Mark 9:2
After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them.
Sermons
The TransfigurationAlexander MaclarenMark 9:2
The TransfigurationR. Green Mark 9:1-8
A Vision of HomeMark 9:1-10
Christ the Light of the BodyC. Kingsley, M. A.Mark 9:1-10
Dust of Gold Gathered from a Variety of AuthorsJ. Morison, D. D., J. Morison, D. D., J. Morison, D. D., Bengel., Bengel., Dr. Brown., Hall.Mark 9:1-10
Ecstasy Cannot be ContinuedA. P. Foster.Mark 9:1-10
Elias with MosesH. M. Luckock, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
Exceptional Hours in LifeJ. Parker, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
How We Know There is a HeavenDr. Newton.Mark 9:1-10
It is Good for Us to be HereBishop Hall., T. M. Lindsay, D. D., J. H. Godwin.Mark 9:1-10
Man's TransformationR. W. Evans.Mark 9:1-10
Moses and Elias Talking with JesusJ. Parker, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
On the Holy MountW. M. Taylor, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
Secrecy Enjoined Till the Son of Man be Risen from the DeadJ. Parker, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
The Decease At Jerusalem; Or, the Power of the CrossDr. Newton.Mark 9:1-10
The Glorified SaintThomas Jones.Mark 9:1-10
The Hiding of the Higher LifeJ. Parker, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
The Influence of Heaven Here BelowA. P. Foster.Mark 9:1-10
The Lessons of the TransfigurationS. Cox, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
The TransfigurationJ. W. Boulding.Mark 9:1-10
The Transfiguration and its TeachingsDean Goulburn.Mark 9:1-10
The Transfiguration Gives Us a Pledge and Earnest of Our Personal Identity in the Risen StateH. M. Luckock, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
The Transfiguration of ChristW. J. Brock, B. A.Mark 9:1-10
The Transfiguration of ChristDr. Newton.Mark 9:1-10
The Use of Religious ExcitementBishop Walsham How.Mark 9:1-10
Transfiguration of ChristW. H. Lewis, D. D.Mark 9:1-10
A Glimpse of GloryJ.J. Given Mark 9:1-13
The TransfigurationA.F. Muir Mark 9:2-8
Glimpses of the Glory of JesusE. Johnson Mark 9:2-18














I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES. At an interval of six or eight (Luke) days from Peter's confession and the teaching of the cross. "Into a high mountain," i.e. into some glen or secluded spot in the mountain. As there is no mention of any movement southward, and distinct assurance that they did not at this time go into Galilee (Mark 9:30), the notion of Tabor being the mountain is unfounded. The slightness of its elevation, and the circumstance that its summit has been a fortified spot from the earliest times, render it almost certain that it was not the scene of the Transfiguration. All the evidence is in favor of Hermon, the snow-clad, sentinel-like peak in which the Anti-Libanus range culminates. Its name means "the mountain," and it is spoken of in the Old Testament as "holy." Its cool slopes and upland solitudes would afford congenial retirement to the weary Christ. It was mental trouble he had to overcome, and this he sought to do in prayer and Divine communion. For this reason, and the signs afforded by the rest of the chapter of the day having well begun as they descended, it has been supposed it was a night scene. He was wont to pray during the night, and the disciples were "heavy with sleep." It gives a peculiar character to the occurrence to suppose this to have been the case. But that they were fully awake when the vision appeared, Luke again assures us. The duration of the vision is not suggested; probably, as in dreams, time was an inappreciable element.

II. THE INCIDENTS.

1. Transformation. "He was transfigured before them," etc. The change described by the Greek word is literally one of form, but this must not be pressed. "It was a change in the externality of the person," says Morison; "a kind of temporary glorification, effected no doubt from within outward, rather than from without inward. It would reveal the essential glory of the spirit that 'tabernacled' within, its glory at once in that lower sphere that was human, and in that higher sphere that was Divine" ('Practical Commentary,' in loc.). The general brightness of his appearance is noted by the three evangelists, Matthew comparing his face to the sun, and his garments to the light. Mark speaks of the fuller's white in his description of it. The face is referred to by Matthew and Luke, and all three refer to the garments. Luke tells us it occurred "as he was praying."

