Could you keep the Transfiguration a Secret?
Jesus' surprising direction in an impromptu small group meeting
In Mark 9:2-8 Peter, James and John had just:
seen Jesus’ cloths turn dazzling white
encountered two key figures of the Old Testament (Moses and Elijah)
been enveloped in a cloud and
heard the audible voice of the Father
And then Jesus told them to keep quiet!!!!!
If it was me, I would have found that a struggle. And I think it is possible Peter, James and John may have struggled as well.
Lets consider this in detail.
The Impromptu Small Group Context
In Mark 8:27 - 10:46 almost every event is either a planned small group meeting or an impromptu small group meeting immediately following an event. This secrecy directive takes place in an impromptu small group meeting. It can be easy to miss:
Mark 9:9-13
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
Unless you are base jumping, every trip down a mountain takes longer than the few seconds it takes to read this passage. So we can confidently assume Mark is recording highlights of a much longer conversation.
Two Key Features of the Conversation
Mark chose to include two key features that are common to many of the condensed descriptions of Jesus’ small group meetings found in his gospel:
Jesus helped the disciples:
Clarify Current Understanding - in this case the role of Elijah (Revelation)
Identify Future Actions - in this case, keeping quiet until after the resurrection. (Response)
But the reason for the secrecy directive is not immediately obvious.
Did the Transfiguration Influence later actions of James, John and Peter?
Have you ever seen a little child try not to tell you something? Maybe they have tried to hold back the punch line to a joke, or not reveal where someone is during a game of hide and seek. Even if they manage not to say anything directly, their body language and comments often give the game away.
The gospels don’t say that Peter James and John told anyone about the transfiguration prior to the resurrection. But I think it may have leaked out in other ways.
I think it is possible that James and John had the transfigured glory of Jesus in mind when they asked for positions at his right and left hand. They had insider information that the other disciples didn’t yet have which made them confident that Jesus was certain to get an earthly throne and they wanted to get in first.
I think Peter may have also had the transfiguration in the back of his mind when he boldly declared he would never deny Jesus. After all, what conceivable situation could they ever get in where Jesus couldn’t get them out of it just by giving people a glimpse of His glowing clothes.
Delay to Convey was necessary for Clarity
In Mark 8:27-30 the disciples recognised that Jesus was the Messiah, but they didn’t yet have a full picture of the sort of Messiah he was. It needed to be expanded and clarified in two directions:
A deeper understanding of Jesus’ divinity. The transfiguration was part of this.
A deeper understanding that Jesus is the crucified and risen Messiah (not a Messiah who conquered militarily)
While Jesus had explained that he was going to be crucified and resurrected in Mark 8:31, Mark 9:10 suggests they didn’t understand it. And after the transfiguration which they had just seen, they would have had an even harder time comprehending a crucifixion they hadn’t seen.
I think that if Peter, James and John had experienced the transfiguration and crucifixion back to back, what leaked out of them would have been different.
Jesus secrecy directive was aimed at giving Peter, James and John, the time to experience greater clarity about His Messiahship.
Another pairing of Glory and Gore
The pairing of the transfiguration and the crucifixion is reflected in the experience of Paul in 2 Cor 12:1-10:
He was “caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.”
To prevent him from becoming conceited, he was “given a thorn in my flesh”
And the end result was profound spiritual formation:
2 Cor 12: 9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Personalised Responses
When identifying future actions, Jesus gave unique personalised responses. These were so varied that in similar situations the proposed actions appear to be opposites:
Jesus told the healed leper to tell no-one (Mark 1:44) but Jesus told the man from whom he had cast out the legion of demons to tell people what he had done (Mark 5:19).
In this command to evangelise Jesus denied the delivered demoniac’s request (begging) to follow Jesus (Mark 5:18). But on another occasion when a man asked leave to go and bury his father, Jesus said ‘Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.’ (Matt 8:18-22)
Jesus told messengers of John to report to him what they have seen and heard - blind receiving sight, lame walking etc (Luke 7:22). But He told Peter, James and John to tell no-one about the Transfiguration (Mark 9:9)
Implications for Jesus Shaped Small Groups
To model our small groups on how Jesus led his small group as recorded in Mark we should aim to lead our conversations in such a way that people
Clarify their Current Understanding - Revelation
Identify Future Actions - Response
To personalise these stages we will need to ensure people are able to:
ask the questions that are on their minds - the ‘What about Elijah’ questions - and not just the preprepared discussion questions.
articulate which ideas have stood out to them as particularly relevant.
identify achievable future actions that are specific to them.
And we will need to keep in mind that potential future actions might be
surprising,
counterintuitive
almost entirely opposite for different members of the group
And for that we will need to ask for and rely on the wisdom and leading of the Holy Spirit.
If through modelling, practice and sensitivity to the Spirit, we can develop the art of having these sorts of personalised conversations in our small groups, the spiritual growth of members will blossom and they will be transfigured into greater Christlikeness.