  The X-ray mission Chandra has observed a dramatic X-ray flare -- a
brightening by a factor of 50 for only three hours -- from Sgr A*, the Galactic
Center supermassive black hole. Sgr A* has never shown variability of this
amplitude in the radio and we therefore argue that a jump of this order in the
accretion rate does not seem the likely cause. Based on our model for
jet-dominated emission in the quiescent state of Sgr A*, we suggest that the
flare is a consequence of extra electron heating near the black hole. This can
either lead to direct heating of thermal electrons to T_e~6*10^11 K and
significantly increased synchrotron-self Compton emission, or result from
non-thermal particle acceleration with increased synchrotron radiation and
electron Lorentz factors up to gamma_e>10^5. While the former scenario is
currently favored by the data, simultaneous VLBI, submm, mid-infrared and X-ray
observations should ultimately be able to distinguish between the two cases.