2. Association with Moses and Elias. They were seen by the apostles, but did not purposely present themselves. They were talking with him, and Luke tells us the subject of their converse: "his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." They were representatives of the righteous spirits in Hades, the world of the unseen, of disembodied spirits; representatives, too, of the Law and the prophets. They had laid the foundations of the kingdom of righteousness which he perfected. They spoke of his death as the grand means of the fulfillment of the hopes of immortality, they themselves having in the manner of their own "exodus" afforded the shadow and prophetic type of which his was the substance. He is in essential, spiritual oneness with them.

3. Peter's suggestion. Outcome of zeal, but not according to knowledge. It is seemingly enough for him to see his Master on terms of equality with those great spirits of the past. There is an undiscriminating comprehension in his proposal; a desire also to extend the duration of the ecstasy in which he and his companions were. It breaks the grand harmony of the evolution of the scene, and yet is full of instruction.

4. Divine attestation. The three accounts agree in the words, "This is my Son: hear ye him." Matthew and Mark have also "beloved," for which Luke substitutes "my chosen;' and Matthew alone adds, "in whom I am well pleased." The words are but human renderings of the unspeakable "voice." They prove that the great Centre of attention and attraction for the Church is Jesus, not Moses or Elias.

5. Restoration of Christ to his usual appearance. The distinguished associates of his glory vanish. The vision was no "baseless fabric," but it was over, and now the spectators must return to common life and mundane duties. Jesus "was found alone;" "Jesus only."

III. THE LESSONS. These are innumerable, and we must content ourselves with a few of the more prominent. There was revelation for both Christ and his disciples. A new light was thrown upon past and future, and the fear of death was broken. But the whole scene is best understood as a revelation and glorification of Christ. The Divine Father has glorified his Son, and thereby attested him to himself and to confidence of believers. This was the "sign from heaven" vainly asked by the unbelieving Pharisees, and now granted to the thrice leaders of the apostles. And a corresponding revelation will take place in the experience of every true child of God, whereby his faith shall be confirmed, and he shall be "sealed unto the day of redemption." The yearning, praying, aspiring spirit of the Son at last, in foretaste, attains; and he and his followers are strengthened. The personal glory, the sublime association with the precursors of the kingdom in the toast, and the transcendant commendation, leave no room for doubt in the heart of the true believer. The evidence is intuitive, but it is spiritually complete.

2. The loftiest tendencies and aspirations of the Law and the prophets are fulfilled in the "obedience unto death of the Divine Son. They spake with him of his decease;" it was evidently central to their thoughts. The religious hopes of the past were to be satisfied in that way alone; by that alone was the righteousness of God to be satisfied. Self-sacrifice is the spirit of both Law and prophecy. To them the profound mystery of the hereafter was solved in the spirit of his death and in his resurrection; "life and immortality were brought to light" in him. It is as associated with them and representative of them that he looked forward to his dying. The manifestation of the Divine Son is therefore of universal significance, and relates itself to all that was highest and most spiritual in ancient religious movements.

3. What God did for his Son on this occasion he will do for all who vitally belong to his "Body. Even as the bodily frame of Christ was transfigured, and partook of the inward glory of his spirit, so shall all in whose nature his grace is found appear with him in the glory of the resurrection. The spiritual law is manifest and certain, and it is evidently the same in the believer as in his Lord. Glory of spirit must sooner or later appear in glory of external appearance, and the body shall partake in the blessedness of the spirit. - M.

