Mark 09: A Glimpse of Glory

The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain offers a rare glimpse of His divine nature as His appearance transforms and He meets with Moses and Elijah, representing a pivotal moment in His ministry. We see the stark contrast between this glorious encounter and the immediate return to earthly troubles as Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy whose father utters the relatable words, "I believe; help my unbelief."

• Jesus reveals His glory on the mountain with Peter, James, and John present
• Moses and Elijah appear, representing the Law and Prophets affirming Jesus
• God's voice declares "This is my dearly loved Son, listen to him"
• Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy when His disciples couldn't
• A father's honest prayer: "I believe; help my unbelief"
• Jesus predicts His death and resurrection, though disciples don't understand
• The disciples argue about who is greatest, missing Jesus' point about service
• Jesus uses children as examples of true greatness in God's kingdom
• Being "salt" means adding value to everything and everyone we encounter
• Glory is found not just in supernatural experiences but in serving others

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Mark Chapter 9
• 4:37 The Transfiguration on the Mountain
• 7:57 Healing the Demon-Possessed Boy
• 10:42 Jesus Predicts His Death
• 13:04 Being Salt and Living in Peace
• 15:45 Finding Glory in Everyday Acts

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:24

Well, hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, mark, chapter 9, and today's title is A Glimpse of Glory, a glimpse, a little peek at something absolutely beautiful and my opinion. I believe that the topic of today, the scripture we're going to cover today, is probably one of the least celebrated passages of scripture in all of the four gospels, and so I don't know. You may agree with that. We'll find out, We'll get into all in just a moment. So, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to Mark, chapter nine, get your coffee, get all your stuff While you're doing that, if you're new around here, make sure you take just a moment, like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure to leave us a five-star review on the podcast. Also I think I mentioned this a few days ago Some people have been telling me that there's all kinds of different podcast apps and we try our best to be available on every single one of those, and what happens is is, if you leave us a five-star review on your app, it doesn't necessarily leave a five-star review on Apple, itunes or whatever.

Speaker 0: 1:28

So make sure, whatever app you are using, you leave us a five-star review, because what it does is it tells the algorithms and stuff that this particular podcast whatever needs to be in our search engines, and so that's the reason why we ask you to do that is it helps us get the word out. Also, make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people just adding value to God's Word by teaching us God's Word every day on that account, and you can get all that information at thebiblebreakdowncom. Well, as you can tell, we're about halfway through maybe just a little bit further than halfway through our walk through the Gospel of Mark and, as we talked about back at the very beginning, we talked about the idea that there are four different gospels. Right, you have Matthew, mark, luke and John, and the reason why God called there to be four different gospels is because there's four different ways of looking at what Jesus' ministry was all about and four different ways to talk to different groups of people. So, for instance, matthew is really what was written primarily to the Jewish audience Now, at the same time, it's for all of us, but it was to help the Jewish audience see Jesus as king.

Speaker 0: 2:38

The book of Luke was all about a chronological narrative. The Bible says that Luke went and he talked to these different people and he put it together and he put it in order. Luke went and he talked to these different people and he put it together and he put it in order. John's gospel, the fourth one, was intended to really focus on the message of Jesus, and Mark was all about some action. It was let's get down to business, and that's why we call the gospel of Mark the gospel in motion. He just jumps straight in and goes for it. But one of the things that he includes is what the other Gospels also include, and it is what's called the Mount of Transfiguration. It is a moment when Jesus sets up his earthly process of a transition between okay, I have been with the people, now I'm preparing to go and die on the cross. There is a transition that happens here, and you can really feel the momentum just go even higher after this moment, and I just think that sometimes we forget that Jesus was God in the flesh. So he is fully man, fully God, and for just a moment he gives us a glimpse of who he really is, that he is a man, he's also God, and it's just powerful. So we're going to read this and just talk about what's going on in this moment. So, if you're ready, mark.

Speaker 0: 3:58

Chapter nine, verse one says this Jesus went on to say I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the kingdom of God arrive in great power. And then he talks about how that happened. Verse 2. Was transformed and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed Rabbi, it's wonderful for us to be here. Let's make three shelters as memorials one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. He said this because he didn't really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said this is my dearly loved son, listen to him. Suddenly, when they looked around, moses and Elijah were gone and they saw only Jesus with them as they went back down the mountain. He told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of man had risen from the dead.

