This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday in Lent in Lectionary Cycle B. The first eight chapters of the Gospel according to Mark have been a display of the teachings, authority, and power of Jesus. These chapters include accounts of healings, casting out of demons, and the miracle feeding of more than 4,000 people – and yet the question still remains: who is this person Jesus? At Caesarea Philippi Jesus asks the disciples who the people say that he is (8:27) and receives a variety of answers: “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And then the question is turned to the disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” 

Many scholars see this as a turning point in Mark in which Jesus begins to prepare his disciples for the events that will unfold in Jerusalem. It is at the revelation at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus first predicts his Passion (8:31-33) and teaches that being a true disciple means one must take up the cross daily (8:34-9:1). Soon enough there will be a second prediction of his own Passion, but before that we come to the narrative of the Transfiguration.

“After six days…” is a rather precise temporal reference that is unusual in Mark. Many see a connection to Moses’ experience on Sinai (Exodus 24:15-16). There Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day the Lord called Moses from the cloud. A few scholars want to place this event six days after the Day of Atonement which is the Festivals of Booths (Tabernacles).

But the most immediate reference likely points back to the events of Caesarea Philippi and Peter’s profession of Jesus as Messiah (8:27-30), but one should also not overlook Mark 9:1, the verse immediately preceding our text: He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.” This verse should really be part of Mark 8 as it is part of the complex of encouragement in the face of the Passion predictions and warnings of the necessity to take up one’s cross. The unveiling of Jesus’ glory in the presence of the three disciples corresponds to the assurance that some will indeed see.

Image credit: Detail of “The Transfiguration of Jesus” by Raphael (1516-1520) | Vatican Museum | PD-US