Mark 9:1-29: “Jesus Is Transfigured On The
Mountain / The Disciples Cannot Cast Out A Demon”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1.
In our last study, we looked at verses
22-38, and there we saw many things.
1.1.
Jesus healed a
blind man in a two phase miracle for the first time (the man was not completely
healed by Jesus initially), and we looked at why Jesus may have done this.
1.2.
Jesus next asked
the disciples who people say that He is, followed by asking them who they say
that He is. Peter then made his great
confession of who Jesus is.
1.3.
Jesus then began
to discuss plainly the fact that He was going to suffer and die and then be
raised again from the dead. Peter took
Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him for such a depressing prophesy. For saying this, Jesus rebuked Peter in the
strongest possible way calling him “Satan,” and telling him to get behind Him.
1.4.
Then, Jesus began
to explain to His disciples the hard and plain truth of what it involves
becoming a disciple of Christ. He said
that one must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Him. We discussed what this means.
1.5.
Jesus desired to
share with His disciples two essential truths.
They needed to know “who He really is,” and also “what He
really came to do.”
2.
In our study
today, we are going to look at verses 1-29 from chapter 9 of Mark.
2.1.
In another event
privileged to Jesus’ innermost circle, He will take Peter, James, and John up
to a mountain to pray and be transfigured momentarily into the glory He will
have after He is risen from the dead and ascended up to heaven.
2.2.
We will look at
why Jesus may have been transfigured.
What benefit will it have for Jesus, and what benefit will it have for
the disciples?
2.3.
There was no
coincidence that after telling the disciples clearly who He was and why He
came, that He would next be transfigured before them. There is a definite connection between these
two events.
2.4.
Then, we will see
that when Jesus and the disciples have come down from the mountain that He will
come upon a commotion that has occurred because the disciples who remained
behind are not able to cast a demon out of a man’s son.
2.5.
We will look at
what we can learn about accomplishing things for God through prayer.
3.
VS 9:1 - “1
And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you,
there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until
they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”” – Jesus tells
the people that there are some who were standing there at that time that they
would not taste of death until they saw the
3.1.
This verse
actually belongs to Jesus teaching to the multitudes and the disciples at the
end of the previous chapter. He had
given a challenge for any who wished to come after Him (and thus for eternal
life), saying that one had to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow
Him. Then, He gave five very good
reasons that it would be wise for a person to come after Him in this way an
inherit eternal life. This verse here is
found in each of the three gospel writer’s accounts just after that teaching of
Jesus, and this verse is really a further encouragement from Jesus of why it
would be wise to come after Him and receive the free gift of eternal life.
3.2.
Matthew in his
account of this teaching of Jesus includes more of what Jesus was saying: Matthew 16:27-28, “27 “For the Son
of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. 28 “Truly I say to
you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.””
3.3.
For the
Christian, there really is no such thing as death. When the body of a Christian stops
functioning, the Christian goes directly into the presence of the Lord. Jesus died so that we don’t have to die,
instead we who believe in Him for salvation pass from life to life. This is what Jesus was saying to Mary and
Martha when He raised their brother Lazarus from the dead in John 11:25, “25
Jesus
said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he
who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”
3.4.
The Bible
Knowledge Commentary states the following:
Several
interpretations have been suggested for the meaning of the kingdom of God
come with power: (a) Jesus’ transfiguration, (b) Jesus’ resurrection and
Ascension, (c) the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) and the
spread of Christianity by the early church, (d) the destruction of Jerusalem by
Rome in a.d. 70, and (e) the
second coming of Jesus Christ.
4.
VS 9:2-9 - “2
Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought
them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; 3 and His garments became radiant and exceedingly
white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they
were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi,
it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and
one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. 7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a
voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” 8 All at once they looked around and saw no one with
them anymore, except Jesus alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to
relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.” – Jesus took
Peter, James, and John up to a mountain with Him and when He was there He was
transformed into His glory, and then Moses and Elijah appeared to Him and began
talking with Him, and then Peter said that it was good that they would be there
and suggested that they build a tabernacle for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, and
the Lord answered him out of the cloud and told them that Jesus was His beloved
Son and they were to listen to Him
4.1.
