Coffee With God

Reflection: Mark 9:2-13

Mark narrates the incident of the Transfiguration of Jesus after he makes the first announcement about his death (chapter 8:27-30). This announcement had disturbed and upset the minds of the disciples. Peter tries to dissuade him (Mk 8:31-33). For the disciples, the cross was an obstacle to belief in Jesus. They could not understand why Jesus had to die as a criminal. That is when Jesus reveals his true identity to prepare the apostles to withstand the Passion, the scandal of the Cross. The apostles thought that Jesus was a liberator, a king who wins in battles, and is always triumphant. But Jesus’ path is a different one: Jesus’ victory is through humiliation, the humiliation of the Cross. Before it becomes a scandal for his disciples, Jesus reveals to them what happens after the Cross, and what awaits them and, all of us: the glory of Heaven. The disciples could not digest the image of a suffering Messiah. We hear Peter, reacting: ‘This cannot happen’ – because the Torah says that the person condemned to death is a person cursed by God.’ When Mark writes his gospel, in the years 68 to 70, the great difficulty, the great impediment to adhere to Christ and the gospel on the part of the Jews was precisely the Cross, because Cross was considered a curse. Jesus takes with him Peter, James, and John – he takes them apart to a high mountain. This act of going up the mountain with Jesus still needs to happen in our lives too, to understand the real meaning of sufferings of our daily lives. The first step to take is to leave the plain where all the people are, where you think by the standards of this world. Instead, allow Jesus to be with us, let Jesus take us by the hand and go up onto the mountain. What kind of mountain is this? It’s not Mount Tabor, of course! Mountains were the abode of God in Israel – and in all religions as well. Jesus takes his disciples and today he invites us to go up the mountain with him. Hiking is a favourite sport for many youngsters today. Why not go on a hiking with Jesus, of course on the mountain of prayer, the mountain of intimacy with Jesus. There on the mountain he will help us to understand the mystery of the cross. It’s not a material mountain, it’s the moment when we forget our surroundings to be alone with the Lord in prayer. These moments of intimacy with him are necessary, in silence, in meditation, in prayer, moments in which we let ourselves be enveloped in God’s way of seeing the world, people and life.