Seeing His Glory!

Mark 9:1-13

1 And He said to them,

"Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"— 6 because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.

7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" 8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.

9 Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.

11 And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

12 Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

The people who saw Jesus walking around them when He was incarnate on earth had a taste of the kingdom of God and His power to come when heaven will cover the world.  Peter, James, and John, were led up on a high mountain by the Lord and saw a glimpse of His glory in the transfiguration.  The Lord shone with a light so pure that words fail to describe what they saw and attempted to record for us with language unable and unaccustomed to even begin describing the sight of the Lord as He really is.  Then  Elijah and Moses came to talk with Jesus as they watched this heavenly sight. Peter with his usual impetuous nature asked if they could honor this moment by erecting tabernacles for each of them because he was afraid and did not know what to say and thought to break the silence by interjecting something.  The Father booked from above, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” and then the show to demonstrate His glory to them was over.  They listened to the Son then as He told them on the way off that mountaintop experience not to tell what they saw and experienced until the Son of Man rose from the dead.  They could not grasp what that meant, for even after the resurrection they did not know until He app to them after death and opened the eyes of their hearts to understand the resurrection and why He had to suffer (Luke 24:27, 31-32, 44-45, 46) to bring the good news of forgiveness of sins and reconciliation in Him.  They then would look back in remembrance of the transfiguration and new in even more awe of His glory!  We also should have when He opened our eyes to comprehend the depths of His love and work and sacrifice on the cross for us and glorify the Lord in all His glory we see the mere edges of now (Job 26:14).  The disciples still had questions about Elijah they saw with Jesus on the mountain and wondered why he had to come first as it was written (Malachi 4:5-6) and Jesus told them that he had already come and gone just as it was prophesied would happen acc to the scriptures.  We now know the bigger picture after the gospel accounts were explained further by the apostles who wrote the rest of the epistles to our New Testament scriptures that contain the whole of God word to us when added to the Old Testament scriptures.  We have even more accounts of the glory of Jesus Christ whom we each have seen individually as He called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light of glory as we gaze into His wonderful face (2 Corinthians 3:18) as we are transforming into His image day by day (Romans 8:29-30) as His glory fills us out and changes us over time time to shine as the stars of heaven (Daniel 12:3).  We will see His glory in the fullest one day when He makes all things new and comes to dwell among us forever (Revelation 21:3)!  What a glorious day that will be to see His glory face to face at last (Job 19:25-26)!