Mark 9:2-9 (NRSV)
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Verse 2Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, Verse 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. Verse 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Verse 5Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Verse 6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Verse 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Verse 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
Verse 9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Devotion
"He was transfigured before them."
The word "transfigured" is very important. It comes from a Latin word that is closely related to a similar Greek word, "metamorphosis." The words mean to be completely transformed, such as when a plain cocoon is transformed into a magnificent butterfly or a simple tulip bulb is transformed into a glorious blossom. Jesus' body was transformed from an earthly body into a heavenly body, from a plain human body into a splendid resurrection body.
It is the fundamental truth of the Bible that our bodies also will be transformed in heaven and that our heavenly bodies will become glorious (1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul).
We can clearly visualize a plain tulip bulb being transformed into a magnificent tulip.
We can clearly visualize a plain cocoon becoming a monarch butterfly.
And we can clearly visualize that our bodies will be similarly transformed by God into something equivalently magnificent, beautiful and unimaginable.
Prayer
Jesus, please, give us the unimaginable miracle of eternal life with you. Amen.