Mark 9:15

‘And immediately all the crowd when they saw him were greatly amazed, and running to him greeted him.'

It is quite likely that the disciples had told the crowd that Jesus had gone up into the mountain and would be there for some time, as had Moses when he went into a mountain to meet with God. So the idea had probably become quite settled in their minds that they would not see Jesus for quite a while, and they were no doubt disappointed by the fact, especially as the failure of the disciples accentuated it. Thus they were quite taken by surprise at seeing Jesus approaching and were ‘amazed' that He had arrived at such an opportune time, and ran to meet Him. They clearly had confidence that He would be able to do something.

The idea that there was a glow on the face of Jesus, other than the glow that was always there, is not likely, for there is no mention of it and the case is quite different from that of Moses. In the mount Jesus' glory had been His own glory which He usually veiled in His human body, not a reflection of a glory that He had beheld. Had there been any truth in the idea it would surely have been mentioned by at least one of the writers. And it would have been contrary to His policy of veiledness.