O faithless generation.
I. The first thing that seems to be in these words is not anger, indeed, but a very distinct and very pathetic expression of CHRIST'S INFINITE PAIN, BECAUSE OF MAN'S FAITHLESSNESS. The element of personal sorrow is most obvious here. It is not only that He is sad for their sakes, that they are so unreceptive, but He feels for Himself, just as we do in our humble measure, the chilling effect of an atmosphere where there is no sympathy. There never was such a lonely soul on this earth as His, just because there never was another so pure and loving. The plain felt soul-chilling after the blessed communion of the mountain. For once the pain He felt broke the bounds of restraint, and shaped for itself this pathetic utterance, "How long shall I be with you?" I do not know that there is one in which the title of "The man of sorrows" is to all deeper thinking more pathetically vindicated than in this — the solitude of the uncomprehended and the unaccepted Christ — His pain at His disciples' faithlessness. And then do not let us forget that in this short sharp cry of anguish — for it is that — there may be detected by the listening ear not only the tone of personal hurt, but the tone of disappointed and thwarted love. Because of their unbelief He knew that they could not receive what He desired to give them. We find Him more than once in His life hemmed in, hindered of His purpose — simply because there was nobody with a heart open to receive the rich treasure He was ready to pour out Here I would remark, too, before I go to another point, that these two elements — that of personal sorrow and that of disappointed love and baulked purposes — continue still, and are represented as in some measure felt by Him now. It was to disciples that He said, "O faithless generation!" He did not mean to charge them with the entire absence of all confidence, but He did mean to declare that their poor, feeble faith, such as it was, was not worth naming in comparison with the abounding mass of their unbelief. There was one light spark in them, and there was also a great heap of green wood that had not caught the flame, and only smoked instead of blazing. And so He said to them, "O faithless generation!" Do not we know that the purer our love, and the more it has purified us, the more sensitive it becomes, even while the less suspicious it becomes? Is not the purest, most unselfish, highest love, that in which the least failure in response is felt most painfully? Though there be no anger, and no change in the love, still there is a pang where there is an inadequate perception, or an unworthy reception, of it. And Scripture seems to countenance the belief that Divine Love, too, may know something, in some mysterious fashion, like that feeling, when it warns us, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." So we may venture to say, Grieve not the Christ of God, who redeems us; and remember that we grieve Him most when we will not let Him pour His love upon us, but turn a sullen, unresponsive unbelief towards His pleading grace, as some glacier shuts out the sunshine from the mountainside with its thick-ribbed ice.

II. Another thought, which seems to me to be expressed in this wonderful exclamation of our Lord's, is — THAT THEIR FAITHLESSNESS BOUND CHRIST TO EARTH, and kept Him here. As there is not anger, but only pain, so there is also, I think, not exactly impatience, but a desire to depart, coupled with the feeling that He cannot leave them till they have grown stronger in faith. And that feeling is increased by the experience of their utter helplessness and shameful discomfiture during His brief absence. That had shown that they were not fit to be trusted alone. He had been away for a day up in the mountain there, and though they did not build an altar to any golden calf, like their ancestors, when their leader was absent, still when He comes back He finds things all gone wrong because of the few hours of His absence. They were not ready for Him to leave them; the full-grown tree was not strong enough for the props to be removed. Again, here we get a glimpse into the depth of Christ's patient forbearance. We might read these other words of our text, "How long shall I suffer you?" with such an intonation as to make them almost a threat that the limits of forbearance would soon be reached, and that He was not going to suffer them much longer. But I fail to catch the tone of indignation here. It sounds rather like a pledge that as long as they need forbearance they will get it; but at the same time, a question of "How long that is to be?" It implies the inexhaustible riches and resources of His patient mercy. There is rebuke in His question, but how tender a rebuke it is! He rebukes without anger. Plainly He names the fault. He shows distinctly His sorrow, and does not hide the strain on His forbearance. That is His way of cure for His servants' faithlessness. It was His way on earth. It is His way in heaven. To us, too, comes the loving rebuke of this question, "How long shall I suffer you?" Thank God that our answer may be cast into the words of His own promise: "I say not unto thee, until seven times; but until seventy times seven." Bear with me till thou hast perfected me; and then bear me to Thyself, that I may be with Thee forever, and grieve Thy love no more. So may it be, for with Him is plenteous redemption, and His forbearing "mercy endureth forever."

