“‘I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.’ Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.” (Luke 9:27–29)

We read quite often that the Lord went up a mountain to pray there (see Luke 6:12; 22:39–41; Mt. 14:23). The mountain speaks on the one hand of separation from people and on the other hand of nearness to God. Whoever climbs a mountain leaves the valley behind for a while to be alone and to have a wider perspective. From the mountain, figuratively speaking, you can see some things a little more through the eyes of God (see Deut. 34:1).

The path Jesus took led through suffering to glory. On this path He, as a dependent Man, also needed encouragement. Psalm 110 verse 7 prophetically says of Him, “He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lif t up his head.” The scene on the Mount of Transfiguration was certainly such a drinking from the stream of God, which is, for us also, always full of water (see Ps. 65:9). He discussed there with Moses and Elijah His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. What an encouragement to know that at that moment the eyes of heaven were on Him. Shortly afterwards it is said,

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51).

The “founder and perfecter of our faith” had His future glory constantly before the eyes of His heart. This hope helped Him to endure rejection, persecution and suffering here on earth, because we read that, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2).

It should be the same with His disciples. After the Lord had presented them with the cost of discipleship, God gave them, immediately afterwards on the mountain, a wonderful prophetic vision of future events. Years later, Peter thought back on this and took courage for the last steps that lay ahead of him on the way to his martyrdom (see 2 Pet. 1:14–19).The same Apostle writes, “We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19).

Now we suffer in this accursed world while we follow a rejected Christ. But soon—perhaps even today—He will come again to take us to His Father’s house, the eternal dwelling place of God. We also wait for the day when He, Who was rejected and crucified here, will rule over this creation in power and glory—and that with us at His side! God wants us tobe occupied with the future events that He tells us about in His Word. He wants us to know the things that are waiting for us at the end of the road. The anticipation of this spurs us on to be victorious conquerors every day!

Often the anticipation of the next holiday helps us to pick ourselves up once more, and to tackle the remaining jobs as well as we can. Is that also true in terms of eternity? To what extent does the hope that you will soon be forever with Christ and that God will wipe every tear from your eyes, have an effect on your life today? Do you have moments when you leave the ‘valley’ behind you for a few minutes to go to the ‘mountain’ to talk to God about His interests and goals?