participated in resurrection.  Such a sight would have been as unbelievable then as now and his closest friends had no way of processing it.  They beheld the divine and lived - this was the real Jesus.  When he came back to them He was the man they had come to know, but now there was something more to him.  Just think, if the disciples had a difficult time believing in Jesus as the incarnate God, how tough is it for us?  The eyes of faith see what the disciples fleshy eyes beheld - the unbelievable truth: Jesus as God and man.