Prospect
The Rev’d Robert Warren Mark 9:2-9
Last Sunday after Epiphany - Year B
The
Gospel of Mark was written down to be read by Christians. It was no
quick guide to Jesus for the enquirer or the sceptic. That introduction
to Jesus in the life of the reader had already happened. He or she
had, at some earlier time, been grasped by the power of the Holy Spirit
through the evangelizing efforts of the Christian community and had been
reborn through Christian baptism and nourished by the worship life of
the Church. The Christian reader is the observer of Mark’s account of
Jesus’ ministry. When the crowds in Mark’s Gospel - in Jerusalem or the
Galilee - are confused about who Jesus is, the reader of the Gospel is
watching them work that confusion out: Who will believe and who will
not? Who will follow him gladly and who will not?
In
the middle of Mark’s Gospel you’ll find the story of Jesus’
Transfiguration on the slopes of Mount Tabor. What the voice from
heaven had proclaimed in the beginning of the Gospel at his baptism
(Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased - 1:11) and what
the Roman centurion would later deduce from the events surrounding
Jesus’ crucifixion towards the end of the Gospel (Truly this man was the
Son of God - 15:39) is here not only told to Peter, James and John on
that hillside but is shown to them as well. The veil is folded back for
a moment. Christ is revealed in a blast of light and surrounded by
figures from Israel’s past - Moses and Elijah - representing the Law and
the Prophets. Here is no add-on to Israel’s religion. Jesus is at the
centre of God’s revelation to humankind.
Our
Christian readers in the first century (or the twenty-first) turn from
the Gospel account and look around at the lives they lead in the world
as it is. They might believe they have much to fear. Their community
is small and their future uncertain. The world seems lukewarm to the
truth of the Gospel. Some of their own family members remain untouched
and unreached. Within the household of faith itself there are hearts
not fully warm to the promises of God. The Christian reader of the
Transfiguration story knows, however, that the revelation of Christ to
men and women is something granted. It is a gift for which men and
women should be more thankful than anxious. Nothing is completely in
our hands. The disciples present at the Transfiguration - Peter James
and John - can only babble. Such is the extent of their contribution in
this story. They cannot yet understand the depth of Jesus’ person as
it will be revealed. God will work through us, around us and even in
spite of us. Christ stands revealed in glory as the Lord of heaven and
earth. His glory will be revealed to the ends of the earth. He will be
proclaimed and his purposes accomplished.
