Bible What Does This Small Story Tell

Bible

What does this small story tell us about Jesus? Try to discover the central message of this story, and then write it out. Read the stories before and after the text you chose, and write out their main messages.

In Mark 9:19-13, Jesus is being compared and contrasted with Elijah. Elijah is a harbinger of the messiah; not the messiah Himself. Thus, Elijah corresponds symbolically with John the Baptist. The story is one that establishes the true identity of Jesus Christ as Son of Man: a phrase that is used throughout the Bible. Here, the phrase clearly refers to Jesus during the transfiguration.

When the apostles ask, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus replies, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things…Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him," (Mark 9:11-13). Here, a strong connection is drawn between Old Testament prophecy and the coming of Christ. The apostles seem to be asking why Elijah is a necessary messenger, or precursor, to the Christ. Jesus's response is simple: Elijah's role -- like that of John the Baptist -- was to "restore all things." Restoring all things includes ensuring the fulfillment of divine prophecy.

Moreover, Jesus orders the apostles to keep quiet at this juncture. Jesus has on occasion requested that the apostles "not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead," (Mark 9:9). At this point, the apostles have no idea what Jesus entails. They have to contemplate the wording: rising from the dead. Such a miracle of transfiguration had yet to occur; and thus is seemed completely incomprehensible. The main messages in this passage include the truth and necessity of old prophecy; and how old prophecy serves to prove the existence of Christ as Messiah. The passage also establishes John the Baptist as Elijah, who returned to restore order in Christ and establish the new covenant.

2.What is the Gospel writer trying to say to his readers by the way he puts the smaller stories together? Try to discover what the three stories have in common. Write out a paragraph showing the connections between all three stories

The stories before and after Mark 9:9-13 provide a cohesive narrative, albeit one that is divided into helpful segments. The first story that appears in Mark 9 is that of the Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John followed Jesus up a mountain. Jesus has just finished uttering the powerful statement, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power," (Mark 9:1). At the mountaintop, Jesus transforms into a divine glowing white body and stands alongside Elijah and Moses. Here, Jesus is linked to the two most important Jewish prophets. He is alongside them, equal to them in stature, importance, spiritual, and historical relevance. Furthermore, the voice of God penetrates the clouds to say, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" (Mark 9:7). After this, Elijah and Moses both vanish. Jesus has been established as the Son of Man: as if the spiritual potency of both Moses and Elijah has been passed on to Jesus.