Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.

Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.

As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.”

Then they asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?”

Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt? But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.” (Mark 9:2–13)

Trusting God is not about understanding everything. On the mountain, Jesus became glorious. But Jesus told his disciples to keep it quiet until after his resurrection. They understood about keeping quiet, but the part about “rising from the dead” was a puzzler for them. Which is why they then asked Jesus about Elijah coming “first.” They wanted to know if maybe Elijah had something to do with that “rising” Jesus had told them about. John the Baptist had just been executed by Herod. They knew that John the Baptist was the Elijah that had been predicted. Was he coming back?

But then Jesus asked them a probing question: if Elijah was supposed to restore all things, then why did Jesus have to suffer and be rejected? Jesus wanted them to understand that his death and resurrection would solve the problem of sin; it would restore the broken relationship that existed between God and humanity.

The disciples often didn’t understand Jesus. But they still trusted him. We don’t trust God because we understand everything he does, or because we’ve had all our questions answered. We trust God because we know him. Trust is built on a relationship, not answers to questions.

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