Today’s Reading: Luke 9:28-50

Key Verse:  “About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” Luke 9:28-29

This miracle of Moses and Elijah appearing on the mountaintop and Jesus being transfigured was a testimony to the fact that Jesus was truly the Son of God, just as most of the miracles that Jesus performed convinced others of his Divine authority.

This story of the transfiguration is a miracle that describes to us what we sometimes call mountaintop experiences of life. We’ve all had mountaintop experiences where we’ve felt like we were on top of the world and in the presence of God. Perhaps you had a mountaintop experience when your child was born, when you were married, or when you received a special blessing or healing from God. Maybe your mountaintop experience occurred as you just sat quietly in prayer with God, or maybe you remember an experience in your life when God brought you to the mountaintop and you felt God was so close to you that you could just reach out and touch the hand of God.

Martin Luther King described the mountaintop experience in the famous sermon he preached on April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. His sermon was entitled, “I see the Promised Land.” Martin Luther King said that he didn’t worry about anything because he had been to the mountaintop with God. He said he had no fear, “For my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”

The next day, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot to death. But that night when he preached, Dr. King was ready to face his destiny. He was ready to face the future because he had been to the mountaintop with the Lord. That’s what mountaintop experiences in our life are all about. Mountaintop experiences help us to get ready for the tomorrows. They help us to face the future in hope and assurance that God is there with us.