So, why did Peter want to build three tents on top of the mountain? In the previous chapter, he had finally realized who Jesus is – the Christ, the promised Messiah (8:20). And now, right before his eyes was the evidence of the coming Kingdom of God the Jewish people had been awaiting for so long, as Jesus was displayed in all His glory.

It was also significant for Peter that Elijah was there. After all, Malachi 4:5 says that Elijah would return before the great and terrible Day of the Lord, and there he was! Surely that meant that Jesus would waste no more time, but would publicly establish His Kingdom on Earth, driving the pagan Romans out of the Promised Land, restoring independence and prosperity to His people.

No, it’s no wonder that Peter wanted to build tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus – so they could all stay right there on the mountaintop, with their power and glory clear for all to see. That’s still the way we want our lives in this world to go, following Jesus in His triumph, experiencing only an easy, unbroken chain of successes.

But that’s why the appearance of Elijah was so important. For in verse 13, Jesus points out that when the prophets said Elijah would return, they were actually talking about John the Baptist, who came in the same spirit and with the same sort of prophetic power. But what had happened to John the Baptist? He had been arrested and murdered by Herod. In short, even though Christ had come, John didn’t experience the sort of victory Peter wanted so much.

And neither would Jesus, at least not right then. For in 8:31, He had told His disciples He would “suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” In other words, Jesus had not come to be the sort of Messiah who would display His glory so that the world would give Him a crown. No, He had come to be the Suffering Servant of God, carrying a cross so that we might be saved. He had not come to correct all the wicked circumstances of this world, but to transform all who trust in Him even while we go on living within it.

And He went even further in 8:34: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” So, that’s the way we follow Jesus until He comes again – the way John the Baptist did, and the way Peter eventually would – not by staying up on the mountaintop in triumphant ease, but by dying to ourselves, sharing in His suffering so that others might see His self-sacrificial, unconditional love in our lives. Will we follow Him in this way today?

Mark 9:1-13 (NASB)

And He was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
2 And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;
3 and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.
4 And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.
5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6 For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.
7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”
8 And all at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.
9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the dead.
10 And they seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead might mean.
11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12 And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
13 “But I say to you, that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”