“And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed, and running to Him saluted Him.” (Mark 9:15)
There are two running events behind this Scripture. The first is that the crowd was gathered together because the disciples couldn’t heal a boy with an unclean spirit. And the scribes were questioning the disciples. What exactly they were asking the disciples isn’t disclosed, but when Jesus comes up to the group, He didn’t greet His disciples or the crowd, but directly asked the scribes why they were questioning the disciples. (Mark 9:16) The scribes were teachers of the Law and interpreted how the Law applied to daily living. As high officials, they opposed Jesus and were instrumental in bringing Jesus to trial and the persecution of the early church.
When Jesus comes upon the crowd, there’s this melee. A boy is under the influence of an unclean spirit. The boy’s father claims the boy has a dumb spirit. “And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to Thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.” (Mark 9:18) We can imagine the ruckus, the boy suffering from the unclean spirit, the father begging the disciples to do something, the crowd gasping and moaning at the boy’s convulsions maybe some of them pressuring the disciples along with the father to do something and perhaps others mocking the disciples for their inability to help, the scribes trying to get answers to the questions of what they were doing further intensifying the issue while the disciples used all their prayers and commands for the unclean spirit to leave the boy with no results. Then Jesus comes to them.
Jesus had returned from Caesarea Philippi, with Peter, James and John to a mountain near there which may have been the mountain the base on which Caesarea was built or Mount Lebanon. Scripture is not specific, but it was there that Jesus was transfigured before them. His body transformed and shone as bright as the sun revealing His hidden glory in his human body of the glory which was to be revealed in His resurrection and is to be revealed at His Second Coming. Like Moses whose face radiated rays of light when he had spent time with God on the mountain, Jesus still had remnants of His glory apparent on His countenance. Scripture tells us that the crowd was amazed when they saw Him, “... when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed...” The Greek word that was translated amazed means utterly astonished. I don’t think that they would have been greatly utterly astonished to see Jesus in a time of need or in a place where His disciples were having difficulty. They must have been utterly astonished to see His radiant face.
Their reaction is completely different from the crowd that greeted Moses. “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
(Exo 34:29-33) The people in Exodus were afraid, even Aaron. Moses had to call Aaron and the people to him. And while he spoke of the things that God had told him, Moses didn’t hide the glory of God on his face. This was to impress on them the sacredness of God’s Word.
But in the case of Jesus, His radiant face didn’t frighten the people. They were glad to see Him and ran to Him to greet Him. (Mark 9:15) The reaction of people to the glory of God on the face of Moses and the reaction of the people to the face of Jesus’ radiant face illustrates the two very different kinds of covenants that God was preparing for man. There was no mercy in the covenant God made with Moses. The people were afraid of their God and God’s glory on the face of Moses. In the covenant of Moses, the people were not allowed to come into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. There was a curtain four inches thick separating them. But at the death of Jesus, the curtain was torn from top to bottom. In the New Covenant which Jesus validated with His death and resurrection, there is mercy, love and forgiveness. This was displayed in the countenance of the radiance on the face of Jesus. In the New Covenant, we are encouraged to go the throne of grace. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) There is no longer anything keeping His children from approaching the throne. God is our Father, and we are His children. (Galatians 3:26) In our Father’s presence is where we find mercy, love and peace. There is no fear for our sins. They have been removed! “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1Peter 2:24)
In this Scripture we see that indeed Jesus is the light of the world. It’s a visible radiant light that shines in the dark recesses of our heart, bringing to light those things of this world and of this flesh we must get rid of. He is that light that brings understanding and knowledge of Him. He is that light that exposes and expulses the darkness. And He is that light that gives us life. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) The light of Jesus is life giving, not death as in the old covenant.
Something amazing is that Jesus gave us His light. “Ye are the light of the world...” (Matthew 5:14) Our light shines and unbeknown to us and although it’s not visible as in the case of Moses and Jesus, it makes us different in this world. And people notice it. Our testimony as carriers of God’s light is too important to tarnish with fleshly or worldly words and deeds. Nothing can tarnish God’s glory, but we can certainly tarnish our authenticity and legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Our words will fall on deaf ears. Our words will be delivered out of lips without power. “For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2Corinthians 4:6) No other god in this world is recruiting members. But the Lord God is seeking His children, with His light shining in the darkness in the life of believers.
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