Mark 9

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Mark 9 by verse:

1-89-1314-2930-3738-50
Mark 9:1-8

(Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 9:28-36)

Nirendra Nath Chakrabarti, “Christ of Calcutta,” Divine Inspiration, p. 163
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 389

The Historical Jesus

It was not salvific miracle but exemplary death that counted. Mark had therefore to negate completely both the visible resurrection and the subsequent Roman confession from the cross gospel. He did it by retrojecting both back into preceding sections of his Gospel. Jesus’ resurrection-ascension accompanied by two heavenly beings was rewritten as his transfiguration accompanied by Elijah and Moses in Mark 9:2-8.

Miguel de Unamuna, “Cloud – Music,” Divine Inspiration, p. 158
Madeleine L’Engle, The Irrational Season, p. 189-197

The Irrational Season

Suddenly they saw him the way he was
the way he really was all the time
although they had never seen it before
the glory which blinds the everyday eye
and so becomes invisible. This is how
he was radiantly brilliant, carrying joy
like a flaming sun in his hands.
…
We all know that if we really see him we die.
But isn’t that what is required of us?
Then perhaps we will see each other. (p. 194)

Brendan Freeman, The Beatitudes in Modern Life, p. 129
Thomas R. Haney, Today’s Spirituality, p. 56
Mary Oliver, “December,” White Pine, p. 51

“December”

Then it turned and vanished. In shyness, perhaps. Or simply because we get no more than such dreamy chances to look upon the real world. The great door opens a crack, a hint of truth is given—so bright it is almost a death, a joy we can’t bear—and then it is gone.

Jaroslav Pelikan, The Illustrated Jesus through the Centuries, p. 68-69
Pattiann Rogers, “Creating Transfiguration,” Song of the World Becoming, p. 414 f.
Edward Schillebeeckx, “The Transfiguration of the Suffering Son of God,” God Among Us, p. 78-82
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Hymn of the Universe, p. 44

Hymn of the Universe

I notice I have forgotten to tell you about Christ’s garments. They had that luminosity we read of in the account of the Transfiguration; but what struck me most of all was the fact that no weaver’s hand had fashioned them—unless the hands of angels are those of Nature. No coarsely spun threads composed their weft; rather it was matter, a bloom of matter, which had spontaneously woven a marvelous stuff out of the inmost depths of its substance; and it seemed as though I could see the stitches running on and on indefinitely and harmoniously blending together into a natural design which profoundly affected them in their own nature.

Samuel Terrien, “Transfiguration,” The Elusive Presence, p. 422-428

“Transfiguration”

Mark placed the scene of the transfiguration of Jesus at the center of his “gospel” … for it represented a turning point in Jesus’ attitude toward himself.  …  In spite of its setting, the narrative does not suggest any heavenly confirmation of the messianic mission of Jesus.  On the contrary, the three phases of movements of the scene are rooted in the early Hebraic understanding. of divine presence, in contrast to later expectation of a political Messiah.  (p. 422)

The linking of Moses and Elijah in the oracle of the prophet Malachi (4:4-5 …) prepared the advent, not of the Messiah, but of Yahweh himself at the end of time.  The peculiarity of the phrase “Elijah and Moses” (Mark 9:4) probably indicates a reminiscence of the two theophanies which bound these two men of the Hebraic faith on the same mountain. Moses was denied the vision of glory (Exod. 33:17 ff.), and Elijah was denied a display of thaumaturgical power in nature (1Kings 19:9 ff.). Both of them learned, however, the theology of the name, by which the ear triumphs over the eye when man obeys the voice of a command. Had the original story of the transfiguration a similar purpose? This conjecture is probable, for it is precisely the way of death on the cross that is introduced by the scene.  (p. 424 f.)

[vs. 7] The proclamation of divine sonhood … connotes the uniqueness of the bond between God and Jesus on the one hand, and the pathos of divine fatherhood on the other.  The Greek word agapêtos, “beloved,” is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew yahidh, “one and only,”  As in the legend of Abraham, it carried with it the echoes of the heart of a father, torn by the gift of his only-begotten (monogenes) son for the sake of mankind.  It answered the consciousness of Jesus himself, who referred to God as “my Father.”  (p. 426)

Franz Werfel, “Jesus and the Carrion Path,” Divine Inspiration, p. 160
Walter Wink, Interpretation (January 1982), p. 63-67

Interpretation

Is it historical? did it happen just this way or, as Schweitszer thought, before Peter’s confession? Were the disciples blinded by morning sun or dazzling snow as Jesus spoke with two men in white mantles, whom Peter mistook as Moses and Elijah (how would he have recognized them anyway?), just before a cloud moved in and sheltered them from view (Paulus)? Or did Jesus himself have a mystical experience or vision which the others later were made party to? did they actually see his aura and receive an audition as a group? Or was this the occasion when Jesus described his experience at the baptism, and they experienced this telling as the Word, the Logos Incarnate, because he carried such transcendent value for them? Perhaps then the experience of the numinous was not objective, but subjective, the stirring up within them of the archetype of the Self which Jesus carried for them, so that their eyes made him out to be transfigured (Elizabeth Boyden Howes). Or was the whole thing someone’s dream?

Or did the church create the story, drawing lavishly on Exodus 24 and 34, the baptism story, and later christological beliefs? Could it have been a resurrection narrative projected back into the ministry? Or a poetic-didactic doublet of Peter’s confession, seen, as it were, through a vision? Was there a historical core that was later elaborated by the church? Is it perhaps a symbolic narrative whose historicity lies, not in the events depicted, but in the archetypal transformations which actually took place in the psyches of the early Christians? (p. 63 f.)

What does it matter if we believe in him, if we are not transfigured by the vision ourselves? What sense is there in knowing him to be the one in whom the Kingdom draws near in the healing of the sick, the casting out of demons, the preaching of good news to the poor, if we ourselves do not participate in the same events of liberation and release? What is the point of proclaiming him the incarnate Son of God if we ourselves fail to incarnate the self-same power which he revealed and made available through God’s Spirit to us all? (p. 66)

Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 140-143, Vol. 3, p. 148

Mark 9:9-13

(Matthew 17:9-13)

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Mark 9:14-29

(Matthew 17:14-21, Luke 9:37-43)

Frederick Buechner, “The Power of God and the Power of Man,” The Magnificent Defeat, p. 27-35
Mary Gordon, Incarnation, p. 16

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Mark 9:30-37

Mark 9:30-37 by verse:

30-3233-37

General References

John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 268
Thomas R. Haney, Today’s Spirituality, p. 91 180
Fred Rogers, Mister Rogers Neighborhood
Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 30-33

Mark 9:30-32

(Matthew 17:22-23, Luke 9:43-45)

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Mark 9:33-37

(Matthew 18:1-5, Luke 9:46-48)

Fred Rogers, Mister Rogers Neighborhood

Mister Rogers Neighborhood

Once, when asked what the greatest event in American history was, he responded:

I can’t say, however I suspect that like so many “great” events, it was something very simple and very quiet with little or no fanfare (such as forgiving someone else for a deep hurt) which eventually changed the course of history. The really important “great” things are never the center stage of life’s drama. They’re always “in the wings.” That’s why it’s so essential for us to be mindful of the humble and the deep rather than the flashy and the superficial.

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Mark 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-50 by verse:

38-4142-50

General References

Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., “Cut It Off?,” Lovely in Eyes Not His, p. 98-103
Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 34-37

Mark 9:38-41

(Luke 9:49-50)

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Mark 9:42-50

(Matthew 18:6-9, Luke 17:1-2)

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