L U K E
From Mountaintops
To Deep Valleys
(9:28-50)
Leon Barnes
“. . . it came about that He took along Peter and
John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray.
And while He was praying, the appearance of His face
became different, and His clothing became white and
gleaming. . . .
“And it came about on the next day, that when
they had come down from the mountain, a great
multitude met Him. And behold, a man from the
multitude shouted out, saying, ‘Teacher, I beg You to
look at my son, for he is my only boy, and behold, a
spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it
throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the
mouth, and as it mauls him, it scarcely leaves him
. . .’” (9:28-50).
What is the greatest event in your life? What
about the greatest religious experience in your
life? Hopefully, for most of us it would be the
same event. I suspect if you could ask Peter,
James, and John that question, they would answer, “It was the day we went with Jesus to the
mountain to pray, and He was transfigured in
our sight.” We know that Peter never forgot that
day, for he wrote:
For when He received honor and glory from God
the Father, such an utterance as this was made to
Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved
Son with whom I am well-pleased”—and we
ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven
when we were with Him on the holy mountain
(2 Peter 1:17).
This was truly a mountaintop experience for
Peter.
ON THE MOUNTAINTOP
It all started with a trip to pray. Jesus had
taken His inner circle of disciples and separated
from the crowd for time to pray. As Jesus prayed,
Peter, James, and John were heavy with sleep.
His prayers may have been a marvel to them, but
they were never able to get into them with the
fervor He had. Early morning prayers in deserted places and all night prayers just had not
made it into their schedule. One wonders if Jesus
had taken them with Him hoping they would
catch the spirit of prayer. If so, it did not catch on
very quickly.
As He was praying, “the appearance of His
face became different, and His clothing became
white and gleaming” (9:29). Then the two great
men Moses and Elijah “were speaking of His
departure which He was about to accomplish at
Jerusalem” (9:31).
Can you imagine how Peter, James, and John
must have felt when they woke up and saw all of
this? No wonder they did not know what to say!
But Peter was like many of us. Even though he
did not know what to say, that did not stop him
from saying something. If you put Peter’s words
into our language, they would run something
like this: “This is great. I’m sure glad we came up
here. Let’s build tents for You, Moses, and Elijah.”
His idea seemed to be that the experience was so
good that they should just stay up there for a
while. One of the drawbacks of mountaintop
experiences is that we hate to leave them. Our
human desire is to stay and breathe in the spiri-
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tual high, while feeling superior to all those who
are still in the valley dealing with everyday
problems.
God stepped into the picture: “A voice came
out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My Son, My
Chosen One; listen to Him!’” (9:35). Peter was
talking when he should have been listening. This
event was not for staying; it was preparation for
what was happening down in the valley. Too
often we struggle with speaking when we should
be listening. How prone we are to tell everyone
what we think and what we believe is the solution
to every problem. But the real need is to listen to
Jesus. He alone has the answers to our problems.
DOWN IN THE VALLEY
When they came down from this great experience, they found problems among the ones left
behind. What a powerful lesson can be learned!
A boy had been brought to them by his father
because he had an unclean spirit which seized
him, and he would suddenly cry out. His father
said, “. . . it throws him into a convulsion with
foaming at the mouth, and as it mauls him, it
scarcely leaves him” (9:39). The apostles who
were left behind had tried to heal the boy but
were unsuccessful. How frustrating to them!
They had been given power over unclean spirits.
Why could they not cast them out? Jesus’ answer, according to Matthew’s Gospel, was that
this kind comes out only through prayer. While
Jesus and the three disciples had been up in the
mountain praying, the others had not taken the
time to pray. Even miraculous powers were left
weak when not sustained by prayer. How much
more must this be the case with regard to nonmiraculous powers. As we try to help others, we
must take time to pray.
Jesus rebuked the apostles, saying, “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall
I be with you, and put up with you? Bring your
son here” (9:41). Jesus healed the boy and presented him to his father.
Two lessons must stand out. First, unless you
take time away from the crowd for prayer and
renewal, you will often come up empty when
you so desperately want to help someone. Even
in our dedication to serve God, we sometimes
overload our bodies and our spirits so that we
have nothing left when the hour of crisis comes.
Thus, let us learn to take time away from the
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realities of daily life. Go on the retreats; take time
for the lecture programs and workshops; get
away with a few who share the same faith and
dedication we do.
