So Jesus takes three of his disciples up onto a mountain with him. While they were there, an amazing thing happened. These days, we call it transfiguration! Jesus was transfigured right there in front of them. It must have been amazing. They had never seen any thing like it before. They were so impressed they wanted to make an altar up there to mark the spot and the occasion. But perhaps more extraordinary than what they saw, was what they heard: This is my son. Listen to Him!
The mountain was likely Mount Tabor. You can look it up on google maps. A number of significant biblical events took place around Mt Tabor.
While Jesus didn’t give those disciples time to memorialize the event, other Christians in later years have established churches there: A Greek Orthodox and a Roman Catholic church.
We all tend to like our ‘mountain top experiences’ as we call them: we would all like them to continue in our lives – like living in a permanent high. However, Jesus soon brought these disciples back do to the plain and ministry continued. First up a miracle of healing. Through it all, God’s glory was constantly being revealed in Jesus. They didn’t need to mountain top – they had Jesus there with them: his teaching, his miracles, and his commissioning of them to do the same in His name.
Isaiah’s disfigured Jesus, transfigured on the mountain, and reconfigured in ministry on the plain. God’s glory revealed in every place!
That’s what we are invited to – to die with Jesus; to be transfigured with Jesus, and to be reconfigured with Jesus into ministry to those still lost in the darkness.