Mark 9:49-50

Mark 9 ⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.

The past couple of passages were controversial. This passage is not controversial, but it is a bit random, very metaphoric, and in my humble opinion, confusing. What is this fire that Mark is talking about? The last couple of verses talk about the fires of hell., and yet everyone will be salted with it? Also, in verse 50, “salt is good.” Let’s look at a parallel passage in Matthew.

Matthew 5 ¹¹ Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ¹³ You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The way things transition here imply that Jesus had been speaking about persecution during this talk. Perhaps, then, the salt in verse 49 is persecution (or just trial in general, which everyone will face in their lifetime). And from the Matthew passage (and common sense) we see that salt make taste stronger, it makes it stand out. In the same way, persecution emboldens a faith. But not all salt is persecution. The salt in verse 49 is fire, persecution and trial, but the salt in verse 50 is peaceful. Faith is also emboldened when believers gather together. We are called to support each other, and we have roles in the church like teaching and rebuking and encouraging.

So, salt in general is that which emboldens faith. Everyone will be salted with fire, trial so great that it can be likened to the trials of hell mentioned in verse 48, though of course those will not end. But a believer may become content in their faith, and fall into the trap of “I’m already saved, I know it all, I’m alright with God.” Jesus warns us that we must continually salt ourselves, that we need to be recommiting our lives to him every day, and not lose our passion for justice and forgiveness – this is what will make us stand out, and be salt and light a world which tolerates injustice and selfishness.

Mark 9:2-13

The Transfiguration

 Mark 9 ²After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. ³His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.  ⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)  ⁷Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”  ⁸Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.  ⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. ¹¹And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” ¹²Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? ¹³But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”

Matthew 17 ¹After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ²There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.  ⁴Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁵While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” ⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” ⁸When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.  ⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” ¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Luke 9 ²⁸About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. ²⁹As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. ³⁰Two men, Moses and Elijah, ³¹appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. ³²Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) ³⁴While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” ³⁶When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.

First of all, I would like to preface with a definition of transfiguration: to exalt, glorify, to emit divine radiance. Because of the appearance of Elijah and Moses and the root meanings of “trans” and “figure” I wrongly assumed that this was talking about Jesus transforming into Elijah and Moses, but this is not the case. The title “transfiguration” is referring to the part of the passage when God exalts Jesus.

Okay, so now we have the weirdness of the appearance of Elijah and Moses. It is important that Jesus establishes historical credibility. If God is real then he should have been at work long before Jesus – he should have been present since the beginning of time. Jesus is saying that he is the God of Moses and Elijah, men of the past. Moses brought the law of God, which showed that 1 – God has a standard for righteousness and 2 – that we can never please God by our works. The law was never meant to save, but rather to bring attention to our need for a savior. Jesus is that savior. Elijah was a dedicated prophet who may simply represent all of the prophets – all of whom pointed to our need to acknowledge God, our need for a savior, and the anticipation of the coming Messiah (again that is Jesus). Also, we see Jesus clearing up some confusion from the literalist interpretation of the Pharisees of Malachi 4:5. Elijah was persecuted by his king, and John the Baptist was persecuted by his king, both were pushed into the wilderness, both were bold in their message of repentance.

So why does this event happen? In this scene, we are given a glimpse of the glory of heaven. Here we have two men who have passed on from the earth but have/will go to heaven through faith in God’s promise of the Messiah. One has died before the Messiah, one was taken up directly to heaven without dying, and the disciples present will one day go to heaven through their faith in the power of Jesus’ sacrifice which will take place soon. And God exalts Jesus, also showing us that he more than just a man – he is worthy of our praise. He the Son of Man – God in the form of a human.

Another important point to take away from the event is righteous fear of God the Father. When God’s cloud appears, the disciples are literally knocked to the ground. We should always remember to fear the Lord – fear his perfection because when we hold up our lives to it we fall so short. Fear his love because of its great power. Fear his power because any pride we have in our own abilities apart from him is completely unjustified. Because of Jesus we need not fear condemnation from God,  but that should not lessen our awe of him, we shouldn’t feel too comfortable, too “buddy-buddy” with God. God is more amazing, more clever, wise, and knowledgable, more loving, gracious, and good than we can ever imagine – and this should strike righteous fear into our hears – fear of living any life that is not focused on him – fear of dishonoring such an amazing God. We need not fear his wrath or his opinion of us – he holds us in the highest esteem – but we should fear ourselves and the ability we have to reject God from our lives.

Why needn’t we fear his wrath? Because of Jesus. Through Jesus, and Jesus only, not because of any good work we’ve done can we have a relationship with God. And Jesus illustrates this in this passage as he is the one who gently touches the disciples and says “Get up, don’t be afraid.” We should rejoice when we hear these words – by ourselves we can only fear God’s perfection as we realize that we have willingly brought destruction upon ourselves by denying it – but with Jesus we can rejoice as our sinfulness is taken away and God in his glory looks at us as completely clean and his spirit takes root in us and transforms us to live for God’s perfect will and brings us closer and closer to God our Father, whom we were built to be in a relationship with.

Jesus is preparing the disciples to understand what is about to happen. They clearly still don’t fully understand, as they come down the mountain after conversing with Jesus, Moses and Elijah they discuss what “rising from the dead” meant, but they can look back on this event after the fact and see what Jesus was trying to show them, and use it to spread the word, so that one day Matthew, Mark and Luke include it in their Gospels as an event important to understanding Jesus’ story.

References:

http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/mark-lbw.htm

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=49&source=1&seq=i.48.9.1