Up the Mountain with Jesus

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

Mark 9:2

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Why did Jesus make these three disciples climb all the way up a high mountain to be transfigured in front of them? He could have done this in a much more convenient location, so why up a mountain?

‌‌Throughout Scripture, God often appeared to His people on mountain tops. It was on Mt. Sinai that God first revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush. And it was on the same mountain that God spoke to Israel out of a dense cloud of thunder and lightning. And where did God send Abraham, to test him, by commanding him to offer his beloved son Isaac up as a sacrifice? It was atop Mount Moriah. And what about the Prophet Elijah? Where was he when the Lord appeared to him with a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire? He was on Mt. Horeb wasn’t he? But the Lord wasn’t in the strong wind. He wasn’t in the earthquake, and He wasn’t in the fire. He came as a still small voice didn’t He? In all these stories God met His people on top of a mountain.

‌‌And, incidentally, in Exodus 24, when God called Moses up Mt. Sinai to give him the Ten Commandments, Moses went partially up the mountain and waited six days before God called to him and invited him to enter the cloud of His presence. It’s interesting then, that Mark says Jesus took them up the mountain after six days.

‌‌So, why up a mountain? Two reasons. First, it connects Jesus’ transfiguration with other stories from Scripture where men saw or heard from God. It’s a hint that what these three disciples are about to witness is nothing less than a revelation of who God is.

‌‌Second, I believe this story, and all the other stories of people climbing mountains to meet God, show that while salvation is free, a close relationship with God takes work. Have you ever climbed a mountain? It’s hard work! The disciples likely had to get up early and walk for hours with aching legs. It was probably late morning or lunchtime before they reached the top. But when they got there, they were all alone with Jesus. Sometimes getting alone with God, takes effort and work.

Any relationship takes effort. Being close to God is no different. If you want to be close to God, if you want to stay close to God, then you are going to have to put in the work to have that close relationship with Him. I’m not talking about salvation. I’m talking about intimacy, closeness.

If you aren’t willing to get up early or stay up late to read your Bible, if you aren’t willing to pray (and keep praying even after you get bored), if you aren’t willing to turn off the TV or put down your phone to spend time with God, then you won’t be as close to Jesus as you could be. As much as we fret over the “major sins” making inroads in the lives of Christians today, perhaps the sin doing the most damage in our lives is a simple lack of desire to know God, a lack of willingness to climb the mountain and do the hard work of pursuing closeness with Him.

‌‌If you don’t have the close relationship with God that you want, let me ask, “Have you been putting in the work? Have you been climbing that mountain every day to go meet with Him. Have you put in your six days of waiting? Or did you give up too quickly? Did you tap out when the Bible didn’t immediately make sense to you or when prayer wasn’t fun anymore?” If you want to be closer to God, start climbing the mountain.