The Bible
Knowledge Commentary says the following about where Jesus’ transfiguration
occurred:
The
unnamed location was probably a southern ridge of Mount Hermon (ca. 9,200 feet)
about 12 miles northeast of Caesarea Philippi (cf. 8:27; 9:30, 33). This is
preferable to
4.2.
Mark provides for
us here first of all a timeline connecting this event with the previous one in
which Peter gave his great confession and then Jesus spoke plainly of His
coming passion and then gave His disciples the requirements for any who would
come after Him of denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following Him,
and, then He gave them five good reasons for following Him. It was six days after those events in which
Jesus then took His disciples up to the mountain to be transfigured.
4.3.
Why were Moses
and Elijah the men who would appear to Jesus?
4.3.1. It has been suggested that those two men symbolize the
Law and the Prophets, and this is why they would be the ones to appear with
Him.
4.3.2. Some say that it is because Moses’ body was taken away
to unknown places by the angels, and Elijah was translated to heaven. Were these men already in heaven at this
point, not in Abraham’s Bosom like the rest of the OT saints?
4.3.3. Some suggest that these are the two witnesses that
appear during the Tribulation as seen in the book of Revelation.
4.4.
Luke, in his account of this story tells us that Moses
and Elijah were talking with Jesus about His coming “exodus”, or “departure”: Luke
9:30-31, “30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were
Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory,
were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” They were talking about the redemption of
mankind that would be accomplished at
4.5.
Here we see that
Jesus’ garments began to glow much brighter than any washing on earth could
make them glow, and the Greek word that is translated as ‘transfigured’
is the word from which we get our English word, “metamorphosis”:
3339 μεταμορφόω [metamorphoo /met·am·or·fo·o/] v. From 3326 and 3445; TDNT 4:755; TDNTA 607; GK
3565; Four occurrences; AV translates as “transfigure” twice, “transform” once,
and “change” once. 1 to change
into another form, to transform, to transfigure. 1a Christ appearance was changed and was resplendent
with divine brightness on the mount of transfiguration. Additional
Information: For synonyms see entry 3345, metaschematizo.See entry 5863 for comparison of synonyms.
4.6.
When a
caterpillar goes into a cocoon and comes out being a butterfly, this process is
called a “metamorphosis” because it is a transformation of a creature
into a completely different creature.
4.7.
One issue that
always comes up when we study these events is the question of why Jesus would
be transfigured into His glory? What was
to be gained by this?
4.7.1. J.D. Jones believes that Jesus’ transfiguration was
important for Jesus’ sake. The cross had
been weighing heavily upon the mind and heart of Jesus, as evidently He always
had the cross before Him in all that He did.
Perhaps for the six days after Jesus spoke plainly with His disciples,
the cross had become even more of a burden upon Him. Jesus evidently needed encouragement of the
joy and the glory that lay before Him as He headed to the cross, so that He
could have the perspective that we read about in Hebrews 12:2, “2 fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God.” The appearance of Moses and Elijah and the
discussion they had with Jesus in His glorified state about what He was soon to
accomplish for mankind upon Calvary’s cross, surely encouraged Jesus to press
on in that calling He had.
4.7.1.1.For the joy set before us as believers in the hope of
eternal life, we too can endure the cross that God calls us to carry.
4.7.2. The transfiguration of
Jesus was also an event that would be an encouragement to the disciples after
Jesus had been raised from the dead.
They will look back on this event and this will help they to conceive of
the fact that all along the plan was for Jesus to be raised from the dead after
suffering the horrors of the cross and suffering death for mankind.
4.7.2.1.We who know Jesus as our Lord and Savior are likewise
encouraged for we are promised that one day we too will be raised from the
dead: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “13 But we do not want you to
be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not
grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede
those who have fallen asleep. 16
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ
will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and
remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
4.7.2.2.Further, we who know
Christ in this life are also promised after this life a resurrected body like
that of Christ’s: 1 John 3:2, “2 Beloved, now we are children of
God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He
appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
4.8.
We have to ask the question of what was wrong with what
Peter says here, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three
tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”:
4.8.1. Someone once said that
Peter here was typical of someone who would say, “Don’t just stand there say
something.” This is supported perhaps by what it says he, “For he did
not know what to answer; for they became terrified.”
