Bible reading
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9. 28 – 36)
Meditation
As they looked back on their experiences with Jesus the disciples were able to see that the sight of Jesus transfigured had been an important assurance for them that Jesus was God’s Son and that the path he followed, even though it led to his death, was the path that God had mapped out for him. At his Transfiguration Jesus was seen in glory speaking with both the great patriarch and the great prophet of the Israelites, Moses and Elijah, and then God himself spoke to confirm Jesus as his Son. Everything about this experience spoke of Jesus as God. Moses and Elijah spoke to Jesus about his plan to fulfil God’s purpose by dying in Jerusalem and God confirmed that everything Jesus said came directly from him. This experience should have been a confirmation for the disciples of everything that Jesus is and was about to do but, at the time, it seemed to be too much for them to comprehend. They were afraid, confused and kept the experience to themselves. It was only later, looking back, that they could see the confirmation that this experience provided.
I wonder if we have had experiences of events and plans coming together in ways that confirmed to us that we were on the right path. It may be that we need that kind of confirmation in our lives now and could be asking God for his confirmation about our direction in life. What God wants to do for us, as he did for the disciples, is to give us a greater vision of Jesus as he really is. That will not answer all of our questions but can strengthen our ability to trust and follow him through our questions and uncertainties.
Like the disciples, we, too, will have mountain-top experiences in our lives; times of great blessing and revelation when all seems well with the world and when we know without any uncertainty that we are God’s children. What, I wonder, have your mountain-top experiences been? Whatever they were and however wonderful they were, we inevitably, as did Jesus, came down from the mountain-top to experience some suffering or failure as part of our life experience. We cannot live on the mountain-tops but those experiences sustain us when we are in the valleys. Such experiences are one of the means God uses to go with us through the valleys, even the valley of the shadow of death.
The disciples only recognised the full significance of their mountain-top experience as they looked back. At the time, they felt afraid and confused. Are you able to look back on events that may not have been clear at the time but which have been significant, sustaining experiences for you in your life? Have there been times of joy, wonder or blessing which you have now lost sight of in your life and need to rekindle and relive? The disciples relived their experiences by telling them to others and by having them written down so that their stories could be passed on to others including us. It may be that you also need to relive your experiences of refreshment, blessing and revelation by telling others about them or by writing them down to share with others.
Prayer
Lord God, give us your guidance over the direction of our life through the experience of events and plans coming together in ways that confirm to us that we are on the right path. Give us a greater vision of Jesus as he really is and, through that greater vision, strengthen our ability to trust and follow Jesus through our questions and uncertainties. Take us to the mountain-top and sustain us in the valleys.
Lord God, give us mountain-top experiences; times of great blessing and revelation when all seems well with the world and when we know without any uncertainty that we are God’s children. We know that we cannot live on the mountain-tops but those experiences sustain us when we are in the valleys. Go with us through the valleys, even the valley of the shadow of death, and sustain us in part through the legacy of our mountain-top experiences. Take us to the mountain-top and sustain us in the valleys.
Often we only recognise the full significance of our experience as we look back. Encourage us to look back on events that may not have been clear to us at the time but which can become significant, sustaining experiences for us in our lives. Remind us of times of joy, wonder or blessing which we have now lost sight of and need to rekindle and relive. Enable us to relive our experiences of refreshment, blessing and revelation by telling others about them or by writing them down to share with others. Take us to the mountain-top and sustain us in the valleys.
Blessing
Mountain-top experiences, times of great blessing and revelation, recognising the full significance of our experiences, confirmation that we are on the right path, and a greater vision of Jesus; may those blessings of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always. Amen.
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Delirious? - Louder Than The Radio.
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