Mountains and Valleys
The reading this weekend is the story of the Transfiguration, a significant event in the life of Jesus. The Transfiguration appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. It is a pivotal moment where Jesus reveals His divine nature to His disciples. He ascends a mountain with three disciples to pray, and in their presence, He is transfigured, shining with heavenly light. This transformation confirms His identity as the Son of God. The disciples, awestruck, want to stay on the mountain to honor Jesus. However, Jesus, aware of His mission, leads them back down the mountain to continue His work as given to Him by God, His Father.
The Disciple’s desire to stay on the mountain is touching. They did not want to return to the valley. They wanted to stay safely on the mountain, honoring and worshipping Jesus. But Jesus says they need to return to the towns and villages. His work still needs to be completed.
The first time we hear of Jesus going apart to pray was when He went into the desert for 40 days and nights. Going apart refers to Jesus intentionally seeking solitude to be with God. Jesus follows this pattern throughout the Gospels. He goes apart to pray at significant moments, such as after he was with a crowd healing or teaching, before selecting the disciples, after feeding a crowd of 5,000, and before He taught the disciples to pray. This practice of’ going apart to pray’ was crucial for Jesus to find strength and guidance in His mission, and it can serve as a model for us in our spiritual journey.
Jesus went apart to pray just before asking His disciples, “Who do you say I am.” In the end, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives to be alone with His Father before His arrest, condemnation, and death.
Even in death, the road to Calvary brought him to, at the very least, a hilltop on which he was crucified. Even in dying, he went apart, and in the innermost part of His person, Jesus walked the Calvary road, crucified in the heart of His Father.
Prayer gave Jesus personal time to be one with the Father and find strength in that relationship. Going apart to pray was how Jesus maintained union with His Father. The divine nature of Jesus did not need time apart. His human nature required time to be in communion with God.
Today, we could benefit from concentrating on two actions of Jesus that provide a model for us. They are the need to go apart and equally the need to return.
We, like Jesus, need to go apart for a while and be with only our God. Using as few words as possible, we rest in the heart of God, allowing God to refresh our souls and help us know what He asks of us. In those moments, we learn how to handle the stressful situations that come our way. In those moments, we learn to let God renew and refresh us when we are weary; we let God do God’s work in us. We must pause in an out-of-the-way place and let God minister to us, heal us, encourage us, and allow us to live from the deepest place in our souls rather than the surface emotions that can easily lead us astray.
The disciples wanted to stay on the mountain where Jesus was Transfigured. But that was not the call of Jesus. We find comfort and peace in out-of-the-way places. They are only meant to be a respite, not a place to make camp. In the end, we return to our towns and villages. We go about our lives living the Gospel in the everydayness of our families and communities.
Going apart is not the end in itself. We are not called to hide in our churches, prayer rooms, or wherever we find God. Those places are where we gather the strength and wisdom to know how to be people who walk in the footsteps of the Lord. In our out-of-the-way places, we are transfigured into the face and heart of God, living and being His love personified in our everyday world.
In God’s Unending Love,
Gwen
