St Mark Chapter IX : Verses 1-12
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| This is my most beloved son; hear ye him. J-J Tissot. |
[2] And his garments became shining and exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller upon earth can make white.
[3] And there appeared to them Elias with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.
[4] And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Rabbi, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
[5] For he knew not what he said: for they were struck with fear.
[6] And there was a cloud overshadowing them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying: This is my most beloved son; hear ye him.
[7] And immediately looking about, they saw no man any more, but Jesus only with them.
[8] And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them not to tell any man what things they had seen, till the Son of man shall be risen again from the dead.
[9] And they kept the word to themselves; questioning together what that should mean, when he shall be risen from the dead.
[10] And they asked him, saying: Why then do the Pharisees and scribes say that Elias must come first?
[11] Who answering, said to them: Elias, when he shall come first, shall restore all things; and as it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things and be despised.
[12] But I say to you, that Elias also is come, (and they have done to him whatsoever they would,) as it is written of him.
[1] Et post dies sex assumit Jesus Petrum, et Jacobum, et Joannem, et ducit illos in montem excelsum seorsum solos, et transfiguratus est coram ipsis. [2] Et vestimenta ejus facta sunt splendentia, et candida nimis velut nix, qualia fullo non potest super terram candida facere. [3] Et apparuit illis Elias cum Moyse : et erant loquentes cum Jesu. [4] Et respondens Petrus, ait Jesu : Rabbi, bonum est nos hic esse : et faciamus tria tabernacula, tibi unum, et Moysi unum, et Eliae unum. [5] Non enim sciebat quid diceret : erant enim timore exterriti. [6] Et facta est nubes obumbrans eos : et venit vox de nube, dicens : Hic est Filius meus carissimus : audite illum. [7] Et statim circumspicientes, neminem amplius viderunt, nisi Jesum tantum secum. [8] Et descendentibus illis de monte, praecepit illis ne cuiquam quae vidissent, narrarent : nisi cum Filius hominis a mortuis resurrexerit. [9] Et verbum continuerunt apud se : conquirentes quid esset, cum a mortuis resurrexerit. [10] Et interrogabant eum, dicentes : Quid ergo dicunt pharisæi et scribae, quia Eliam oportet venire primum? [11] Qui respondens, ait illis : Elias cum venerit primo, restituet omnia : et quomodo scriptum est in Filium hominis, ut multa patiatur et contemnatur. [12] Sed dico vobis quia et Elias venit ( et fecerunt illi quæcumque voluerunt) sicut scriptum est de eo.
Notes
1. after six days. “ St Luke says, after eight days, not contradicting St Mark, but most fully agreeing with him. The one expressed both the day on which Jesus spoke ( i.e . His discourse on His Passion) and that on which He led them up, but St Mark speaks only of the days between.” (St Chrysostom, hom, lvi.) The Jews generally reckoned time inclusively (cf. after three days he shall rise again), each part of a day being counted as a whole.
taketh with him Peter and J ames and John. As He had done when He raised Jairus’ daughter. They were to be the three privileged witnesses of His Transfiguration, that they might be strengthened to witness His agony in Gethsemani ; St Peter, the future Vicar of Christ, St James, the first of the Apostles who suffered martyrdom, and St John, the beloved disciple.
Note. — “ Three” was the number of witnesses legally exacted by the Jewish law. There were also three heavenly witnesses, God the Father, Moses, Elias.
leadeth them up. “Took” (St Luke), “brought them up” (St Matt.) ; in like manner, on Ascension Day He led them out as far as Bethania (St Luke xxiv. 50). An ancient tradition points out Mount Thabor as the scene of the Transfiguration. It lies to the north-east of the plain of Esdrælon, and stands nearly two thousand feet above sea-level. Later commentators, chiefly non-Catholic, prefer Hermon as the “ high mountain ” in question. The older tradition, however, seems to have greater weight. Two churches, now in ruins, built on Mount Thabor, one by St Helena, probably the other by the Crusaders, testify to the antiquity of this tradition.
