Mark 9:2-13, Living in the “Already but Not Yet” (2)

Jesus, in His incarnation, lived in a “not yet” context.  As He lived His life, He was training up His disciples to live in an “already but not yet” existence.  The Scriptures tell us that Christ has been crowned with glory and honor, and yet not all things are subject to Him (Heb. 2:8-9).  The Scripture also tell believers in Christ that we are children of God, and yet it has not been made known what we will be like when we see Christ (1 John 3:1-3).  We live in an “already but not yet” context.

Having come down from the mountain, the next few stories give us a glimpse, not only of the fact of this context, but also how to live in this context. 

·       Mark 9:9-10: “until.” 

An “already but not yet” life will, of necessity, have some “untils.”  There will simply be many things that must wait until the “not yet” becomes reality.  For Peter, James and John, Jesus had to remind them that the current message has not changed.  “You have seen something amazing.  But the plan going up on the mountain is still the plan as we come down.  We are still going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will suffer, die, and be resurrected.”  As Jesus said, after His resurrection they would be free to preach the exalted Christ, the coming King of glory.  As we live in our context we need to stay on message.  The gospel that saves is still the message that looks back to Jerusalem, but that also looks forward to the glorious return of Christ. 

·       Mark 9:11-13: Elijah “has come … is coming.” 

The question asked by the three disciples is only asked because it involves “already but not yet.”  As Jesus said, the Scribes were right, that Elijah must come first.  This comes from the closing two verses of the OT, Mal. 4:5-6.  Elijah was to come and restore the nation before the Messiah came to establish His kingdom.  But the reason the Scribes raised this point is that they used it to deny that Jesus was the Messiah.  After all, if He was, then Elijah should already have shown up, and he hadn’t come.  Jesus does not deny this, in that He affirms, Elijah is coming.

But then Jesus does say that Elijah has also come.  He is speaking, of course, of John the Baptist, who had come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and had served as the forerunner for Jesus in calling the nation to repentance. 

There are important things to learn about living in the “already but not yet.”  For one thing, the Scriptures speaks of a life to come, and because this life has not yet come we may find it difficult to understand how the prophecies will be worked.  Even with Jesus’ explanation I suspect the three were still confused.  Reconciling Jesus’ suffering with His glory was difficult before His resurrection.  But at the same time, we are helped immensely by the fact that, even if we do not fully understand it, the future that is promised is real.  Elijah will come!  Jesus will be exalted!  All will be subject to Him!  And we shall be like Him!