St. Mark 9: 2 -13

Jan. 8, 2022

2And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.

3And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

4And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

5And 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.

6For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.

7And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

8And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

9And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

10And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

11And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

12And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

13But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

The Holy Trinity. The Father’s voice, the transfigured Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the cloud. They have always been together. Different natures, one God. These verses, 2-8, also remind us of Genesis – God, the Father, created, in the beginning was the Word and the Word is Jesus, and the Holy Spirit passed across the whole of the earth at the creation. They have always been one; there never was a time when They weren’t (meaning when They didn’t exist). Before anything was created, They were (meaning They existed). “Let us create man in our image” (Genesis 1:26) says God.

It is inconceivable to us how this can be. I am me and you are you. Your brother or sister is not you. You are unique in yourself. Only the Trinity are three Persons and also One. Water – it can be liquid; it can be ice; it can be steam. But it is still water. There is the Father, there is the Son, there is the Holy Spirit but there is only One God.

In today’s reading, we see Them all together once more – separate but equal; different yet One. This is why we walk by faith and not by sight; somethings are simply too big for us to grasp. We have learned the Truth and have no trouble accepting that the Trinity is so. Just don’t ask us to explain it. There are no human words that can.