Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
- Mark 9:2-7

Once or twice in life we might have a profound, powerful, even unsettling, experience of God. Peter, James and John went up an unidentified mountain with Jesus. The mountain - called the 'holy mountain' by Peter in one of his letters - turns out to be a Sinai-like mountain, and the meeting a Sinai-like meeting. Jesus, who Peter has acknowledged as Messiah in the previous chapter, is revealed as the Son of God.

Why? I think this is a moment for discouraged disciples. For every mountain top experience, there is time in the valley of the shadow. As Moses sat with God on the mountain, they people of Israel were going off the rails. Elijah defeated the Baal prophets, but then has to flee to the wilderness in fear for his life. And so on...

Meanwhile, Peter, James and John have been asked to 'take up their cross' and follow Jesus into conflict with evil. And on the way down the mountain they have an encouraging(?) discussion about John the Baptist's execution. What kind of movement are they part of?

The kind where, because of Jesus, they get a place in presence of God, and a glimpse into the very core of reality.

On the Mountain, In the Valley

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