Day 19: Luke 9:28-36

I love Peter. Peter has no filter. I feel like he just constantly says the first thing that pops into his head, and that’s something that I can identify with. There’s times when his mouth utters amazing things, like, “If it’s really you, tell me to come to you walking on the water,” and, “You are the Messiah sent from God!” And there’s times when it gets him into a lot of trouble, like when he admonished Jesus for saying that he was going to be betrayed and killed, or when he denied that he even knew who Jesus was. This instance is almost comical though.

Peter, James, and John get to see a small glimpse of the glory of Jesus with Moses and Elijah and they are obviously overwhelmed by it. As Moses and Elijah are leaving, Peter blurts out, “Let’s build three shelters here to commemorate this event!” He was wanting to preserve this mountaintop experience. He wanted to stay there and bask in the glory of that moment.

God cut him off though. I love how it says, “But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them…” God doesn’t even let him finish his thought. He was showing Peter that he was looking at this completely wrong. It wasn’t about staying on the mountaintop, it was about doing what needed to be done. God the Father speaks, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” There was work to be done. There were things that Jesus was going to tell them that they needed to get to doing instead of sitting up there and trying to relive this amazing experience.

God often allows us to have these great mountaintop experiences. Things that get us fired up, motivated, moved by the Holy Spirit. There are these great outpourings that happen in our lives, and they are needed. But we are never meant to stay there. There is a mission that still needs to be accomplished. When you have these mountaintop experiences, enjoy them, learn from them, but keep your eyes on the true purpose. Listen to Jesus and do what he tells you to do.