Church Fathers Commentary Mark 9:1-8

"And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There are some here of them that stand [by], who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them; and his garments became glistering, exceeding white, so as no fuller on earth can whiten them. And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answereth and saith to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. For he knew not what to answer; for they became sore afraid. And there came a cloud overshadowing them: and there came a voice out of the cloud, This is my beloved Son: hear ye him. And suddenly looking round about, they saw no one any more, save Jesus only with themselves." — Mark 9:1-8 (ASV)

Pseudo-Jerome: After the consummation of the cross, the glory of the resurrection is shown, so that they who were to see with their own eyes the glory of the resurrection to come might not fear the shame of the cross.

For this reason it is said, And after six days Jesus taketh with Him, Peter and James and John, and led them up into an high mountain apart by themselves, and He was transfigured before them.

St. John Chrysostom: Luke, in saying, After eight days, does not contradict this, for he included both the day on which Christ had spoken what was said before and the day on which He took them up. The reason He took them up after six days was so that they might be filled with a more eager desire during these days, and with a watchful and anxious mind attend to what they saw.¹

Theophylact of Ohrid: He takes with Him the three chief apostles: Peter, for confessing and loving Him; John, as the beloved one; and James, for being sublime in speech and a great theologian. For James was so displeasing to the Jews that Herod, wishing to please them, killed him.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He does not, however, show His glory in a house, but takes them up into a high mountain, for the loftiness of the mountain was suited to displaying the loftiness of His glory.²

Theophylact of Ohrid: He took them apart because He was about to reveal mysteries to them. We must also understand the transfiguration not as a change of His features, but that, while His features remained as before, a certain ineffable brightness was added to Him.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: It is not, therefore, fitting that in the kingdom of God any change of feature should take place, either in the Savior Himself or in those who are to be made like Him, but only an addition of brightness.³

The Venerable Bede: Our Savior, then, when transfigured did not lose the substance of real flesh, but showed forth the glory of His own or of our future resurrection. For as He then appeared to the Apostles, so He will appear after the judgment to all His elect.⁴

It goes on, And His raiment became shining.

St. Gregory the Great: Because, in the height of the brightness of heaven above, those who shine in righteousness of life will cling to Him; for by the name of garments, He means the just whom He joins to Himself.⁵

There follows, And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

St. John Chrysostom: He brings Moses and Elijah before them, first, because the multitudes said that Christ was Elijah or one of the Prophets. He shows Himself to the Apostles with them, so that they might see the difference between the Lord and His servants.⁶

Again, because the Jews accused Christ of transgressing the law and thought Him a blasphemer, as if He arrogated to Himself the glory of His Father, He brought before them those who were conspicuous in both these respects. For Moses gave the Law, and Elijah was zealous for the glory of God; for this reason, neither would have stood near Him if He had been opposed to God and to His law.

So that they might know that He holds the power of life and death, He brings before them both Moses, who was dead, and Elijah, who had not yet suffered death. Furthermore, He signified by this that the teaching of the Prophets was the schoolmaster to the teaching of Christ. He also signified the union of the New and Old Testaments, and that the Apostles will be joined in the resurrection with the Prophets, and both together will go forth to meet their common King.

It goes on, And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

The Venerable Bede: If the transfigured humanity of Christ and the company of just two saints, seen for a moment, could bring such great delight that Peter would seek to prevent their departure, even by serving them, how great a happiness will it be to enjoy the vision of the Deity amidst choirs of angels forever?

It goes on, For he wist not what to say. However, although Peter did not know what to say out of the stupor of human frailty, he still gives proof of the feelings that were within him.

The reason he did not know what to say was his forgetting that the kingdom promised to the saints by the Lord is not in any earthly region, but in heaven. He did not remember that he and his fellow apostles were still confined by mortal flesh and could not bear the state of immortal life to which his soul had already transported him, because in our Father's house in heaven, a house made with hands is not needed.

Even to this day, he is seen as ignorant for wishing to make three tabernacles for the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel, since they can in no way be separated from each other.

St. John Chrysostom.ⁱ Again, Peter neither comprehended that the Lord worked His transfiguration to display His true glory, nor that He did this in order to teach humanity, nor that it was impossible for them to leave the multitude and dwell on the mountain.

It goes on, For they were sore afraid.

