Following Jesus Down the Mountain

Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. 2 As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. 3 Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. 4 Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”6 The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. 7 Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”8 And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus. 9 As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 17, NLT)

This past Sunday I visited a small United Methodist Church in Kentucky off the Ohio River. I was invited by a friend to come do a teaching on discipleship and how Inspire helps others live into their identity as a disciple of Jesus. I had a good visit with the members of this church, as many of them were welcoming and very kind to me.

As I drove home Sunday from my visit with this small church I felt the Spirit reminding me of the story above. Can you imagine being one of Jesus' disciples in this moment?

It was just six days ago Peter exclaimed to Jesus, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (Matt.16:16) Jesus then shares a troubling truth with his disciples after Peter's declaration. He went on to tell them, "He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead." (Matt.16:21) You have to love Peter's response, "'Heaven forbid, Lord,' he said. 'This will never happen to you!'" I'm sure the other disciples were thinking the same thing! They were all hoping Jesus would be the one to reinstate Israel back to its once former glory. I'm sure they didn't expect Jesus to say to Peter, "Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (Matt. 16:23) It's clear Jesus' disciples are thoroughly confused why he came to them! Jesus then offers what it will take to be his "follower" saying, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it."

Six days later Jesus and his closest friends are walking up a mountain to be alone with Jesus. I don't know about you but my mind would have been racing. Can you imagine what Peter was thinking? Jesus just said to him that he would build His church on him, followed by, "Get away from me, Satan!" Then there was this talk about "taking up your cross..." I would have been thinking, "What the heck did I get myself into?" But Jesus is too captivating for them to back out now.

So they find themselves walking up the mountain with Jesus and then the heavens up and they get the joy of witnessing a glorious meeting between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Peter, bless him, opens up his mouth again and says, "Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." This is what made me think of the small church I visited in northern Kentucky. A once vibrant and thriving church now finds itself in serious decline.

I felt the Spirit saying to me as I was driving home to never worship the results of His grace and movements in my life. Instead, I need to keep my eyes on Jesus and what he's doing. Why are we so quick to build "memorials" of our life experiences? Don't get me wrong, we must remember what God has done! We need to give thanks for our deliverance, healing, answers to prayers, etc. But we must also remember a beautiful truth... we worship a God that raises the dead! A God sitting and reigning at the Father's right hand. A God that sends His Spirit to be with us. As I was with these lovely people on Sunday everything within me wanted to say, "God is not finished with you!"It saddened me to hear how many of them are simply buying their time until they pass away. We're called to so much more.

I'm learning this year that too many of us have tried to stay on the mountain and worship what God has done in our lives instead of following Jesus down the mountain and joining in with what he's doing now!

I felt compelled to write this because I don't want any of you to fall into this temptation. If we are to be followers of Jesus we must pick up our cross daily. Jesus longs for you to join him in bringing heaven to earth. He's waiting for you. When you surrender your life to Him I'm confident you will live an abundant life that only He can offer.

So my question for you, do you see yourself staring at a memorial or do you see Jesus?