After the unveiling of Christ’s Person and His death and resurrection, the Lord went on to say in 9:1, “Truly I tell you, there are some of those standing here who shall by no means taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.” This was fulfilled by the Lord’s transfiguration on the mountain (9:2-13). His transfiguration was the coming of the kingdom of God in power. This was seen by three of His disciples, Peter, James, and John.
The Lord’s transfiguration on the mountain was the coming of the kingdom. This kingdom is actually the enlargement of Christ. First, Christ is sown as a seed into our heart. This seed will then grow and develop until it is manifested in glory. This is the kingdom. The time has not yet come for the kingdom to be manifested in full. However, through His transfiguration Christ demonstrated to three of His disciples what the reality of the kingdom is. When He was transfigured, that was the manifestation of the kingdom of God.
Mark 9:2 says, “And after six days Jesus takes with Him Peter and James and John, and brings them up into a high mountain by themselves alone. And He was transformed before them.” Since the Lord’s transfiguration took place six days after the revelation concerning Christ and His death and resurrection in chapter eight (given at the very foot of Mount Hermon), the high mountain here must be Mount Hermon. To receive the revelation concerning Christ and His death and resurrection, we need to be far away from the religious environment. But to see the vision of the transfigured Christ we need to be on a high mountain, far above the earthly level.
In verse 4 the record continues, “And there appeared to them Elijah together with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.” Moses died and God hid his body (Deut. 34:5-6), and Elijah was taken by God into heaven (2 Kings 2:11). God purposely did these two things so that Moses and Elijah might appear with Christ on the mount of His transfiguration. They were also preserved by God to be the two witnesses in the great tribulation (Rev. 11:3-4). Moses represented the law, and Elijah the prophets. The law and the prophets were the constituents of the Old Testament as a full testimony of Christ (John 5:39). Now Moses and Elijah appeared and conversed with Christ concerning His death (Luke 9:31) as it had been prophesied in the Old Testament (Luke 24:25-27, 44; 1 Cor. 15:3).
On the mountain with the Lord Jesus, Peter, James, and John had a foretaste of the coming kingdom. Here we see a miniature of the millennium. We have the Old Testament saints—Moses and Elijah—and New Testament saints— Peter, James, and John. We may say that Moses, one of the Old Testament saints, signifies the resurrected ones, and Elijah, Peter, James, and John, all living ones, represent those who are raptured.
Peter was very excited, and said to the Lord Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (v. 5). Peter’s absurd proposal was to put Moses and Elijah on the same level with Christ, which means to make the law and the prophets equal to Christ. This was absolutely against God’s economy. In God’s economy the law and the prophets were only a testimony to Christ; they should not be put on the same level with Him.
Mark 9:7 says, “And a cloud came overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, This is My Son, the Beloved. Hear Him!” This declaration of the Father to vindicate the Son was first given after Christ’s rising from baptism, which signified His resurrection from the dead. This instance is the second time the Father declared the same thing, this time to vindicate the Son in His transfiguration, which prefigures the coming kingdom.
In verse 7 God charges us to hear His Son. In God’s economy, now that Christ has come, we should “hear Him,” no longer the law or the prophets, because the law and the prophets were fulfilled in Christ and by Him.
Verse 8 continues, “And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them, except Jesus only.” Peter proposed to keep Moses and Elijah, that is, the law and the prophets, with Christ. But God took Moses and Elijah away, leaving no one “except Jesus only.” The law and the prophets were shadows and prophecies, not the reality; the reality is Christ. Now that Christ, the reality, is here, the shadows and the prophecies are no longer needed. No one except Jesus Himself alone should remain in the New Testament. Jesus is today’s Moses, imparting the law of life into His believers. Jesus is also today’s Elijah, speaking for God and speaking forth God within His believers. This is God’s New Testament economy.
The New Testament age is a matter of Jesus only. We should hear Him, not the law represented by Moses or the prophets represented by Elijah. Christ Himself is the New Testament. Here in chapter nine of Mark a miniature of the millennium appeared briefly as an example that was shown to the Lord’s disciples. Then the scene returned to that of the New Testament age.
Mark 9:9 says, “And as they were coming down from the mountain, He ordered them that they should relate to no one the things which they had seen, except when the Son of Man should rise from the dead.” This indicates that the vision of the transfigured, glorified Jesus could not be realized by anyone except in the resurrection of Christ.
Verse 10 says, “And they kept the matter to themselves, discussing what rising from the dead is.” At that time, Peter, James, and John did not understand what the Lord meant when He said that the Son of Man should rise from the dead. They had seen a vision, but they did not understand it thoroughly. But on the day of Pentecost, when Peter stood up with the eleven, he was clear and could testify strongly concerning Christ’s resurrection. On the day of Pentecost, the central point of Peter’s preaching was the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The resurrection of Christ became the focal point of Peter’s gospel preaching. Peter not only came to understand what the resurrection is, but he himself was in this resurrection. He came to live Christ in His death and resurrection.