Dave spoke this morning from Mark 9:2-9, the account of Jesus’s Transfiguration. There, on the mountain top, Jesus was completely transfigured before three disciples who saw a brilliant light and saw Elijah and Moses as well as hearing a voice from heaven. The transfiguration gave the disciples a glimpse into Jesus’s true nature; unlike people who have plastic surgery and change the outward appearance without being able to change the inner nature, this incident did not change Jesus’s nature but simply allowed others to see it. This is often referred to as a ‘mountain top experience,’ and it’s true we need these experiences when God’s glory seems to be revealed to us more plainly than usual. Faith is more than a rational, educated response to God; we need the supernatural experiences which help us to see the eternal world more clearly. These experiences where we glimpse glory are vital; moments when the transcendent nature of God is real to us are precious.
Peter definitely thought this experience was more in line with what he expected of the Messiah than Jesus’s prophecies about death and crucifixion (see Mark 8). He longed to stay on the mountain-top, to build shelters for Elijah, Moses and Jesus and to stay there. His view was that ‘where the Messiah is, there is no misery.’ What he needed to learn was that there was another mountain to be faced, Golgotha, before full glory could be experienced. The truth is that where there is misery, there is the Messiah. Jesus is both the Son of God and the Son of Man and we cannot have the glory without the suffering. The two things go hand in hand, and we have to leave the momentary glory of the Mount of Transfiguration to come down to the valley of everyday life, where there are disputes and healings and work to be done. We simply cannot live on the mountain top all the time, crucial though these experiences are to our faith and Christian walk; we have to understand that there are twin peaks in the Christian life – suffering and glory – and Christ is with us in both.
