Mark 9:2-13 · The Transfiguration

2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

5 Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"

8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

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.

11 And they asked him, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"

12 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."

Missing the Point
Mark 9:2-13
Sermon
by Paul E. Flesner
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Have you ever been in a group of people where someone told a joke and everyone else laughed except you? "I don't get it. I missed the point." Or have you ever been in the middle of a discussion where another person makes a persuasive point and everyone else nods their head in agreement -- except you? "I don't get it. I missed the point." 

That's sometimes how it is with life -- sometimes we miss the point of it. Sometimes life doesn't make any sense. We experience disappointment, or our days seem filled with meaningless activity, or we are faced with crisis upon crisis. Sometimes we just can't figure it out. We miss the point. Like when we miss the point of a joke, we feel as if we have been missing out on the fun of it all. What's the sense of it all? 

The same can happen to faith. We…

CSS Publishing Company, Sermons for Sundays in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, by Paul E. Flesner