From the Mountain to the Valley

Background from the OT: Mark chapter 9

The Transfiguration of Jesus

Mountaintop experiences are usually intimate and private (v 2)

Notice that only Peter, James & John were invited. Why those three? Why not just one disciple? (Jewish law: a testimony must be established by two or more witnesses)

Sometimes the best thing for us to do is to just be quiet and soak it in (v 5-6)

Peter often acted like a spokesman for the Twelve. Here again, he's acting in form. He just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind and doesn't even realize what he's saying. Unfortunately, we do that a lot too.

The purpose is not necessarily to benefit us, but to magnify the glory of God (v 7-8)

Everything about that experience leads up to the moment when God speaks. Incidentally, the real miracle here is that Jesus has been able to hide his real nature up till now…

The Journey Down

Just as Jesus leads us up, he leads us down (v 9)

It's a matter of his timing, not ours. Jesus leads the way. It's pointless to try to "make it last"

The experience is sometimes a mystery (v 10 )

We don't always understand what we've experienced, seen, or heard

Doubts crept in about what they had experienced (v 11 -13)

Can't you just hear them say, "but, we thought Elijah was supposed to come first?" Note the reference to the prophecy of Malachi 4:5. What they experienced didn't match up with their understanding of the Word, so they began to question the whole event. (See Luke 1:12-16 for the explanation)

Living Life in the Valley

Conflict will immediately test your faith (v 14 - 17)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Satan has been up to his old tricks. Just as soon as they got to the bottom of the mountain they stepped into a hornet's nest. The scribes were picking at the disciples because they couldn't cast out the demon.

(Side note on this particular demon: the belief at the time required one to know the name of the demon in order to cast it out; it had to be called out by name. If the victim was mute, there was no way to learn the demon's name, so the situation was considered hopeless.)

Sometimes we act like we left Jesus on the mountain (v 18 - 29)

The nature of Satan is to destroy. That's what he does best. Jesus' ministry on earth was just the opposite. He imparts that to use through faith, but we sometimes act like Jesus is nowhere around or we neglect to call on him. This prayer should always be on our lips: "Help thou my unbelief!"

Jesus uses the valley experiences to teach us ( v 30 - 37)

The lesson isn't always clear at first. Sometimes we need to go back to Jesus and talk to him about it more. There's a danger in drawing the wrong conclusion too early, which allows Satan to twist truth into lies, and feed our sin.

New revelations sometimes come to us in the valley (v 38 - 50)

Up till now, the disciples thought they had cornered the market on "the Jesus thing". Jesus had to set them straight and let them know his work was bigger than they realized.