On top of the
mountain, Peter, James and John have seen the kingdom of God. At the mountain's
foot, they – and the crowd – are astonished at the majesty of God as Jesus
heals the boy and returns him to his father. It is a high point of the
ministry. Yet even as the crowd and the disciples marvel at everything he's
doing, Jesus tells them plainly, "Listen, and remember: I am about to be
betrayed and go to My death for your sake."
The disciples are
confused.
"He's doing it
again…you know…the I'm-gonna-die thing…"
Luke tells us that
they do not understand and that the saying "was concealed from them so
that they might not perceive it."
Why, then, does
Jesus keep telling them?
Jesus knows that it
is concealed from them because, if they knew, they would not (could not) stay
the course. They would not (could not) make it from the foot of the mountain to
the foot of the cross whether for fear, faith or failure.
Jesus, on the other
hand, knows full well what is going to happen – who will betray Him and for how
much, who will desert Him and how He will die – and still He stays the course.
He tells the disciples what's going to happen so that they will one day understand
that He laid down His life with complete knowledge of Judas' betrayal, the
disciples' abandonment and Peter's triple denial. He wants them to know that
while they – and we – were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In time, the
knowledge will sober them, challenge them, and spur them on to lay down their
lives for Him – to die every day to all the petty concerns of everyday life,
the imagined slights and outright insults which are all outweighed and
overwhelmed by His grace.
Like the disciples,
we, too, are confused and overwhelmed when we realize the magnitude of His
sacrifice. We are left knowing that nothing we can do will ever repay and
nothing we can suffer will ever compare. How, then, are we to live?
Follow me knowing
you have no home here, Jesus says. Leave the world and all its lies behind and
keep looking forward, up ahead, to the city on the hill – the one at the foot
of the cross.