But this fear of theirs was one by which they were raised from their usual state of mind to a higher one, and they recognized that those who appeared to them were Moses and Elijah. The soul was also drawn into a state of heavenly feeling, as if carried away from human senses by the heavenly vision.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Or else, Peter, fearing to come down from the mountain because he now had a premonition that Christ must be crucified, said, It is good for us to be here, and not to go down into the midst of the Jews. He may have thought, "If those who are furious against You come here, we have Moses who struck down the Egyptians, and we also have Elijah, who brought fire down from heaven and destroyed the five hundred."

Origen of Alexandria: Mark says in his own person, For he wist not what to say. Here it is a matter for consideration whether perhaps Peter spoke this in the confusion of his mind, moved by a spirit not his own. Perhaps that spirit, who wished as much as he could to be a stumbling block to Christ so that He might shrink from the Passion that would save all humanity, was at work here as a seducer. He may have wished, under the guise of good, to prevent Christ from condescending to humanity, from coming to them, and from taking death upon Himself for their sakes.⁷

The Venerable Bede: Now, because Peter sought a material tabernacle, he was covered with the shadow of the cloud, so that he might learn that in the resurrection the saints are to be protected not by the covering of houses, but by the glory of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore it goes on, There was a cloud that overshadowed them.

The reason they obtained no answer from the Lord was that they asked unwisely; but the Father answered for the Son.

Therefore there follows, And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

St. John Chrysostom: The voice proceeded from a cloud in which God customarily appears, so that they might believe the voice was sent from God. But in saying, This is My beloved Son, He declares that the will of the Father and the Son is one, and that, except in that He is the Son, He is in all things One with the One who begot Him.⁸

The Venerable Bede: Moses foretold that every soul wishing to be saved should listen to His preaching when He came in the flesh. Now that He has come in the flesh, God the Father proclaims to the disciples that He is the one they are to hear.

There follows: And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. For as soon as the Son was proclaimed, the servants disappeared, so that the Father's voice would not seem to have been sent to them.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Again, mystically: after the end of this world, which was made in six days, Jesus will take us up (if we are His disciples) into a high mountain, that is, into heaven, where we shall see His exceeding glory.

The Venerable Bede: And by the garments of the Lord are meant His saints, who will shine with a new whiteness. By the fuller we must understand Him to whom the Psalmist says, Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin (Psalm 51); for He cannot give to His faithful ones on earth the glory that remains stored up for them in heaven.

Remigius of Auxerre: Or else, by the fuller are meant holy preachers and purifiers of the soul, none of whom in this life can live in such a way as not to be stained with some spots of sin. But in the coming resurrection, all the saints will be purged from every stain of sin. Therefore, the Lord will make them such as neither they themselves, by disciplining their own bodies, nor any preacher, by his example and teaching, can make.

St. John Chrysostom: Or else, the white garments are the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles, the likes of which no interpreter can compose.

Origen of Alexandria: Or else, by a moral interpretation, fullers on earth may be considered the wise of this world, who are thought to adorn even their corrupt understandings and doctrines with a false whitening drawn from their own minds. But their skill as fullers cannot produce anything like a discourse that displays the brightness of spiritual conceptions in the unpolished words of Scripture, which are despised by many.⁹

The Venerable Bede: Moses and Elijah, of whom one, as we read, died, and the other was carried away to heaven, signify the coming glory of all the saints. This includes all who at the time of judgment are either to be found alive in the flesh or to be raised up from the death which they tasted, all of whom are equally to reign with Him.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Or else it means that we are to see in glory both the Law and the Prophets speaking with Him. That is, we will then find that all those things which were spoken of Him by Moses and the other prophets agree with the reality. Then, too, we will hear the voice of the Father, revealing to us the Son of the Father and saying, This is My beloved Son, and the cloud—that is, the Holy Spirit, the source of truth—will overshadow us.

The Venerable Bede: We must also observe that, just as when the Lord was baptized in the Jordan, so here on the mountain, covered with brightness, the whole mystery of the Holy Trinity is declared. For in the resurrection, we will see that glory of the Trinity which we believers confess in baptism, and we will praise it all together.

Nor is it without reason that the Holy Spirit appeared here in a bright cloud and there in the form of a dove. This is because the one who now keeps the faith he has embraced with a simple heart will then contemplate with the brightness of open vision what he had believed. But when the voice had been heard over the Son, He was found alone, because when He has manifested Himself to His elect, God will be all in all. Indeed, Christ with His own, as the Head with the body, will shine through all things (1 Corinthians 15:28).

1. Hom. in Matt. 65
2. Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.
3. Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.
4. 3, 37
5. Mor. 32
6. Hom. in Matt., 56
7. in Matt. tom. 12, 40
8. Hom. in Matt., 56
9. in Matt. tom. 12, 39