Verse for the week of February 19^th:

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

  (Mark 9:9)

This verse comes at the end of the episode of the transfiguration—where Jesus goes up on a mountain and is changed to a dazzling white and appears with Moses and Elijah.

Try to imagine if you were one of the three disciples that went up on the mountain with Jesus.  What would be your response if you saw this unbelievable event?  Would you have wanted to build a tent/dwelling like Peter?  Would you have wanted to make a memorial at the spot (like happens so often in our culture today with something happens—think about how people brought thing when Whitney Houston died or the people at Penn State that left memorials with everything that happened there in the past year)?

At the least, you would want to tell people what you saw.  And in our culture today, most people would have wanted to take a picture or video and post it on Facebook or on YouTube.  Most of us would have wanted to share the fact that we witness something strange and marvelous.

Yet, Jesus is very clear in his instructions to the disciples.  Tell no one.  At least not until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Why not tell people?  Why wait till that time when the Son of Man rises?  Why not now?

I think the simple answer is that it was not the right time.  This event of the transfiguration was a sign of glory; however, Jesus does not want the disciples to be focused upon this type of glory.  Jesus has a completely different understanding of what his glory should be.  Jesus comes in glory—not by being transfigured or changed into dazzling white, but his glory comes in its ultimate form when he gives his life on the cross.  Jesus’ sense of glory is very counter-cultural.  It is not as the world would understand it, but his glory comes as he fulfills his ultimate mission—redeeming the entire world to himself through his death and resurrection.

Thus, Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone until the Son of Man rises again—for it is only through the event of Jesus’ death and resurrection that we can understand properly this event of the transfiguration.