HELP THOU MY UNBELIEF
Mark 9: 2-9

March 2, 2003

I. THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS, THE REVELATION OF JESUS’ GLORIOUS AND TRANSCENDENT SONSHIP’, TO THREE OF HIS DISCIPLES ON MOUNT TABOR, HAS BEEN CALLED THE "TRUE CENTREPOINT OF MARK’S GOSPEL. EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY CELEBRATES THE EVENT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION AS THE PIVOTAL POINT OF THEIR LITURGICAL YEAR.

WITH THE WONDERFUL BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT, WE ARE ABLE TO APPRECIATE HOW CRITICAL THIS EVENT WAS, PARTICULARLY TO THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE APOSTLE PETER, AND, BY EXTENSION, TO OUR LIVES OF FAITH.

TO MAKE SOME SENSE OF THE EVENTS OF THIS DAY, IT IS IMPORTANT, TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING OF THE CONTEXT IN WHICH IT TOOK PLACE. THE CENTRAL FIGURES IN THE DRAMA OF THE TRANSFIGURATION WERE PETER AND JESUS.

II. IT HAS BEEN ONLY ABOUT TWO YEARS SINCE JESUS’ BAPTISM BY JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND SINCE THE QUIET BEGINNING OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY..... TWO YEARS IN WHICH HE HAS ROAMED THE COUNTRYSIDE PREACHING THE "GOOD NEWS" THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR AT HAND; HEALING PEOPLE OF THEIR ILLNESSES, FORGIVING THEIR SINS; AND PERFORMING OCCASIONAL MIRACLES...... IN SPITE OF HIS LOW-KEY APPROACH, JESUS MINISTRY HAS BEGUN TO STARTLE PEOPLE, AND TO ATTRACT ATTENTION.....

ONLY ABOUT ONE YEAR HAS PASSED SINCE JESUS COMPLETED ASSEMBLING HIS GROUP OF 12 APOSTLES. AS PART OF HIS NOW INCREASINGLY BUSY AND PUBLIC MINISTRY, JESUS HAS ASSUMED THE ADDED RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHING THESE TWELVE WHAT HE AND HIS WORK ARE ALL ABOUT, SO THAT THEY WILL BE EQUIPPED TO BECOME PARTICIPANTS IN THE MINISTRY WITH HIM.... THEY HAVE BEEN WITH HIM AS HE HAS PRESENTED, IN SPEECHES AND DEBATES, HIS "REVOLUTIONARY" REINTERPRETATIONS OF THE FAMILIAR MOSAIC LAWS AND TRADITIONS. THEY HAVE HEARD HIS PARABLES, THE STORIES HE HAS TOLD TO EXPLAIN HOW THINGS WILL BE IN THE NEARBY KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.... HE HAS SHOWN THEM HEALING AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND GIVEN THEM SOME AUTHORITY TO PERFORM THESE THINGS THEMSELVES. FINALLY, WHEN HE THINKS THAT THEY ARE READY, HE SENDS THEM OUT ALONE, IN GROUPS OF TWO, ...TO PRACTICE THEIR NEW CAPABILITIES,..... TO HAVE THE EXPERIENCE OF CARRYING OUT THE MISSION THEMSELVES TO AN EVER-WIDENING AUDIENCE.

THE RETURN OF THE TWELVE FROM THEIR SEPARATE MISSIONS SIGNALS A NEW AND DIFFERENT TENSION BETWEEN THE APOSTLES AND THE MASTER. JESUS, FOR ONE THING SEEMS SURPRISED AND FRUSTRATED, THAT IN SPITE OF WHAT THEY HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO...... HIS TEACHING, ALL THEIR DISCUSSIONS, AND THEIR OBSERVATION OF HIS WORK, THE APOSTLES DO NOT SEEM CAPABLE OF MAKING WHAT SHOULD, IN JESUS’ VIEW, HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS CONNECTIONS. IN SPITE OF WHAT THE DISCIPLES HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO, AND MADE PART OF, THEY DO NOT OBVIOUSLY GRASP WHO JESUS IS, WHAT HE IS TRYING TO SAY IN HIS SERMONS, AND DO IN HIS DEEDS. WE READ OF DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES THAT END IN APPARENT FRUSTRATION, OR PERPLEXITY FOR JESUS.....LEAVING HIM ASKING, IN EXASPERATION,...."HOW IS IT THAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND?"

