I Went Down The Mountain
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid
(July 21, 2019)
1And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
9And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” “The Transfiguration
(Mark 9:1-13; Luke 9:28-36; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
Greetings In The Holy Name OfJesus Yahshuah,
My brothers and sisters, I went down the mountain. My heart rushed exuberantly exhilarating- I could have been hyperventilating, then I felt a thud. I hit rock bottom hard, not hardly but real hard. It was a reality check.
I do not think I slid as you slide down a slippery slope. The momentum was both a sweet relief of the struggle to breathe and pace myself for my heart raced was not as prepared for the acceleration climbing up as I thought I was. The stepping down brought a sense of joy in the sweet relief, at first, then, my legs had a mind of their own, problem-solving and my speed picked up, carefully planting my two feet firmly on the ground with each step holding my body as straight as I could without bending too much forward. As my steps quickened, in the rapid decline down the mountain when I finally reached leveled ground with a thud, my feet seemed to lock in place.
I am unabashed to say or not ashamed to say, Jesus must have felt a sort of thud when he went down the mountain because time drew nigh for the time of his death and resurrection. To serve your purpose, in your lifetime, especially since you scaled such heights in your lifetime to feel and see the presence of those Great Sons of God, who lived on earth before you, along with friends, disciples of the faith, was quite impressive to anyone whether the Great impression was felt by those disciples who stood with you at those moments in space and time or those followers reflecting daily how supremely masterfully great those moments were on the mountain with the Sons of God, all standing before you, in the presence of God, with you among them. That for just small-minded believers was an amazingly heady and hearty experience-a rush of God’s love as the light and all the glory of God magnified the presence of Sons of God. So, I tell you I went down the mountain and I hit rock bottom with a thud.
My reality hit hard in my chest as my breathing awakened in me the do or die solution to everything. I quickly decided to do. I took the next few steps in a struggle purposefully stepping firmly in place, obviously leaving footsteps for the next poor soul who went down the mountain as I did with the courage to recover and keep moving no matter how slow until you could move faster than at the onset to reach your goal. For me, reaching my goal was getting to a safe place to either collect my thoughts in prayer asking God to help me make it home or a safe place to regroup my energy- get a drink and regain strength. For Jesus, the reflections occurred in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before the arrest when with all his heart he asked God His Father in Heaven to release him from this burden to bear, this cup to drink, for he would soon die for the sins of man to redeem the souls of man[“And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”Matthew 26:39-42, KJV].
Most importantly I am still on my journey running my course through this gift of life in reflections on Christ Jesus Yahshuah’s walk up Calvary after his heightened experience on the mountain with God, the Great Leaders Sons of God before him, and his disciples - those charged with carrying on the faith, spreading the Word of God, the gospel truth, near and far for the saving of souls, in grace holding on to the promise of eternal life. This lofty purpose we share in the brotherhood knowing at the Last Supper that one of the brothers at the table was a betrayer of the Faith whose flesh was weak at the time Jesus needed all his disciples strength to stay awake, to hear all that he came to teach them, to carry the light, to put a lantern at their feet as they walked through the night, to shake off the dust, to think of the higher purpose the mountain experience all that the Greats did before them to carry on, must still be done today, in modern times, are not easy thoughts to wrestle with because like Jacob wrestling with God before daybreak to effect his thigh, in contemporary worldview, “ For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12,KJV]
for the lying, stealing, killing and destroying is not a figment of your imagination, it is real, each and every day [“Jacob wrestling with the angel is Genesis (32:22–32; Hosea 12:4). ... In the end, Jacob is named "Israel" and blessed, while the "man" refused to give his own name. Jacob then named the place where they wrestled Penuel (????????? "face of God" or "facing God" wikipedia.org]. Therefore, I must in compelling swagger behoove you to stiffen your upper lip for out of the mouth is life and death [“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Proverbs 18:21, KJV, The Unfriendly Pursue Selfishness], henceforth, give the battle to God, the battle is the Lord’s battle, so walk with God [“And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.” 2 Chronicles 20:15, KJV]. He will see you through it all and he will prepare the way of your going out and your coming in[“The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” Psalms 121:8, KJV, I Will Lift Up My Eyes To The Hills”], this walk up Calvary just keeps replaying in life, so much, until it is hard to bear that the Son of God, the Son of man, died for us all and time and space will not ever let us forget that happened-history will not let us forget because as folks say, history is His Story![B.C.- Before Christ ; A.D.- After Death of Christ]. I hear the cries each day, “This has to stop!” when yet another soul walks up Calvary just as Jesus Yahshuah did two thousands years ago! [“How Jesus Died: Rare Evidence of Roman Crucifixion Found, The body of a man buried in northern Italy 2,000 years ago shows signs that he died after being nailed to a wooden cross, the method used for the execution of Jesus described in the Christian Bible.” livescience.com , History “This cross was erected inside the Roman Colosseum as a monument to the suffering of early Christians in Rome. The Christian Bible describes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as occurring in Jerusalem under Roman rule at the beginning of the Christian era. Credit: Jared I. Lenz Photography/Getty”].
In closing, in prayer, let us be of good faith to stay a while longer fighting the good fight! In Jesus Name! Amen. God bless
