Mark 9:1-13 Tasting Life

First Things: Devotions in Mark’s Gospel

Mark 9:1-13 Tasting Life

Our passage starts out with this verse: 

Mark 9:1   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.”

It is difficult to determine if this verse fits better with chapter 8 or 9. I’ll place it with chapter 9. There is most likely more involved, but I would assert that for three of those “standing here,” Peter, James and John, they would indeed, six days later, “see the kingdom of God” in a fresh light in these very next verses, in the event of the Transfiguration, in which, as it were, a portal opens from heaven to earth. Rather than “tasting death,” they are in a real sense “tasting life.”

Jesus’ communion with God was uninterrupted during His earthly ministry, except for that period of time of the cross when Jesus lamented His forsakenness. Jesus’ communion before and after the Transfiguration was as perfect as when He was on the mount. What changed was the revelation of that communion. Jesus did not need the revelation; the disciples did. And, of course, Peter got it wrong.

Peter, thrilled at the presence of Moses and Elijah, wants to do something special for all three special guests. As noble as one might think Peter was trying to be, He ended up elevating Moses and Elijah to a status to which they did not belong, or, worse, he ended up demoting Jesus to a level below His rank as the eternal Son of God. So, as Peter was rebuked by Jesus in chapter eight, saying “Get behind me, Satan,” here in chapter nine, He is rebuked by God the Father, who says, “This is My beloved Son; listen to Him.” Jesus alone is the Word made flesh, who is alone is “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.”

The scene  quickly closes. The clouds return. They descend to the ugliness and illness of earth. These disciples continue to be puzzled by the transition of the old times to the new times; concerning the promise of a second coming of Elijah, fulfilled in the John the Baptist, and the glories that should follow. Jesus says that this Elijah (John) has indeed come, and the wicked of the world have killed him. They will do the same to the One to whom John the Baptist pointed. Heaven’s light has shown through for a moment, but earth’s darkness seems firmly in control.

Earth’s darkness seems firmly in control, except in those instances when Jesus Himself draws back the curtain, whether in His heavenly teaching, or in breaking the bonds created by sin and the devil. How will this battle ever be won?

At this point in Mark’s Gospel, we are beginning the 2nd half, as divided by chapters. We’ve seen the glorious and powerful entrance of Jesus’s ministry into this world, and it’s been a swift and wild ride. We will now encounter more, fierce opposition to Jesus. It will result, as predicted, in Jesus’ death. How will this battle ever be won? We’ll have to keep reading.