DURING THIS PERIOD, JESUS ASKS THE DISCIPLES WHOM THEY HAVE HEARD THEIR FOLLOWERS SAY THAT HE IS, AND AS WELL, WHAT IS THEIR PERSONAL VIEW? HE IS TOLD THAT THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL THEORIES GOING AROUND....SOME SAY THAT HE IS JOHN THE BAPTIST, OTHERS THAT HE IS ELIJAH COME AGAIN AS PROMISED, STILL OTHERS THAT HE MIGHT BE ONE OF THE LESSER PROPHETS. PETER, ANSWERING ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP, SAYS THAT HE BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS..." THE CHRIST.", THAT IS TO SAY " THE MESSENGER OF GOD.... "

FROM JESUS’ PERSPECTIVE, OF COURSE, ALL OF THESE ANSWERS ARE WRONG . AT BEST, PETER’S ANSWER POINTS TOWARDS SOME RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND JESUS, BUT ONLY AN INDIRECT ONE....CERTAINLY FALLING SHORT OF ANY FILIAL RELATIONSHIP...IN ITS’ WAY MARK’S GOSPEL REFLECTS HOW IMPORTANT THIS DISTINCTION WAS TO BECOME....NO ONE, IN MARK’S GOSPEL EVER GETS TO THE POINT OF ACKNOWLEDGING JESUS AS THE SON OF GOD UNTIL THE ROMAN CENTURION, WATCHING THE CRUCIFIXION AND ITS AFTERMATH SAYS..... "TRULY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD".

THIS SEEMS TO LEAD TO A DECISION BY JESUS TO BEGIN THE PRACTICE OF REFERRING TO HIMSELF MORE DIRECTLY AS "THE SON OF MAN", (A CLASSICAL REFERENCE, UNDERSTANDABLE TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS MEANING THE SON OF GOD), TO TALK ABOUT HIS MISSION AS THINGS HE HAS BEEN SENT BY "HIS FATHER" TO PERFORM, TO TALK ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD BEING AT HAND, RATHER THAN NEARBY , AND TO EXPLAIN TO THE APOSTLES THE NECESSITY OF HIS DEATH AS PART OF HIS COMMITMENT TO GOD AND TO HUMANITY, AND TO DESCRIBE THE MANNER OF HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION.

IT ALSO SEEMS LIKELY THAT THE APOSTLES, AND PARTICULARLY PETER, ARE CONFUSED, AND AT A POINT OF CRISIS. WHILE THEY HAVE TRIED TO BE FAITHFUL TO THIS MISSION AND THIS MAN FOR WHOM THEY HAVE ALL SACRIFICED SO MUCH, JESUS DOES NOT SEEM TO BE SATISFIED..... PETER AND THE OTHERS WANT TO CONTINUE BELIEVING IN THEIR FRIEND, BUT NOW HE IS ASKING TOO MUCH. THEIR CONFIDENCE IN WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING, AND WHAT THEIR UNDERSTANDING HAS BEEN OF JESUS MUST HAVE BEEN SHAKEN BY THIS NEW URGENT, DARK AND APOCRYPHAL TONE IN THEIR FRIEND.

WHEN PETER HAS HEARD ENOUGH, HE REBUKES JESUS FOR HIS SACRELIGIOUS , BLASPHEMOUS TALK. JESUS , IN REPLY DRAWS THE LINE MORE CLEARLY : "GET BEHIND ME , SATAN, FOR YOU HAVE YOUR MIND ON EARTHLY THINGS, NOT ON DIVINE THINGS".

JESUS, THEN, CONTINUES TO EXPLAIN TO THE APOSTLES AS CLEARLY AS HE CAN, WHO HE IS AND WHAT HIS HOPES ARE FOR THEM AS HIS FOLLOWERS. BUT, HE WARNS THEM "WHOEVER WOULD SAVE HIS LIFE WILL LOSE IT, AND WHOEVER WILL LOSE HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE AND THE GOSPEL, WILL SAVE IT......HE FINISHES, BY SAYING THAT ANY WHO ARE ASHAMED OF HIM, "THE SON OF MAN WILL BE ASHAMED OF, WHEN HE COMES, IN THE GLORY OF THE FATHER, WITH THE HOLY ANGELS".

