Monte Tabor - La Basilica della Trasfigurazione

The Transfiguration 

 "And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

And 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.

 

And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

 

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

 

And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

 

And 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. (Mark 9:1-9)

The Gospel According to MARK The name Mark is actually a surname, his common name being John (Acts 12:12; 13:5; n, 4:11). Since he was related to Barnabas (Col. 4:10), Mark may have been a Levite (4:36) Mark traveled with the Apostle Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Acts 12:25), but he turned back (Acts 13:13). For this reason, Paul refused to consider taking him along on the second missionary journey (Acts 15:36 -39).   Paul and Barnabas had such a strong disagreement about the matter that they decided to go different directions, Paul with Silas and Barnabas with Mark. Later Paul and Mark were reconciled (Col. 4:10; Phile. 1:24), and Paul came to regard Mark as one who was "profitable . . for the ministry" (2 Tim. 4:11) The contents of the book and extra-biblical sources indicate that Mark's Gospel was written for the benefit of those who lived outside Palestine. These people who had not witnessed the events of Jesus life would profit most from Mark's emphasis on the supernatural power of Jesus.   His actions, rather than His words, are given the most attention, particularly the miracles He performed which demonstrated His divinity. The narrative moves swiftly from one stirring scene of Jesus' ministry to another without interruption. The rapid pace can be seen in the frequent use of the transitional Greek word euthéos (2117), meaning "immediately" or "straightway" (used 40 times). It is generally accepted and supported by the writings of the church historians that Peter was Mark's source for the information contained in his Gospel. Since the book was probably written from Rome immediately after Peter's death, the date for its writing is presumed to be A.D. 67 or 68 .   The Book of Mark, being written earlier than the other Gospels, has ninety-three percent of its material repeated in Matthew and Luke, many times using the same words. The details that Mark gives in his brief account, however, are more graphic than in the other accounts. [Source for Introduction of chapter: Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible KJV edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 37422]