Irvin Wasswa- Tylertown Campus Pastor LHBC
Mark 9:2-10
2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.
Have you ever had what they call a “mountain top experience” when it comes to your personal relationship with God? Have you ever had times when you are spending time with the Lord, whether it is in your quiet time with God or at some conference when the Spirit of God is moving in a mighty way and you feel as though you are standing on holy ground! Peter, James and John had one of those experiences in Mark 9. Jesus took them up to what many believe is Mount Hermon, and there he was transfigured. Imagine being there. They saw Jesus transfigured into a glorified state and even more than that they had the opportunity to see both Moses and Elijah there on the mountain conversing with Jesus! WOW! Talk about a Spiritual moment! Those three disciples got to see a glimpse of the radiant and divine glory of Jesus. No wonder Peter wanted to pitch a couple of tents and stay there, right?
The Mount of Transfiguration experience is one that shows and expresses Jesus’ divinity and the reality that he is greater than the Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah). As Hebrews 1:3 exclaims, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of His nature. Listen, Jesus was 100% man, but also 100% God. Do not forget that. But what I want us to focus on are the three disciples. They had a true mountain top experience where they saw the glory of God displayed in a major way and their natural response was to stay there. Peter stated that they should just pitch tents up there and just chill, but that was not in the plans. Why? Because Jesus and the disciples still had work to do. Jesus still had to do what He was sent to do, which was to live on mission and lay down His life so that we could have a relationship with God again. The disciples, though they did not understand the extent of their work at that time (V.10), they still had a mission they were going to have to accomplish as well (Matthew 28:19-20). They had to come down from the mountain. Even though life was great up there, they had to come down.
If we are being honest, our response is often times the same as Peter’s when it comes to being on the mountain top; we just want to dwell in that place forever. However, there is still work to do. One day when we die we will be able to be in the presence of God for all eternity, but in the meantime while the Lord still has us here on Earth, we are called to live on mission. If we are not careful what will happen to us in our walk with Jesus is that we will begin to chase that elusive mountaintop experience instead of chasing the Master of our soul, leaving us to believe that the only way for us to truly walk with God is to have some emotional high. Our walk with God then simply becomes something rooted solely on emotion and not on Him. Here is the truth, we are called to walk with Jesus everyday to grow in our relationship with Him (John 15:4, 2 Peter 3:18). He then fills us up and sends us out to love the church, and to live on mission. If we get to a point where we were content with just dwelling on the mountaintop, we would not be able to accomplish the mission to go and make disciples of all nations.
Friend, may I encourage you today instead of seeking to dwell on that “mountain top experience” choose to allow for those moments with the Lord to motivate you, to seek Him more deeply, and to pursue answering the call to live on mission in your everyday life.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, thank you for who you are. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for those mountaintop moments where we get to catch a glimpse of your greatness. Help for me to allow those moments to move me to grow deeper in my relationship with You and to live on mission for you while you still have me here on earth. Amen.
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.