apart by themselves. He led them apart, and then retired Himself to pray ; the ordinary prelude to some event of great moment.
transfigured: changed in outward appearance. St Luke tells us that whilst he prayed the shape (i.e. the appearance) of his countenance was altered (ix. 29). St Matthew says, His face did shine as the sun (xvii. 2). Our Lord appeared in glory ; the Divine Nature, habitually concealed, now revealed Itself by glorifying the humanity of our Lord. In reality, it was less a miracle than the cessation of the miracle, which had thus kept the Divinity hidden in the Sacred Humanity since the Incarnation. The “clarity” of Jesus’ body was thus visible to the Apostles. The bodies of the just after the resurrection will have the four qualities of clarity , impassibility , agility and spirituality.
2. garments became shining, etc. All three Evangelists note the brightness of our Lord’s garments, and the words failed them to express their dazzling whiteness. They glistened like snow. Perhaps the snow-capped peaks of Lebanon suggested the comparison.
fuller. One whose trade it is to bleach and cleanse linen.
3. there appeared to them, etc. The three disciples, when thoroughly aroused from their drowsiness, perceived Moses and Elias. St Luke has Two men were talking with him, and they were Moses and Elias (ix. 30). The sign from Heaven demanded by the haughty Pharisees, and refused to them, was granted to the three lowly disciples. The Apostles were heavy with sleep (ix. 32). Some commentators are of opinion that they did not actually give way to sleep, since the words of St Luke, waking they saw him, etc., would, in the original Greek, be better translated “ nevertheless remaining awake.” Others conclude that they actually slept, but were aroused by the brightness of the light and the voices.
Elias with Moses. The Apostles could only know who they were either —
(a) By a special revelation.
(b) By the conversation which took place.
(c) Perhaps by their appearing as the Jews generally represented them.
Note.— Moses was the great lawgiver, Elias one of the greatest of the prophets. Hence their apparition with Jesus proved that these leaders whom the Jews professed to follow and obey ( i.e. the Law and the Prophets) acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah.
were talking with Jesus. They spoke of his decease that he should accomplish in Jerusalem (St Luke ix. 31). This vision corroborated our Lord’s previous prophecy, and mentioned the place of His death. The original word is “ exodus ” or “ going forth.”
4. Peter , answering. As ardent and impetuous as ever. No one had addressed St Peter ; the expression is an ordinary Hebrew idiom meaning “ saying.”
Rabbi. The usual title of respect given to the Jewish teachers.
it is good, etc. : literally “ it is very agreeable.” St Peter thought it preferable to remain there, that thus our Lord might avoid His enemies in Jerusalem.
three tabernacles. Tents of wattled boughs, such as were used at the Feast of Tabernacles. St Peter said these words as Moses and Elias were departing, possibly in hopes of detaining them. “ The Law and the Prophets pass, but Christ remains.”
5. he knew not what he said. He was too much overcome by fear and other emotions to reflect that the Son of man must suffer many things, and that to remain on the Mount of the Transfiguration would be to frustrate this design.
they were struck with fear. The original is extremely expressive, and implies very great dread or terror.
6. there was a cloud overshadowing them. Moses and Elias had disappeared, and now Jesus and His three Apostles seem to be enveloped in a “bright” cloud. Probably it was the Shechinah or visible glory of God. “ Because it was His desire not to alarm but to teach, it is a bright cloud ” (St Chrysostom ), not a “ very thick” one, as on Mount Sinai.
a voice came out. The voice of God bearing witness to His Beloved Son. The same words are repeated that were uttered at our Lord’s baptism, with the addition Hear ye him. On hearing the Voice, the Apostles fell on their faces and remained thus, until Jesus came and touched them , and said to them , Arise, and fear not (St Matt. xvii. 7).
This is my most beloved Son, etc. , — i.e. my Son, the Beloved . The original expression means the only-begotten Son by eternal generation, not “ a son of God ” by adoption, like the blessed and those in a state of grace. St Matthew alone gives the words in full, “ in whom I am well pleased.”