AND, ON THAT NOTE, THE GOSPEL RECORDS NOTHING MORE OF THE LIVES OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES, FOR SIX DAYS.

END PART ONE

III. ONE IMAGINES THAT IT WAS A WEEK OF UNCERTAINTY, AND OF INTROSPECTION AND PRAYER.

IT IS APPARENT, I THINK, THAT JESUS HAD REASON FOR CONCERN.......HE SEEMS TO HAVE HAD EVERY HOPE THAT, WITH ALL THAT HAD GONE ON, ALL THAT HAD BEEN DONE, ALL THAT THEY HAD SEEN, THE APOSTLES WOULD HAVE "GOTTEN IT"......THAT THEY WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD AND BELIEVED ....NOT JUST THAT HE WAS "OF GOD", BUT THAT HE WAS HIMSELF DIVINE, INDEED THE PROMISED ONE........... BUT THEY DON’T KNOW WHO HE IS, AND HENCE ARE WOEFULLY ILL-EQUIPPED TO UNDERSTAND AND DEAL WITH THE FUTURE THAT IS BEFORE THEM....... AND, IF THERE IS TO BE A LIVING LEGACY TO JESUS’ MINISTRY, HE CANNOT BE WITHOUT THESE PEOPLE.....WITHOUT THEIR UNDERSTANDING AND BELIEF, WHAT WOULD SUCH A LEGACY MEAN ANYWAY?

WITH HIS SUPERNAL KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THINGS WOULD END, JESUS’ MUST HAVE BEEN ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS MISSING, AND WHAT WAS STILL NECESSARY FOR THE COMPLETION OF HIS MISSION, AND FOR THE CONTINUATION OF GOD’S WORK. TO MOVE THE APOSTLES FORWARD IN THEIR UNDERSTANDING, AND THEIR COMMITMENT TO THE MISSION, JESUS WOULD NEED TO CONTINUE TO SUSTAIN THEIR EFFORTS, THROUGH INTENSIFIED INSTRUCTION AND SUPPORT....EVEN SO HE MUST HAVE REALIZED THAT THEY HAD NOT YET BEEN ABLE TO OPEN THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHO HE REALLY IS.

PETER’S NEED , NOT PERHAPS CLEARLY KNOWN TO PETER, WAS TO HAVE AN EXPERIENCE OF JESUS AS GOD IN ORDER TO "GET IT" .... WHICH WOULD SUPPRESS HIS DOUBTS AND UNCERTAINTIES, AND FREE HIM TO UNDERSTAND THE "MASTER", AND WHAT HE WAS ABOUT.

SIX DAYS LATER JESUS SPECIFICALLY ASKS PETER, JAMES AND JOHN (DESCRIBED IN VARIOUS PLACES AS HIS FAVOURITE DISCIPLES) TO JOIN HIM AS HE GOES TO PRAY, APART FROM THE OTHERS, ATOP MOUNT TABOR, A RUGGED HALF-DAY CLIMB.

AS THEY ARRIVE AT THEIR DESTINATION, JESUS IS AMAZINGLY TRANSFIGURED.....AND, MARK SAYS HIS "RAIMENT BECAME SHINING, EXCEEDING WHITE AS SNOW, SO AS NO FULLER ( NO BLEACH) ON EARTH CAN WHITE THEM" IN THE MIDST OF THIS BRIGHTNESS , SUDDENLY JESUS CAN BE SEEN IN CONVERSATION WITH MOSES AND ELIJAH. THIS SIGHT CATEGORICALLY DEMONSTRATES TO THE THREE DISCIPLES JESUS CONNECTEDNESS TO, BUT SUPERIOR RELATIONSHIP TO THESE TWO CENTRAL ICONS IN THE JEWISH FAITH. THEY ARE BEING SHOWN THAT WHATEVER THE IMPORTANCE OF ELIJAH AND MOSES, JESUS IS SUPERIOR TO THEM. FACED WITH THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS VISION, AND NOT QUITE ABLE TO DEAL WITH IT IMMEDIATELY, PETER SAYS (AND HERE WE CAN IMAGINE SOME FALSE BRAVADO): "MASTER , IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE.......AND , UH, LET US MAKE 3 TABERNACLES BEFORE WE LEAVE HONOURING YOU AND MOSES AND ELIJAH"

MARK’S COMMENTARY ON THIS SCENE, (AND REMEMBER THAT RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT MARK GOT THIS STORY FROM PETER), IS THAT PETER DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO SAY, BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID.