(A. Maclaren, D. D,)

People
Elias, Elijah, James, Jesus, John, Peter
Places
Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum, Galilee, High Mountain
Topics
Alone, Apart, Appearance, Bringeth, Change, Changed, Form, Front, James, John, Later, Leadeth, Led, Mount, Mountain, Onto, Peter, Presence, Privately, Rest, Six, Takes, Taketh, Themselves, Transfigured, Underwent
Outline
1. Jesus is transfigured.
11. He instructs his disciples concerning the coming of Elijah;
14. casts forth a deaf and mute spirit;
30. foretells his death and resurrection;
33. exhorts his disciples to humility;
38. bidding them not to prohibit such as are not against them,
42. nor to give offense to any of the faithful.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Mark 9:2

     1652   numbers, 3-5
     1653   numbers, 6-10
     4834   light, natural
     5113   Peter, disciple
     5901   loneliness

Mark 9:2-3

     2018   Christ, divinity
     2024   Christ, glory of
     2051   Christ, majesty of
     4859   white
     5150   face

Mark 9:2-7

     2580   Christ, transfiguration

Mark 9:2-8

     4254   mountains

Mark 9:2-13

     5092   Elijah

Library
February 2 Evening
One star differeth from another star in glory.--I COR. 15:41. By the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all.--Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Christ's Lament Over Our Faithlessness
'He answereth him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?'--Mark ix. 19. There is a very evident, and, I think, intentional contrast between the two scenes, of the Transfiguration, and of this healing of the maniac boy. And in nothing is the contrast more marked than in the demeanour of these enfeebled and unbelieving Apostles, as contrasted with the rapture of devotion of the other three, and with the lowly submission and faith of Moses and Elias.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Omnipotence of Faith
Jesus said unto him, If them canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.'--Mark ix. 23. The necessity and power of faith is the prominent lesson of this narrative of the healing of a demoniac boy, especially as it is told by the Evangelist Mark, The lesson is enforced by the actions of all the persons in the group, except the central figure, Christ. The disciples could not cast out the demon, and incur Christ's plaintive rebuke, which is quite as much sorrow as blame: 'O faithless
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Unbelieving Belief
'And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.'--Mark ix. 24. We owe to Mark's Gospel the fullest account of the pathetic incident of the healing of the demoniac boy. He alone gives us this part of the conversation between our Lord and the afflicted child's father. The poor man had brought his child to the disciples, and found them unable to do anything with him. A torrent of appeal breaks from his lips as soon as the Lord gives
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Unanswered Question
'What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?'--Mark ix. 33. Was it not a strange time to squabble when they had just been told of His death? Note-- I. The variations of feeling common to the disciples and to us all: one moment 'exceeding sorrowful,' the next fighting for precedence. II. Christ's divine insight into His servants' faults. This question was put because He knew what the wrangle had been about. The disputants did not answer, but He knew without an answer, as His immediately
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Salted with Fire
Every one shall be salted with fire.'--Mark ix. 49. Our Lord has just been uttering some of the most solemn words that ever came from His gracious lips. He has been enjoining the severest self-suppression, extending even to mutilation and excision of the eye, the hand, or the foot, that might cause us to stumble. He has been giving that sharp lesson on the ground of plain common sense and enlightened self-regard. It is better, obviously, to live maimed than to die whole. The man who elects to
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Salt in Yourselves'
'Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.'--Mark ix. 50. In the context 'salt' is employed to express the preserving, purifying, divine energy which is otherwise spoken of as 'fire.' The two emblems produce the same result. They both salt--that is, they cleanse and keep. And if in the one we recognise the quick energy of the Divine Spirit as the central idea, no less are we to see the same typified under a slightly different aspect in the other. The fire transforms into its own substance
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'This is My Beloved Son: Hear Him'
'And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him.'--Mark ix. 7. With regard to the first part of these words spoken at the Transfiguration, they open far too large and wonderful a subject for me to do more than just touch with the tip of my finger, as it were, in passing, because the utterance of the divine words, 'This is My beloved Son,' in all the depth of their meaning and loftiness, is laid as the foundation of the two
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jesus Only!
'They saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.'--Mark ix. 8. The Transfiguration was the solemn inauguration of Jesus for His sufferings and death. Moses, the founder, and Elijah, the restorer, of the Jewish polity, the great Lawgiver and the great Prophet, were present. The former had died and been mysteriously buried, the latter had been translated without 'seeing death.' So both are visitors from the unseen world, appearing to own that Jesus is the Lord of that dim land, and that
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Transfiguration
'And after six days Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them. 3. And His raimemt became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 5. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Receiving and Forbidding
'And He came to Capernaum: and being in the house He asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? 34. But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 35. And He sat down, and called the Twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36. And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, 37.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

