Jesus found closeness on the mountain
The mountain setting provided solitude and drew him nearer to God
August 6, 2006 -- Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
By Fr. Michael Stubbs
Sometimes, when people tell me that they are having difficulties in praying, I suggest that they reconsider the location where they pray. It sometimes helps to set aside a spot in the house for prayer, an area where you can find some privacy. When we habitually pray in the same place, we consecrate it as holy ground.
It is possible that Jesus favored a certain location for prayer. Sunday's gospel reading, Mark 9:2-10, begins, "Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves." The gospel reading does not name the mountain. Is it the same mountain mentioned earlier in Mark's gospel? "And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray." (Mark 6:46)
On top of the mountain, Jesus would have found solitude. That in itself would have facilitated prayer. The higher elevation would have also suggested closeness to heaven. The culture of the times identified heaven with the sky.
We may no longer conceive of heaven in the same spatial terms. Instead, we may think of it in a more spiritualized manner. But Jesus, as a man of his times, probably did associate heaven with the sky. As he ascended the mountain, he would have felt himself drawing nearer to God.
The mountain provides the perfect setting for the event that takes place in the gospel reading; the Transfiguration. Jesus is transformed in glory before Peter, James and John. Two long dead figures from the distant past join him, Moses and Elijah. And most amazingly, a voice speaks from the heaven, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." God is claiming Jesus as his own.
Jesus' ascent up the mountain in the gospel reading also echoes an Old Testament passage where Moses climbs up Mount Sinai. "So Moses set out with Joshua, his aide, and went up to the mountain of God." (Exodus 24:13) Just as Moses is accompanied by Joshua, Jesus is accompanied by Peter, James and John.
There are other parallels as well between the gospel reading and the Exodus passage. In the gospel reading, a mysterious cloud surrounds Jesus, Moses and Elijah. A similar cloud envelops Mount Sinai in the Exodus passage. "After Moses had gone up, a cloud covered the mountain." In the gospel reading, Jesus is glorified, even if that word does not appear in the text. But the Exodus passage makes it explicit. "The glory of the LORD settled upon Mount Sinai.
Jesus' ascent up the mountain echoes Moses' ascent up Mount Sinai to a remarkable degree. But there is an important difference. Moses climbs up Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of the Law, the Ten Commandments. The focus does not fall upon Moses. On the other hand, the gospel places the emphasis upon Jesus. He is the new way God has to speak to us, comparable to the Law in the Old Testament.
That is why, when Jesus, Peter, James and John descend down the mountain, they do not carry with them tablets of stone, inscribed with some new teaching. Jesus himself is the new revelation from God.
(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)
|