4.8.2. Some suggest that Peter
and the other two disciples were wanting this mountaintop experience to last
too long, not realizing that mountaintop experiences are meant to sustain us
and motivate us in the valleys where we are called to deny ourselves and take
our cross serving Christ. Peter wanted
to build a tent or tabernacle so that Jesus, Elijah, and Moses would stay the
night and remain there with the disciples.
4.8.3. It appears from what the
Lord says to Peter here that he (and surely the rest of the disciples) was
placing Moses and Elijah on an equal plane as Jesus and that this was at least
part of the error he was making: ‘This
is My beloved Son, listen to Him!’
4.9.
Luke, in his account of this story in Luke 9:28, tells us
that Jesus had taken the disciples up to this mountain in order ‘to pray’. But, just as happened in the
4.9.1. We in the church often
miss out on some of the great things that the Lord does and could do through us
because we are sleeping instead of praying.
We do not have our eyes focused upon the Lord and we aren’t attentive to
Him and hearing His voice, and then we miss out on many of the great blessings
associated with seeing Him work and being used by Him.
5.
VS 9:10-13 - “10
They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising
from the dead meant. 11 They asked Him, saying, “Why
is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 And He said to them, “Elijah
does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the
Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
13 “But I say to
you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just
as it is written of him.”” – The disciples ask Jesus on the way down from the
mountain why the scribes say that Elijah must come first, and Jesus explained
that Elijah does in deed come first and restore all things, and then Jesus
repeated that the Son of Man had to suffer many things and be treated with
contempt
5.1.
Since the
disciples had heard Jesus speaking plainly to them about His coming death and
resurrection, and then they had seen Him transfigured into the glory He would
have after being raised from the dead, they were now thinking about what in the
world ‘rising from the dead’ might mean.
Up until this point in time they thought that Jesus had been speaking
metaphorically about this, not in a literal manner.
5.2.
The disciples,
Peter, James, and John, who had been with Him on the mountain where He was
transfigured, were ‘discussing with one another what rising from the dead
meant’.
5.3.
Then, the
disciples remember that the scribes taught that Elijah was to return again
(rise again) before the Messiah came, and they ask Jesus if this teaching by
the scribes was indeed true. Jesus
affirmed that the teaching was true, ‘Elijah does first come and restore all
things’. But, Jesus goes on to say that Elijah had in
fact come (speaking of John the Baptist), but they had done to him whatever they
wished: ‘Elijah has indeed come,
and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him’. We have
already studied about how Herodias’ daughter danced before king Herod and his
friends and then asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter, and her
wish was granted.
5.4.
Jesus tries to
redirect His disciples thinking though when they ask this question. He knew they hadn’t realized what He had been
saying about His death and resurrection, and so He says to them: ‘And yet how is it written of the
Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?’ Jesus wanted
His disciples to realize that there were to be two different advents of His
appearing. The first time He must come
as the suffering Savior and die upon the cross.
The second time Jesus will come as the conquering Lord to setup His
kingdom and judge the living and the dead.
There was much confusion in
6.
VS 9:14-29 - “14
When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around
them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15 Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they
were amazed and began running up to greet Him. 16 And He asked them, “What
are you discussing with them?” 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I
brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the
ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens
out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How
long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately
the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling
around and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How
long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 “It has often thrown him both into the fire and
into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and
help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s
father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering,
He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf
and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.”
26 After crying out and
throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became
so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and
he got up. 28 When He came into the house,
His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive
it out?” 29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”” – When Jesus
returns from the mountain with His disciples, they run across a scene in which
there is a commotion because Jesus’ disciples are not able to cast out a demon
from a man’s son, and then Jesus cast out the demon and later told the
disciples that the reason that they could not cast it out was because this
required prayer
6.1.
While Jesus and
the three disciples of His innermost circle were up on the mountain where He
transfigured before them, the remaining nine disciples were at the bottom of
the mountain and were attempting to minister to the people as He had called
them to do.
6.2.
Luke 9:38 tells
us that this boy was the man’s only child.
6.3.
A man had brought
his son to these nine disciples to cast a demon out, and notice what the mans
states that the demon does to the boy when it afflicts him: ‘a spirit which makes him mute; and whenever it
seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and
grinds his teeth and stiffens out…it has often thrown him both into the fire
and into the water to destroy him’.
6.4.