Speaker 0: 5:13

Now pause real quick. We'll come back to this at the end, but don't forget that phrase Son of man. He's talking about himself. He is actually calling himself the Messiah because, according to the book of Daniel, that was going to be one of the things you were going to call the Messiah. So he's literally saying that, until I have done it, and he's calling himself the Messiah. All right, verse 10. It says so. They kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by rising from the dead. Then they asked him why did the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? Jesus responded Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the scriptures say that the Son of man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt? I tell you, elijah has already come and they chose to abuse him, just as the scriptures predicted.

Speaker 0: 6:06

So let's pause for a moment to kind of break this down. First of all, it is amazing to think that this is Peter telling what happened. Right, he's telling it to Mark, mark's writing it down. So he literally says because we wonder if you read it in the other gospels like why in the world did Peter say let's do all this whatever? Well, he literally says the reason why I said this is because I didn't really know what else to say I was blown away by this. I wanted to honor this amazing moment. So I just kind of said something. It's very honest and self-aware of Peter, right, but then also, why are they so curious about Elijah and all that? Well, here's the thing At that moment, if they hadn't already fully realized it and they had. But at that moment they realize Jesus really is the Messiah. So they're starting to kind of pull back in their minds, go back in their minds and go, okay, what is everything I knew about the Messiah? And they go wait a minute, all the teachers of religious law said that when the Messiah comes, elijah is going to come first, as his hype man, basically. And they're like, well, wait a minute, where's Elijah? And Jesus is kind of correcting them and going not literally Elijah, guys, it's someone to come with the same spirit and some of the same tenacity as Elijah, and he's already come. Do you know who that would be? You know like, well, the only other guy who's been really awesome is John, john the Baptist. So they're putting it all together. Now that one piece of Jesus truly is the Messiah is causing all the other pieces to kind of come together for them. Okay, verse 14.

Speaker 0: 7:34

When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe and they ran to greet him. What is all this arguing about? Jesus, asked. One of the men in the crowd, spoke up and said Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed of an evil spirit and he won't let him talk, and whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and he grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't do it. And Jesus said to them you faithless people, how long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.

Speaker 0: 8:21

So they brought the boy, but when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion. He fell to the ground writhing and foaming at the mouth. How long has this been happening, jesus, asked the boy's father. He replied ever since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us if you can. What do you mean, if I can? Jesus asked Anything is possible for a person if they believe? And the father instantly cried out I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.

Speaker 0: 8:56

Now, pause, what's going on here? Jesus isn't challenging this guy or anything like that. He's giving him hope. He's saying if anything can be done and you can hear the desperation in this poor father who sees his son and he's just desperate and it's almost the idea that he's kind of given up. And he's saying wait a minute, if you can believe, if I can help, brother, anything's possible. So he's reminding him that it's not over with yet and that's where the father's going. Yes, I want to still believe. I'm just so tired. Help my unbelief. And so Jesus is encouraging the father and healing the son. Verse 25,.

Speaker 0: 9:30

When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit and said listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak. I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again. Then the spirit screamed, threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared dead and a murmur ran through the crowd as the people said he's dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet and he stood up. Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit? Jesus replied this kind can be cast out Only by prayer.

Speaker 0: 10:09

Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know where he was, for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them the Son of man, in other words the Messiah, is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead. They didn't understand what he was saying, however. They were afraid to ask him what he meant.

Speaker 0: 10:35

After they arrived at Capernaum that was the kind of the ministry headquarters of Jesus and settled in a house, jesus asked his disciples what were you discussing out on the road? They didn't answer because they had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the 12 disciples over to him and said Then he put a little child among them, taking the child in his arms. He said to them Anyone who welcomes a little child like this one on my behalf, welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father, who sent me. John said to Jesus Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn't in our group. I won't stop him, jesus said. No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth. That person will surely be rewarded.