BEFORE THEY CAN TAKE THIS ALL IN, A CLOUD DESCENDS OVER JESUS, AND THE VOICE OF GOD SPEAKS TO THEM : "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON; HEAR HIM".

IN A FEW, I IMAGINE HEART-POUNDING MOMENTS, PETER, JAMES AND JOHN, DARE TO LOOK UP, AND FIND THEMSELVES AGAIN ALONE WITH JESUS.

AS THEY ARE DESCENDING FROM MOUNT TABOR, HAVING BEEN PRESENTED WITH THIS SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONIAL, CONFIRMING CHRIST’S TRUE IDENTITY , JESUS GOES OVER WITH THEM WHAT THEY HAVE SEEN, AND TELLS THEM NOT TO TELL ANYBODY ABOUT IT, UNTIL AFTER "THE SON OF MAN HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD". PERHAPS IT WAS JESUS’ WAY OF MARKING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WHAT THEY HAD SEEN FOR THEIR REMEMBRANCE AFTER HIS DEATH.

IN THE SAME WAY WE ALL HAVE OF TRYING TO GRAPPLE WITH THINGS MENTALLY OR EMOTIONALLY THAT HAVE PROFOUNDLY CONFRONTED US, ON THEIR JOURNEY THE THREE BRING UP THE SUBJECT OF THE TRADITION THAT ELIJAH MUST RETURN BEFORE THE COMING OF THE LORD INTO HIS KINGDOM,

BUT JESUS THROWS ONE MORE CURVE AT THEM BEFORE THEY RETURN TO THEIR FRIENDS, BY SAYING THAT THE TRADITION CALLING FOR ELIJAH’S RETURN HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, IN THE PERSON AND ACTIVITIES OF JOHN THE BAPTIST......THE IMPLICATION FOR PETER, JAMES AND JOHN, MUST BY THEN HAVE BECOME FEARSOME.....

SURELY NOT BY ACCIDENT, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MOUNTAIN JESUS AND THE THREE DISCIPLES ARE SURROUNDED BY A CROWD OF PEOPLE, AND CAUGHT UP IN AN INCIDENT, WHICH , IN MY UNDERSTANDING, IS THE CLOSING SCENE ON THE TRANSFIGURATION STORY.

A MAN HAS BROUGHT HIS SON, A YOUNG MAN, TO JESUS FOLLOWERS. AFTER YEARS OF NO SUCCESS WITH OTHER FORMS OF HEALING AND HEALERS, THE YOUNG MAN STILL SUFFERS FROM A "DUMB SPIRIT" WHICH TEARS HIS BODY IN FITS AND SEIZURES. THE PEOPLE IN JESUS GROUP HAVE ALSO BEEN UNABLE TO HELP, AND THE WHOLE CROWD HAS COME OVER TO JESUS TO SEE WHAT HE CAN DO.

JESUS’ INITIAL AND ENTIRE REACTION INDICATES TO US THAT HE PERCEIVES THE PROBLEM TO BE A MATTER OF FAITH. HE FIRST ADDRESSES HIS FOLLOWERS, WONDERING OUT LOUD HOW LONG THEY THINK HE IS GOING TO HAVE TO REMAIN WITH THEM, AND ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT THOUGHT, "HOW LONG," HE ASKS, "SHALL I SUFFER YOU?"

NOT AT ALL CONVINCED THAT JESUS CAN DO ANYTHING, BUT NEVERTHELESS AT THE URGING PERHAPS OF THE CROWD, AND OUT OF CONCERN FOR HIS SON, THE MAN EXPLAINS THE SITUATION , AND CONCLUDES BY SAYING , "IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, HAVE COMPASSION ON US AND HELP US."

JESUS SEEMS TO FLARE UP AT THAT SHOT AND REPLIES TO THE MAN, "IF YOU CAN BELIEVE, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, TO HIM THAT BELIEVES."( THIS IS THE SAME MESSAGE THAT HE HAS JUST DELIVERED TO HIS FOLLOWERS.