July the Ninth Scholars in Christ's School
"He taught His disciples." --MARK ix. 30-37. And my Lord will teach me. He will lead me into "the deep things" of God. There is only one school for this sort of learning, and an old saint called it the Academy of Love, and it meets in Gethsemane and Calvary, and the Lord Himself is the teacher, and there is room in the school for thee and me. But the disciples were not in the mood for learning. They were not ambitious for heavenly knowledge, but for carnal prizes, not for wisdom, but for place.
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Lenten Fast.
"This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer."--ST. MARK ix. 29. You remember the narrative from which I have taken this verse. Jesus, as we read, had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, and when He was come to the multitude, a certain man besought him saying, "Have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic and sore vexed, and I brought him to Thy disciples, but they could not cure him." Then Jesus rebuked the devil, and the child was cured from that hour. Thereupon His disciples
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

The Child in the Midst.
"And He took a child and set Him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me."--ST. MARK ix. 36, 37. It is one of the characteristics of our time, one of its most hopeful and most encouraging signs, that men are awaking to higher and purer conceptions of the Christian life and what it is that constitutes such a life. We
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

Of Hell
"Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:48. 1. Every truth which is revealed in the oracles of God is undoubtedly of great importance. Yet it may be allowed that some of those which are revealed therein are of greater importance than others, as being more immediately conducive to the grand end of all, the eternal salvation of men. And we may judge of their importance even from this circumstance, -- that they are not mentioned once only in the sacred writings, but are repeated
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

A Caution against Bigotry
"And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name: and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not." Mark 9:38, 39. 1. In the preceding verses we read, that after the Twelve had been disputing "which of them should be the greatest," Jesus took a little child, and set him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, said unto them, "Whosoever shall receive one of these little children in My name, receiveth
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Faith's Dawn and Its Clouds
In the text there are three things very clearly. Here is true faith; here is grievous unbelief; here is a battle between the two. I. Very clearly in the text there is TRUE FAITH. "Lord, I believe," says the anxious father. When our Lord tells him that, if he can believe, all things are possible to him, he makes no demur, asks for no pause, wishes to hear no more evidence, but cries at once, "Lord, I believe." Now, observe we have called this faith true faith, and we will prove it to have been so.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

The Child in the Midst.
And he came to Capernaum: and, being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Absolute Surrender
"And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that
Andrew Murray—Absolute Surrender

Thoughts Upon Striving to Enter at the Strait Gate.
AS certainly as we are here now, it is not long but we shall all be in another World, either in a World of Happiness, or else in a World of Misery, or if you will, either in Heaven or in Hell. For these are the two only places which all Mankind from the beginning of the World to the end of it, must live in for evermore, some in the one, some in the other, according to their carriage and behaviour here; and therefore it is worth the while to take a view and prospect now and then of both these places,
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

The Three Tabernacles
And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. MARK ix. 5. Caught up in glory and in rapture, the Apostle seems to have forgotten the world from which he had ascended, and to which he still belonged, and to have craved permanent shelter and extatic communion within the mystic splendors that brightened the Mount of Transfiguration. But it was true, not only as to the confusion of his
E. H. Chapin—The Crown of Thorns

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