Speaker 0: 11:38

But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter into eternal life with one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It's better for you to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out, for everyone will be tested with fire. Salt is good for seasoning, but if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have these qualities of salt among yourselves to live in peace with each other.

Speaker 0: 12:33

So he really ends on this amazing note, and there's so much in this chapter. First, we see a glimpse of the glory of God by the physical manifestation that Jesus. For a moment he turns into the supernatural part of himself and they're able to see him. It's just probably the fraction of 1% of his glory. A full moment of glory would have just destroyed everybody there. It's just too powerful. So for a little bit of his glory. And they saw Moses and they saw Elijah, and most scholars believe that that's a representation of the law and the prophets both at agreement that he is the Messiah and it's this amazing moment. And then he comes back down and remember we talked about this before One of the reasons why you have so many encounters of Jesus with overcoming demons because the Bible says in John that Jesus did so many things that if they were to write them all down.

Speaker 0: 13:30

All the books in the world couldn't keep up with it. But they purposely put in a lot of these spiritual encounters. The reason why was because one of the marks of the coming Messiah was going to be the ability to have power over evil spirits, and so one of the things they are doing over and over again is they're validating the ministry of Jesus. So he does that. And then I love how he ends this with talking about a glimpse of the glory from the inside. And he says he went away. He's trying to get away with his disciples to teach and train them.

Speaker 0: 14:03

And then, when he does, eventually he says salt is good for seasoning, but if it loses its flavor, how will you make it salty again?

Speaker 0: 14:10

You must have these qualities of salt among yourselves so you can live in peace with one another. Well, what does salt do? It adds flavor. It's got a little bite to it. It helps to season other things that may not be very good by themselves. You know, it just brings out the good things. Salt has all kinds of things. And he says you want to live in peace, be salty. In our current context, be salty means have a little bit of an attitude. Jesus isn't saying that. He's saying let your life add value to everything it touches. If you think about it, once something becomes salty, it's not the same anymore. It either can ruin something, it can preserve something, it can make something taste better, it can bring out, but everything it encounters it has changed because of it. And one of the things that Jesus is saying is you want to live in peace, make sure you go first and you go to be a blessing, not just receive a blessing.

Speaker 0: 15:08

And so that whole point of this chapter is a glimpse of the glory of God, not just physically, but a glimpse of the glory that can happen within us when we begin to live according to his teaching. And that leaves us with the question of the day In your life. Are you looking for moments when you can experience the glory of God, or do you not always think about that? Let me give you an example, though experiencing the glory of God is often not something that happens on Sunday mornings during the third song, or right there at the, the time when we go we come for prayer, whatever it absolutely can happen during those moments. The glory of God is not always an experience that we have, but sometimes it is an investment we make in others. Sometimes the greatest moments of experiencing the power of God is not when we're on the receiving end, but we're on the giving end and we're making a difference in someone's life.

Speaker 0: 16:04

Let me give you a challenge today. Today, with no desire for any return, make an investment in someone's life. Maybe it's buying somebody else's lunch, maybe it's offering a kind word, maybe it's just being a listening ear, and do it as an act of worship, saying God, I'm going to serve this person as though I'm serving you, and watch what happens. In those moments you may get to see a glimpse of the glory of God. You get to see light return in somebody's eyes and when they say thank you so much, say hey, I just wanted to worship God with you today, and I feel like that this was a special moment that we were able to share this.

Speaker 0: 16:43

Watch what happens, watch how you can see the glory of God. And it's not always in a song, in a sermon, in a Sunday morning encounter, even though it happens then but we can experience the glory of God every day through small, intentional acts of kindness where we are the body of Christ together. Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us and that you're for us. I'm thankful, god, for the big moments where we get a glimpse of your glory, just like they got in today's chapter. But I'm also thankful for the little moments of glimpses of your glory as we take steps of faith together, as we encourage one another, as we're the body of Christ together.

Speaker 0: 17:22

Some of the greatest moments are not in massive encounters but in small moments of glory. I pray we'll get a glimpse of that today. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. God's word says in Mark 8, verse 34,. It says if anyone would come after me, then deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. We serve a God worth following. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Mark, chapter 10.