Overshadowed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

OVERSHADOWED

Mark 9:9-10

9 As 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. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.

NIV

It is obvious that the reason we know all about the event we call the transfiguration is because they told everyone about it after the Son of Man rose from the dead. Had Jesus never rose from the dead, and then we would never have heard about the time that he was transformed and stood there with Moses and Elijah. Yet it is interesting that Peter, James and John experienced such a supernatural event and still did not get it. They simply did not understand that Jesus was going to die and then rise from the dead in a transfigured state, a form in which he would be able to float off this earth into the sky disappearing before their very eyes into the clouds. Of course we now know that he went all the way to wherever what we call heaven is, and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. But we have all that account to read and believe. Those three men had nothing but their personal experiences with Jesus, how could they know all we do? How could they believe he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah, the Savior, the Prince of Peace, the third person of the trinity? How could they know he was God in the flesh? Yes, at some time in their future they would understand it all, but not yet, as they had not been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, they had not been baptized in by the Spirit; they had not experienced Pentecost yet. It would make perfect sense that people today do not understand the truth about Jesus, and do not understand his rising from the dead, because they have not yet been overshadowed by the Spirit. The main reason this is their situation is because they refuse to allow the Spirit to overshadow their self. They are stubbornly refusing to allow their own opinions, their own closed minds to be enlightened with the truth. Those three men kept that matter to themselves, but they discussed what Jesus meant about rising from the dead. They were open to an idea that simply defied everything they thought was reality, although they surely saw Jesus bring people back from the dead. People who are not overshadowed by the Spirit will never understand the truth. But we have been, and we know the truth. We know that Jesus was telling them he would rise from the dead, so that we too may rise from the dead, we too will be transformed into a form that will be able to float off this earth and rise to the heavenly realm where Jesus is now. Yes, it is true we will not stay there forever, as we will return and experience far more then we have ever before. But the whole point here of the story is that we will rise from the dead transformed because we have been overshadowed.