7. immediately looking about, etc. Either to see if Moses and Elias had returned, or perhaps with no definite intention, as men gaze about in fear and trembling when greatly terrified.
Jesus only with them. Their Master was there to reassure them by His loving “ Fear not.” The vision was now over.
8. He charged them, etc. Possibly one reason for this prohibition was, that Jesus did not wish to raise hopes of a Messiah who should triumph as an earthly king. They were not even to reveal it to the other nine apostles, since they were not to tell any man.
what things. The vision, the conversation, etc.
till the Son of man shall be risen , etc. These words puzzled the Apostles greatly. They had seen Elias, who was to come, and had heard Jesus speak of His passion, and now their lips are sealed as regards the vision until after our Lord’s Resurrection. Hence it is to take place in their lifetime, and He was not referring to the resurrection of the last day.
9. they kept the word. They obeyed the injunction to keep silence, unlike those whom our Lord had healed, and told not to reveal who had cured them.
10. Elias must come first, — i.e. before the Messiah. Possibly the Pharisees had justified their rejection of Christ on the plea that Elias had not yet come.
11. Elias , when he shall come, etc. The prophecies of Malachias run thus, Behold I send my angel , and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord , whom you seek, and the Angel of the testament whom you desire , shall come to His temple. Behold He cometh, saith the Lord of hosts (iii. 1). Behold I will send you Elias the prophet , before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children , and the heart of the children to their fathers : lest I come, and strike the earth with anathema (iv. 5, 6). They refer to two different advents of the Messiah and to two precursors ; likewise Jesus in His answer distinguishes between the two precursors ; Elias shall indeed come before the second advent and restore all things, preparing all hearts for the coming of the Lord .... Secondly, Elias is already come, before My first advent, in the person of the Baptist, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they had a mind (A. J. Maas , S.J. ). This interpretation is given by Origen, Victorinus, St Chrysostom, St Jerome, St Augustine, and all other later Catholic writers of weight. St Matthew adds that when Jesus had answered His disciples’ question concerning Elias, Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them of John the Baptist (xvii. 13).
Note I. — The Transfiguration naturally made a deep impression on the three Apostles. St James the Great did not live long enough to leave his impressions in writing, but St Peter, about thirty-five years after the event, thus wrote, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ : but having been made eye-witness of his majesty. For he received from God the Father, honour and glory : this voice coming down to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I have pleased myself, hear ye him. And this voice we heard brought from heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 St Peter i. 16, 17, 18). St John also evidently had the Transfiguration in mind when he wrote the following passages -.— And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only -begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth (St John i. 14). That which was from the beginning, which we have heard , which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life (1 St John i. 1).
Note II. — There are three details peculiar to St Mark in this narration :
(a) “ so as no fuller upon earth can make white.”
(b) the disciples “looking around.”
(c) their “ questioning together ” concerning Christ's Resurrection.
Additional Notes
The three narratives of the Transfiguration harmonised.
St Matt. xvii. 1-13. St Mark ix. 1-12. St Luke ix. 28- 36.
(1) It took place on the eighth day (inclusive) after St Peter’s confession of faith.
(2) Jesus leads Peter, James and John apart up a high mountain.
(3) Jesus prays, and is transfigured ; Moses and Elias appear and speak with Him concerning His “ decease.”
(4) The Apostles are aroused from their drowsiness, hear the voices, and see Christ transfigured.
(5) As Moses and Elias are departing, Peter proposes to build three tabernacles.
(6) While he is speaking a bright cloud overshadowed them and they were afraid when they entered into the cloud.
(7) A heavenly Voice is heard saying, “ This is my beloved Son,” etc. ; while this Voice is speaking, Jesus was found alone.
(8) The Apostles fell upon their faces in fear.
(9) Jesus touches them and says, “ Arise and be not afraid.”
(10) They look up “ immediately ” and see no man, but Jesus only with them.
(11) He charges them to tell no man, until after His Resurrection.
(12) They obey, but question among themselves.
Sequence of events leading up to the Transfiguration.
