Mark 9:1
Introduction
In this study I am going to do something quite different. Most bible studies of Chapter 9 start with the first 13 verses under the heading of the Transfiguration. However, Verse 1 is not part of the Transfiguration as we will see. So, you might be thinking that studying just one verse is going to make this a very short study, but that’s not going to be the case. I am going to use this one difficult verse as an exercise in how to interpret scripture properly.
Bear this in mind as we examine today’s passage.
Verse 1
The statement given by Jesus in this verse is a prophecy. Jesus is saying that a certain thing will happen in the future. We know that it is a future event because He gives a timeline for it to happen. What is the timeline? That some of those listening to him will see this before they die.
This future event will only be seen by some of them. Some of them will die before it happens. This tells us that the event will happen within the lifetime of some of the people that Jesus is talking to. So, from where we are standing, two thousand years later, this event has already taken place.
Jesus describes the event as a time when the Kingdom of God will come in power. So, what was this event and when did it happen? It might help if I tell you that there is no consensus among the theologians about what Jesus was talking about.
These are the ideas that I have come across in my research for this study:
• It’s the Transfiguration
• It’s the Resurrection
• It’s the Ascension
• It’s the Feast of Pentecost event
• It’s the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70AD
• It’s the Second Coming
So, how are we going to resolve this problem? In order to arrive at an interpretation of a text we need to examine it carefully and ask some key questions. So, let’s do that to see if we can identify the event.
However, before we do that, I need to point out an important fact. When the various books in the Bible were originally written, there were no chapters and verses. These were added much later to help us navigate the Bible. So, Verse 1 of Chapter 9 could just as easily have been the last verse in Chapter 8. Indeed, this is what we find in Matthew and Luke’s versions of the same events.
Let’s start to ask some questions:
When did Jesus make this statement? It was six days before the Transfiguration. See verse 2. This tells us that Jesus did not say it during the Transfiguration. It was on a separate occasion and had no direct connection with the Transfiguration. However, He could have been talking about the Transfiguration before it happened.
If Jesus was talking about the Transfiguration, there’s something odd about His prophecy in relationship to it. It would mean that some of those who He was speaking to would die within six days. Why didn’t Jesus just say that the coming of the kingdom in power will happen in just a few days.
Let’s try another question. Who was Jesus talking to when He made this statement? He was talking to the same people that He was talking to at the end of Chapter 8. We know this because there is a conjunction at the beginning of Verse 1. A conjunction is a word that connects two sentences. The word ‘and’ is a conjunction. So, Verse 1 of Chapter 9 is part of the teaching that Jesus was giving at the end of Chapter 8. Remember what I said earlier about chapters and verses. Do not take them into account when studying a text.
Because Verse 1 is in Chapter 9 and the Transfiguration only involves the disciples, people often make the mistake of thinking that Jesus is talking to the disciples alone.
At the end of Chapter 8 Jesus was talking to the ‘crowd’ and His disciples. We see this in Verse 34 of Chapter 8. This means that Jesus made His statement to a lot more than just twelve men. Now it makes sense when Jesus said that some of them would die before the event happens. The larger the group the more chance there is that some of them would die before it happens.
Let’s try another question. What is the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom in which Jesus reigns over those who believe in Him. So, we have Jesus as Lord and we have a group of people that He reigns over. The collective name for those who believe in Jesus is the Church. So, in His prophecy, Jesus is talking about the Church coming with power. This power is the divine miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.
So, let’s sum up what we have learnt through these questions about the event that Jesus spoke about:
• Jesus made His prophecy six days before the Transfiguration
• The event He was talking about would happen within the life time of some of those He said it to
• It was not something that only the twelve disciples would see
• It was about the Church coming in power
• The power that the Church would have, would be the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.
So, what event was Jesus talking about? I believe that Jesus was talking about what happened on the Feast of Pentecost after Jesus had ascended into heaven. We read about it in Acts 2:1-4. That was the day that the Church came into being. And it was the day when the Church received the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus spoke about that day in Acts 1:8 He said that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. It happened within the life time of some of those who heard the prophecy from Jesus. We know that Judas died before that day. And it was a momentous game changing event in the Kingdom of God. That’s my conclusion but you’re free to disagree with me.
I hope you have found this to be a useful exercise in understanding how to interpret scripture.