Second, mountaintop experiences have value
only when we bring them down from the mountain to where people are hurting. The cry for help
was still ringing out in the valley. People were
still agonizing with life. Many today do not view
worship services today as a mountaintop experience to help us with life. Instead, our worship is seen as a part of the humdrum activity
that we must endure. Too little of what is learned
on Sunday is applied on Monday. Learn from
worship and study of His Word and apply what
you learn to your everyday life to make it better.
THE MAJESTY OF GOD
“And they were all amazed at the greatness
of God” (9:43). Note that the majesty was not
seen clearest on the mountain with Jesus’ face
aglow, but in the valley in helping a lad in
trouble. It is always easiest to see God’s majesty
against the background of helping hurting people
overcome their hurts.
It was with the marvel still in their hearts that
Jesus challenged the disciples to allow something to “sink into your ears; for the Son of Man
is going to be delivered into the hands of men”
(9:44). When victories over sin are obvious, it is
hard to imagine their being shattered with rejection and crucifixion. But Jesus was going to be
betrayed. He would be murdered so that, through
His blood, the stains of sin could be removed
from us all.
This idea of the death of Jesus just could not
be understood by the disciples at this time. Victory was too fresh in their minds. It is terribly
hard to imagine such a tragic defeat when you
have just experienced such a victory. It would
only become clear to the disciples through the
eyes of hindsight that the greatest victory ever
established would be the one accomplished by
the death of Jesus on the cross.
WHO IS GREATEST?
Is it not amazing that next the disciples got
into an argument about which one of them was
greatest? Perhaps the background of this was the
thought among the three who went with Jesus
upon the mountain that they were surely greater
since they had been so privileged. But the others
may well have countered, “The real work was
being done down here while you were up there
talking about it.” Whatever brought it on, one
thing is obvious: The problem of self-elevation
has never gone away. We still fuss about what
work is best, which preacher is the best, which
congregation is the largest or has the biggest
building, or which one is doing the most mission
work. I doubt that the problem will ever go away
this side of eternity.
Jesus took a child and “stood him by His side,
and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this child in
My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me
receives Him who sent Me; for he who is least
among you, this is the one who is great’” (9:48).
What a distinct view of greatness! It just does not
fit our normal way of looking at life. It did not fit
theirs either, but it is God’s view, and our duty is
to make it ours.
BE CAREFUL WHOM YOU DISCOURAGE
Evidently, the mention of the one who is least
in the kingdom being great prompted John to
bring up an encounter he had had with someone
casting out demons in the name of Jesus. He was
not one of them, so the disciples told the man that
he had to cease and desist. To the twelve, this
seemed to be the right thing to do since they were
an exclusive group. Those who were not apostles
were not supposed to be performing the signs of
an apostle. It seemed to them that this man was
invading their territory. They had tried to discourage him. But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him;
for he who is not against you is for you” (9:50).
What makes a person a Christian? Is it not
loyalty to Jesus? Is it not the willingness to submit to the teachings of the New Testament? Does
it not involve one’s taking the Word of God and
living obediently to it? Did not John later write
by divine inspiration, “And by this we know that
we have come to know Him, if we keep His
commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come
to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him”
(1 John 2:3, 4)?
So if one is obedient to the Word of God,
teaching the truth of His Word, and encouraging
others to do the same, do not discourage him. If
one is lacking in knowledge, teach him more and
build on what he already knows.
QUOTATIONS
“You can’t get the worm out of the apple by
polishing the apple.”
“I remember hearing a prominent minister
say that it occurred to him once as he drove into
his driveway after a particularly hard day at the
office, that he was about to begin the most important work of his entire day—his handling of
his relationships with his wife and children.”
Lane G. Adams,
Good News for All Seasons:
26 Sermons for Special Days,
Richard Allen Bodey, ed.
“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he
shall never be disappointed.”
“We must not build a temple where Scripture erects only a tent. Biblical preaching is
proclaiming what the Bible teaches, rightly and
reverently.”
David L. Larsen,
The Anatomy of Preaching
“The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat
yourself.”
“When we meet God in prayer, we should go
like a patient to his doctor to be thoroughly
examined and afterwards to be treated for our
ailments.”
National Voice
“The Bible is a stream wherein the elephant
may swim and the lamb may wade.”
“Many an excellent man is tempted to forget
that the best offering he can make his children is
himself.”
Henry Neumann
“Hate never builds anything; it can only
blast.”
Joseph Fort
©Copyright, 1991, 2005 by Truth for Today
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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