Up into the cloud for the crowd
There’s something powerful about praying in a triplet – if you can get down to praying more than sharing, it keeps you focused onto doing business with the Father. Jesus takes the trio of Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. There’s something powerful about going away to pray together and going up a mountain to pray too.
As Jesus is joined by Peter, James and John up a mountain and there is a huge power encounter. Jesus is transfigured. His glory is unveiled and revealed to the three disciples in a much greater measure than they had yet seen. “Yes Peter, I am the long awaited Christ, the Son of God!”
Moses’ and Elijah\s appearance represented all of the old covenant – the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) – I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation! “Hey Jesus, it was all about you! Pointing to you! Glad you have come for them. We longed for this…” is kind of how I imagined they would speak!
Peter wants to stay on the mountain top – he wants to make some tents, like they do for the feast of Tabernacles, to stick around in the glory. But the point of going up to the cloud, certainly until Jesus comes back, is to go back to the crowd. So after the Father affirms Jesus again – “This is my Son, my Chosen One; Listen to Him!” – they go back down to the crowd, treasuring the experience in their hearts.
They immediately encounter a crowd with a man whose son suffers with demonic seizures. The other disciples couldn’t cast it out, but Jesus does so immediately. He explains it’s a matter of faith; not the size of faith (because a mustard seed will do), but who the faith is in. Going to the cloud – the presence of God brings anointing for the crowd.
Andy Moyle
