Peter was there by invitation, along with James and John ... Jesus’ inner circle … giving us the first indication that the story that is about to unfold is important. If that reality wasn’t enough to set off all the bells and whistles of your soul ringing then the simple phrase, “and led them up a high mountain” (Matthew 17:1-9) should have. Any time that a mountain is involved in scripture we need to shake ourselves wide-awake. Something important is about to happen. Pay attention! Read the words slowly. Don’t miss anything. We are about to make a spiritual discover of gigantic proportion.
“There he (Jesus) was transfigured before them.” (2a) Every pour of his body was opened and all the glory within him shown forth with the brilliance of a thousand suns. Jesus’ physical body was no longer a barrier to the heavenly reality that abided within Christ. Jesus could not hold in his true identity any longer … it spilled out like a cup running over … a faucet that couldn’t be shut-off. Sunglasses were not needed because it was the glow of love – complete, total, all-accepting love. A love that reaches out and draws you in much like a warm fire on a cold evening.
“Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah…” (3) The great law giver and the great prophet standing and talking with the greater Savior. The whole of history was being wrapped up in a visual picture for Peter, James and John. Everything that the teachers were saying about the coming Messiah was now a reality. It couldn’t be denied. The ultimate truth was being revealed.
Then good old Peter spoke. Peter, who was becoming famous for saying the first thing that came to his mind; Peter, who had a perpetual problem of “hoof and mouth disease;” “Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here.” (4) You think? If Jesus didn’t think that this would be a good thing why would he have invited you to join him on the mountain? Peter is simply stating the obvious because he didn’t know what else to say. But, he didn’t stop there. Oh, no, Peter just continued to speak.
“I will put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Well, while we probably would have felt the same way, Peter and us would have missed the purpose of the event if we had. The transfiguration of Jesus wasn’t for the purpose of creating a holy shrine. Some place to which we could return to often “to get our batteries recharged” … an extra special holy place where God and us could hold hands, sing a verse or two of Kum ba yah and get a cozy “feel good” sensation that we are in a personal relationship with the Almighty.
God spoke, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (5) There it is! Listen to him; he has something important to say. You are going to need his instructions as you return to the valley. A mountain top experience is meant to be lived out in the valley where reality stinks and people are mean spirited. Oh, it is good that we can go off and have those experiences, but that is not where we live out our journey.
Jesus approaches the three disciples and says “Get up. Don’t be afraid.” (7) We’ve got to get on with the rest of my life … and yours. We’ve got to return to reality. We’ve got to get off this mountain and back into the valley. We’ve had our holy moment. Our hearts were strangely warmed. But, now we must return to our loved ones and the individuals that seem to be too hard to love. Each of us has been strengthened by this experience. We are going to need this experience to face the days ahead. We will be challenged, our faith questioned, doubt and frustration will be introduced to the equation of our journey and we will need to possess the knowledge of what transpired on this mountain to see us through.
Once an individual has seen the savior in all of his glory it is hard not to see him for who he is. It would be extremely hard not to hear him with the freshness of spiritually attuned ears and a soul touched by the Almighty. Especially as we live out the reality of our lives in the valleys of earth.
Quote for today: A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself. Only then does he discover all the latent strengths he never knew he had and which otherwise would have remained dormant. ~Richard M. Nixon
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