UP ON THE HIGH MOUNTAIN

Three of the gospels record the Transfiguration of Jesus ‘up on the high mountain.’ This is Mark 9:
“After six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain, alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them. His garments became shiny, extremely white as snow, such as no launderer on earth could whiten them.  And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses. And they were talking with Jesus.” (Mark 9:2-4)

Following this Peter wanted to build three sacred tents (tabernacles, sanctuaries), “one for you (Jesus), one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (9:5) I have always wondered how Peter knew it was Moses and Elijah. They had been dead for centuries. As a Jew, Peter would have learned of them in Sabbath School. But how did he recognize them as ‘they were talking with Jesus?’ (9:4) Perhaps Jesus introduced them to the three disciples up on the high mountain.

But then, “a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (9:7) The three looked around and saw no one but Jesus only. The voices of Moses and Elijah were gone.

The Law and the Prophets are for our instruction. Paul, an apostle, wrote in Romans 15:4, “For whatever was previously written was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Now we have the scriptures and Jesus, the Word, powered by the Holy Spirit. Or as Hebrews 1:1 puts it, “God, who at various times and in diverse ways spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”

“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

“Whoever hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death into life.” Jesus