Up and Down the Mountain

Luke 9:28-43

Jesus’ Mountaintop Transfiguration

The mountains are the most ideal places to pray and experience God. At the mountaintop, we can have intimate fellowship with God and experience spiritual awakening.

At all important junctures, Jesus would retreat, quieten down, and pray earnestly. This time, He brought with Him three disciples to the mountains to pray. But the three specially chosen disciples were useless companions. They fell asleep. Anyway, Jesus was often all alone in His experience of conflict and struggles.

Although they were asleep, the disciples woke up just in time, by the grace of God. They witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus’ appearance and his dazzling white clothes. This was the eternal Christ in His post-resurrection glory!

Jesus’ transfiguration tells us that He is not merely a spiritual guru, He is full of glory, honour, and authority. He is the sovereign Lord of our lives.

Let’s come and look up to the mountains and behold the glorious and bedazzling appearance of Christ!

Go Up to the Mountaintop and Go Down to the Valley and Plains

The transfiguration of Jesus on the mountains and his radiant white clothes affirmed His deity as the eternal God the Son.

This was also an anticipation of Jesus’ glorification after His death, resurrection and ascension.

 

Moses represented the Law while Elijah represented the Prophets. The appearance of these two great representatives of Israel tradition next to Jesus showed that His identity is unparalleled.

Elijah and Moses discussed with Jesus concerning His departure (or, exodus), which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem (v. 31). The two luminaries were cheering Jesus on, affirming and encouraging Him to accomplish his God-given mission.

Their discussion was not merely about Jesus’ individual fate but involved the prophecies of the Law and the Prophets concerning the Messiah who would accomplish salvation for all nations through His suffering and death.

Jesus, the Messiah would die on the cross to accomplish salvation, leading the people out of the bondage of sin and death, which we term the “second exodus.” In Christ, we receive God’s promised inheritance, which are the redemption of all things and a renewal of life.

Jesus’ mountaintop transfiguration is a kind of “peak experience.” We ought to desire this kind of peak experiences in the journey of faith. These are like “tonic” to revive and renew us. We gain strength and solidify our faith through these peak experiences.

Have you ever had such “peak experiences”?

Let’s retreat to the “mountaintop” to pursue God’s presence and to desire the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We need to experience the miraculous signs and wonders, immerse ourselves in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, see visions, dream dreams, and have extraordinary fellowship with the Lord.

“Peak experience” is very good indeed! That’s why Peter said, “Why don’t we build three tents to keep the glory and not leave this mountain?”

But the tent-building project did not materialise because Moses and Elijah were taken away. Theologically means that they had to be gone. They were not supposed to linger in the tents alongside with Jesus because their era had passed and now Jesus came and inaugurated a new era of salvation.

And then Jesus and His disciples went down from the mountain the next day and a great crowd met them. One of them cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my only son. An evil spirit seized him. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth. My son is hurt. You disciples wanted to cast it out, but they could not.” (vv. 39-40)

Not only did the disciples fall asleep on the mountains, but now, back on the plains, they could not cast out a spirit.

They were really useless. Then God’s only son, Jesus reprimanded the unclean spirit, healed the only son of this father, and gave the boy back to his father, and the crowd was amazed at the majesty of God (vv. 42-43).

Jesus did not stay long in the mountains. Instead, He went down to the crowded valley and plains in order to heal those in need and cast out demons.

Jesus understood that his “peak experience” on the mountains was to equip Him to accomplish what was recorded in the Books of the Law and the Prophets. On the plains, in the countryside, Jesus fought against the forces of evil; set free those who were oppressed and enchained; and ultimately to sacrifice His own life for the salvation of the world.

Coming down from the mountains, Jesus served ceaselessly throughout His entire journey to Jerusalem until He arrived at another mountain, Golgotha, to suffer humiliation and to be crucified on the cross.

When He was crucified, Jesus was not accompanied by the illustrious Moses and Elijah. Instead, He was accompanied by two robbers who were crucified next to Him. This time, the Father did not speak from heaven. What a contrasting “peak experience”!

Whether it was the mountaintop or the valley and plains, whether on this mountain or on that mountain, whether it was the glory of bedazzling brightness or the glory of humiliation, Jesus embraced it all and never flinched!

Conclusion

We must not be contented with the busy service or the boring and monotonous life of the “plains”. We need to “go up the mountains” to experience God and pursue the sweetness and power of being filled by the Holy Spirit.

For example, we can have these experiences through listening to an inspiring sermon, or participating in praise and prayer rally, or signs and wonders conference, or silent retreat.

Let me quote the Alders gate experience of John Wesley which was his “peak experience”.

On May 24, 1738, John Wesley’s seeking for the grace of God ended in a meeting house on Alders gate Street in London. He wrote in his journal that now-famous account of his conversion: “In the evening I reluctantly attended a meeting in Alders gate. Someone read from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to Romans. About 8:45 p.m. while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

It took John Wesley some time to learn how to live the life of faith, for he was not always possessed of joy and thought he had fallen from salvation. It took time for him to see that it is not Christ and good works, but Christ alone who saves, resulting in good works.

As time went on, John Wesley was mightily used of the Lord to reform England. His Methodists became a national force. John rode thousands of miles (as many as 20,000 a year) preaching as only a man filled with the Holy Spirit can preach, telling the gospel to all who would listen. He acted "as though he were out of breath in pursuit of souls." Wherever he preached, lives changed and manners and morals altered for the better. It is often conjectured that his preaching helped spare England the kind of revolution that occurred in France.

The “peak experiences” we are talking about come with responsibilities, that is, to “go down to the valley and plains” to serve the needs of the crowd.

As we serve, our character will be transformed and subjected under the authority of Christ. This is the way of achieving sanctification!

If we do not “go down to the plains” to serve, then all our so-called “peak experiences” are merely the pursuit of endless emotionalism. This will not bring any changes to lives or to the world.

When we go down to “the plain” to serve the crowd, we will see for ourselves the rampancy of evil and the sufferings of the people. We can truly practice the power of faith and let the almighty power and the brilliant glory of Christ overcome the evil forces of darkness. Serving at the foot of the mountain gives us a broader experience of life, which is filled with challenges and endless surprises!

Some people, even after many decades of believing in the Lord, are still telling the same old testimony. They talk about how they had experienced the Lord years ago when they were heartbroken, or when they fell ill, or when they failed their exams, etc.

This is akin to Peter requesting to remain on the mountain. One day we will discover that this particular experience cannot sustain us to journey on in faith. God wants us to experience His grace and faithfulness anew every day.

If we walk with God, every day will be a new day. We will enter new realms and experience new horizons. We will be able to tell fresh testimonies one after another. Forget what is behind and strive forward to what is before.

Where is your “valley and plains”?

Your “valley and plains” could be the workplace, or at school, or in your small groups, or in your various ministries, or at home, or in the messiness of human relationships; you need to take up the challenges and make things right.