The juxtaposition of transfiguration and Golgotha creates the full range of emotions in our heart. Jesus knew what His future held, how that He must die. He engaged in a very human activity. Our Savior “went up on the mountain to pray” (Luke 9:28). It was not unusual for Jesus to pray to His Father. In prayer He revealed His very real humanity. He who taught us to pray (The Lord’s Prayer) prayed with much intensity and passion. We are reminded of this as later we hear Him pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. By His request He was accompanied to the mount of transfiguration by Peter, James, and John. As He prayed He was transfigured, that is “the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening” (Luke 9:29). What an amazing sight this was! It was expressed by the Apostle Peter who wrote in his 2nd epistle, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount” (2 Peter 1:16-18). This event was even more amazing as at this moment the Old Covenant and the New Covenant met. Moses and Elijah stood conversing with Jesus. Through this conversation Jesus Who kept and fulfilled the Law proclaimed by Moses and Elijah was reassured, for they, “spoke of His decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). It was a grand and bright scene, one that forever emblazoned itself in the hearts of the disciples who were present. They were given a glimpse of the glorified Christ before the fact, as well as of the glory that is the promised possession of all who in faith in Christ walk through this dark vale tears. What a glorious and faith-strengthening experience for these men who later would descend into the valley of despair as they would witness the Savior in trial and on Golgotha! It is God’s promises that sustain us and see us through the dark and dreary days.

The disciples themselves did not fully comprehend all that was about to happen. Peter, if it had been possible, would have the Father accomplish His purpose for mankind in a different way than through the death of Jesus. On Easter evening the disciples were gathered in a locked room in fear and confusion. Yet, there echoed in their ears the words spoken on the mount of Transfiguration, “This is my beloved Son” (Luke 9: 35).

As we follow the Savior through the valley of suffering to the mount of His death we are witnesses to the grossest travesty of justice ever shown by vile humanity- the abuse and rejection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The fact that He had to go this way by the determinate will of God the Father does not excuse the manner in which Jesus was abused. It does not excuse us for whose sins Jesus died. “It is my sins for which Thou, Lord, must languish” (LH-143). But in a manner, which only grace can conceive, and faith can believe, the degradation of our Lord is the glory of the penitent sinner. The Gospel of salvation must necessarily declare the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the innocent suffering and death of Jesus is the divinely appointed, and therefore the only acceptable payment for our sin, as well as the erasure of our guilt, and the destroyer of our death. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. Without Him is no salvation. Through His death we have eternal life because He rose again!

Emotions wane and grow as we follow our Savior’s life recorded in the sacred Scripture. The ebb and tide of emotion is a human trait. Therefore we build our hope upon the sure foundation of the Word of God, which does not change. The message remains the same for the ages, and so does the promise. He who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall not perish but have everlasting life. That inspires the emotion of joy for all who have stood on the mountain and walked through the valley!

D. Fleischer (February 10, 2002)