Mountains are highly symbolic. They are where In Scripture, mountains are highly symbolic. one meets God and hears the divine voice. They are where one meets God and hears the divine voice. Moses, the great teacher of Israel, went up Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments. “Come up to me on the mountain...I will give you the stone tablets…” (Ex 24:12) In the Sermon on the Mount, the new Sinai, Jesus as the new Moses, modifies the Ten Commandments in his teaching on the Beatitudes--which give the spirit of love to the Commandments and bring perfection to moral life. Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to the mountain top, and was transfigured before them. Jesus’ face shines like that of Moses after his encounter with God on Mt. Sinai. Peter wants to remain there awhile. Mountaintop experiences are an important part of our own faith journey, for it is there that we perhaps have a better perspective of God’s loving and just plan for humanity. However as Christians, we like Peter, face the temptation of becoming entrenched in our mountaintop experiences, wanting to live safely apart from the struggle and desperation of those who seek justice in an unjust world. As tempting as it is, we cannot get comfortable on the mountaintop, for we are just passing through. We can enjoy the view from the top but sooner or later we must come down. But having been to the mountaintop, having been with God, we can more easily face the day-to- day difficulties of trying to live the Gospel in a broken world.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 08:03:05 +0000
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