The man tells
Jesus basically that the disciples had gone through all of the motions that
normally had produced exorcisms, yet the demon had not left the boy. Why had the demon not left the boy:
6.4.1. A lack of praying on the behalf of the disciples.
6.4.2. It was a lack of faith.
6.4.2.1.Matthew records more of what Jesus said to His disciples
when they were unable to cast the demon out of this boy, and thus we see that
it was a lack of faith on their part that kept them from being able to cast out
the demon: Matthew 17:17, “17 And Jesus answered and
said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how
long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to
Me.”” Then, Matthew records these further details
of this story: Matthew 17:20-21, “20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to
you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this
mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be
impossible to you. 21 [“But
this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]” Note that the
“prayer and fasting” statement is not included in the oldest
manuscripts.
6.4.3. They might have needed to fast…The Bible Exposition
Commentary states the following about why the disciples had failed here:
The
main lesson of this miracle is the power of faith to overcome the enemy (Mark
9:19, 23–24; and see Matt. 17:20). Why had the nine disciples failed? Because
they had been careless in their personal spiritual walk and had neglected
prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). The authority that Jesus had given them was
effective only if exercised by faith, but faith must be cultivated through
spiritual discipline and devotion. It may be that the absence of their Lord, or
His taking the three disciples with Him and leaving them behind, had dampened
their spiritual fervor and diminished their faith. Not only did their failure
embarrass them, but it also robbed the Lord of glory and gave the enemy
opportunity to criticize. It is our faith in Him that glorifies God (Rom.
4:20).
6.5.
There are many
times in our lives as Christians that we go through all the motions trying to
do God’s will, and ostensibly we think that we are trying to do exactly what
God in His word tells us we should do.
However, then everything blows up.
For instance, we try to apologize to our spouse and end up starting a
bigger confrontation. Or, perhaps we try
to resolve a disagreement with someone using scriptural grounds, and yet we end
up even more estranged with the person.
These sorts of things usually happen because our hearts are not in the
right place with the Lord. We are trying
to follow God’s commands and leading and yet we have not been spending time
with Him, and the result is that His blessing is not on us. In order for God to work through our lives as
He can do, we first have to have our hearts right with Him and be spending time
with Him. This was why the disciples
failed in this attempt to cast out the demon.
6.6.
Notice here that
when Jesus walked up to the boy that the spirit that possessed him threw him
into convulsions: ‘immediately the spirit
threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling
around and foaming at the mouth’.
6.7.
The man has very
little to no faith in Jesus, and he tells Jesus, ‘if You can do anything, take pity
on us and help us!’
Jesus rebukes the man to a degree as He replies, ‘‘If You can?’
All things are possible to him who believes.’
6.8.
The man’s reply
was wise for he asks Jesus to help him with his unbelief, ‘I do believe; help my
unbelief!’ The result of bringing what faith he had to
Jesus and asking Him to increase his faith is that the Lord multiplied his
faith and granted his request to cast the demon out of the man’s son.
6.8.1. Whenever we as Christians come to Jesus with the faith
that we have asking Him for our request, we don’t have to have great faith for
He multiplies that faith that we have and we always end up having enough faith.
6.9.
Mark records here
that after Jesus had cast the demon out of the boy and Jesus had gone into the
house with his disciples, that they ask Him why they couldn’t cast out the
demon. Jesus tells them that this kind
of demon possession comes out only by prayer.
In other words, it simply wasn’t a matter in this case for the disciples
that they simply needed to command the demon to leave in the name of Jesus, as
Jesus had given them authority to do.
They needed to pray for the boy and for themselves, and then they could
cast it out: “This kind cannot
come out by anything but prayer.”
6.10.
I think the
details Mark includes of how Jesus cast the demon out of this boy are
interesting: “After crying out and throwing him
into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like
a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and
he got up.”
7.
CONCLUSIONS:
7.1.
Jesus’
transfiguration was a promise of His resurrection from the dead, and for the
joy set before Him He could endure the cross, for His transfiguration helped
Him to face the impending cross. Jesus’
resurrection is likewise a promise of our future resurrection and glorified
body, and thus we can endure the trials and deprivations we have to experience
because of the joy that is likewise set before us.
7.2.
Remember that “anything
is possible with God” and therefore if you have Him in your life you need
not worry or fear.
7.3.
Believe in Jesus
and ask Him to increase your faith to believe Him more.