(A) Jesus is rejected by the Pharisees, and He departs from them and leaves Galilee.
(B) St Peter made his glorious confession of faith in Christ as the Messias, at Cæsarea Philippi, and acknowledged His Divinity.
(C) Jesus reveals to St Peter his future greatness as Head of the Church.
(D) The mysteries of the Passion are gradually unfolded to the disciples. St Peter rejects the idea of a suffering Messias.
(E) Jesus teaches that self-renunciation is necessary for all His followers.
(F) The Transfiguration reveals to the favoured three, that Christ is the Messias of whom the Prophets spoke, and the Voice from heaven proclaims Jesus to be the “ Son of God.”
Where the Transfiguration took place
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| Locations of Mt Thabor and Mt Hermon. |
(a) It is a very old tradition established on the authority of ancient writers, St Jerome (378), St Cyril (378), Venerable Bede (731) ; and among later writers we have Maldonatus (1583), Barraclas (1 615), Cornelius a Lapide (1637), etc.
(b) The churches now in ruins, built on Mount Thabor by St Helena (probably) and by the Crusaders, shew the general acceptation of this tradition.
(c) Mount Thabor can be called “ a high mountain,” since it is about 2000 feet above sea-level. A fortress had stood there before the time of Christ. Some assert that it was then in ruins, and only rebuilt some years later, but this cannot be proved.
(d) After the Transfiguration, on coming down from the mountain, Jesus and His three apostles found the other nine apostles with “a great multitude about them, and the scribes disputing with them.” This could scarcely have happened at the foot of Mount Hermon, which was comparatively a desert place.
(e) The Apostles were endeavouring to exorcise “ a dumb spirit,” and our Lord had particularly forbidden them to exercise their ministry in the territory of the Gentiles.
(f) Christ and His Apostles could easily have travelled from Cæsarea Philippi to Mount Thabor in six days.
(g) After the casting out of the dumb spirit we are told that Christ and His Apostles “abode together in Galilee” (St Matt. xvii. 21).
On the other hand, those who favour the view that Christ was .transfigured on Mount Hermon or some other mountain base their opinion on the following facts : —
(1) The fortress on Mount Thabor, even if in ruins, would probably have been inhabited.
(2) Christ would not at once have returned to Galilee, where He was so generally persecuted.
(3) When St Matthew states that Jesus and His disciples “abode together in Galilee” (xvii. 21), He must have gone there later secretly, since St Mark tells us, “ departing from thence, they passed through Galilee, and He would not that any man should know it” (ix. 29).
We cannot therefore decide the question absolutely, but the weightier arguments seem to be in favour of Mount Thabor, especially when we remember how tenacious the Orientals are as regards local traditions, and how religiously they hand them down, from generation to generation.
The bright cloud. In holy Scripture, God is frequently represented as revealing His presence and majesty by a “ cloud.” Thus we read, “ behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud” (Exod. xvi. 10). “ Lo, now will I come to thee in the darkness of a cloud,” etc. (xix. 9). “ Who makest the clouds thy chariot,” etc. ( Ps . ciii. 3). Many other texts might be cited. St Luke says “ they were afraid when they entered into the cloud ” (ix. 34). It has been questioned to whom the “ they ” refers. Did the disciples enter the cloud ? The most common opinion is that they did, for certainly the first “ they ” refers to the Apostles, and why should they be afraid at seeing the vision disappear ? It would seem that all entered the cloud, then Moses and Elias gradually disappeared. St Peter spoke as though he would hold them back, then the Voice was heard when Jesus was alone and still transfigured.
The time of the Transfiguration. Was it night or day? The general consensus of opinion leans to night, since —
(a) Jesus retired to pray, and He was accustomed to retire thus at night.
(b) The Apostles were heavy with sleep, hence we may conclude it was night.
(c) St Luke tells us “ the day following, when they came down from the mountain, there met him a great multitude,” etc. This looks as though our Lord and His Apostles had passed the night on the mountain, and that the next day the nine Apostles and the multitude were going up the mount to seek Him and implore His aid.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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