There is something strange, almost jarring, about the appearance, exactly in the middle of the sixteenth chapter gospel of Mark, of a story about an other-worldly sound-and-light show on top of a mountain. The report of what we have come to call “The Transfiguration of Our Lord” doesn’t seem to fit where it appears in Mark’s gospel.

Think about it. Before he gives us the story of Jesus with two Old Testament prophets, being glorified in a blaze of light, Mark reports that Jesus’ disciples were, to put it mildly, uncomprehending, dull-witted dolts who couldn’t figure anything out. They were not especially convinced that Jesus was the real deal. One would think that, after going up the mountain with Jesus, at least three of his disciples would have had their lives and their attitudes about …