THE FATHER, WITH TEARS IN HIS FRUSTRATED EYES, UTTERS WHAT AN ACQUAINTANCE OF MINE SUGGESTS IS PERHAPS THE MOST POIGNANT LINE IN ALL OF LITERATURE, "LORD, I BELIEVE.....HELP THOU MY UNBELIEF." JESUS IMMEDIATELY DID THAT BY DRIVING OUT THE SPIRIT, AND RESTORING THE YOUNG MAN TO HEALTH.

THE SUBTEXT OF THIS INCIDENT, IS, I THINK, THAT THE SICK MAN’S FATHER HAS EXACTLY CAPTURED PETER’S DILEMNA.....THE WAR BETWEEN HIS BELIEFS AND HIS UNCERTAINTIES - A WAR WHICH WOULD WAGE WITHIN HIM FOR QUITE SOME TIME.

THE INCIDENT ENDS SOMEWHAT UNUSUALLY IN THAT JESUS DID NOT OFTEN EXPLAIN THE DETAILS OF HIS HEALINGS TO HIS FOLLOWERS. HOWEVER, WHEN THE GROUP LATER ASKED JESUS WHY THEY HAD NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN DRIVING OUTTHIS DEMON, JESUS REPLIED THAT "THIS KIND COME FORTH BY NOTHING BUT PRAYER".

THIS RESPONSE TO THE GROUP, ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER, SURELY WOULD HAVE BEEN AS WELL, A MESSAGE TO PETER, JAMES AND JOHN TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND AND BELIEVE ALL THEY HAD WITNESSED AND HEARD THAT DAY.

IN THE FEW WEEKS THAT FOLLOWED, JESUS, AND EVERYONE CONNECTED TO HIM, WOULD BE CHALLENGED TO THEIR VERY CORE, AND CHANGED FOREVER. THROUGH WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN AN AGONIZING, HARROWING TIME PETER VACILLATES BETWEEN BELIEF AND UNBELIEF THROUGH INCIDENTS IN WHICH HE DENIES HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, HOVERS NEAR HIM, GOES INTO MOURNING WHEN JESUS IS KILLED, AND GOES INTO HIDING IN FEAR OF HIS OWN LIFE.

THE WONDERFUL CHRISTIAN AUTHOR, PHILIP YANCEY, IN HIS BOOK "MEET THE BIBLE" COMMENTS THAT "SOMETHING INCREDIBLE HAD TO HAPPEN TO TURN THIS BUNCH OF BUMBLERS INTO HEROES OF THE FAITH."

PETER, HIMSELF, IS CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THAT WAS. OVER TIME THE GOOD NEWS FINALLY RESONATED WITHIN HIM THROUGH HIS EXPERIENCE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION. HE VERY CLEARLY, FINALLY, "GOT IT". HIS CERTAINTY, AND HIS EXPERIENCE IS ASSURANCE FOR US IN OUR TIMES OF CONFIDENCE AND CELEBRATION; IT IS SUSTENANCE AND COMFORT FOR US IN MOMENTS OF DESPAIR, AND EMPTINESS. HIS EVENTUAL EXPERIENCE OF JESUS AS GOD THE SON IS SUPPORT FOR US IN OUR OWN MOMENTS OF BELIEF AND UNBELIEF.

PETER WENT BACK TO HIS EXPERIENCE OF THAT MOMENT ON MOUNT TABOR, AND HAS WRITTEN TO US ABOUT IT IN ONE OF HIS LETTERS :

"WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES, WHEN WE MADE KNOWN TO YOU THE POWER AND COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BUT WERE EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY. FOR HE RECEIVED FROM GOD THE FATHER HONOUR AND GLORY WHEN THAT VOICE CAME TO HIM FROM THE ANCIENT GLORY ‘THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.’

SO WE HAVE THE PROPHETIC MESSAGE MORE FULLY CONFIRMED. YOU WILL DO WELL TO BE ATTENTIVE TO THIS AS A LAMP, SHINING IN A DARK PLACE, UNTIL THE DAY DAWNS AND THE MORNING STAR RISES IN YOUR HEARTS".

TO THAT, MAY ALL OF GOD’S CHILDREN SAY "AMEN".

Preached by Tom D. Stickland
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan