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1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 17:1-9 NIV)
Dear Friend, as we pray today, please lift up Mrs. Donna Hisey, who is undergoing her back surgery today, Monday, 2/9/26 at Seton Hospital in Austin. Pray for a successful surgery and for a rapid and pain free recovery. Also, prayers for Suzanne Zaitz. She has been battling pneumonia. Please pray for complete healing and a speedy recovery. Pray for one another; pray for our nation.
As a child that grew up on TV Westerns, the idea of a retreat was usually seen as a sign of defeat, much like "Circle the wagons." which meant let's await our death. Even a revered mentor asked, "When will the Church stop retreating and attack?" I knew exactly what he meant. My ideas changed when I attended my first Walk to Emmaus. It was a retreat unlike any other and such I did not want to leave the mountain when it was over. Okay it was technically a hill since the retreat was in the Texas Hill Country. And I came back determined that we needed to have the Walk to Emmaus in español. It was a very hard sell. The first brave soul was a man in my church, Mr. H. Paul Adams, who said yes. As I dropped him off to his Walk he was caught calling his son-in-law to come and pick him up. He was overheard saying, "I don't know where I am, nor could I tell you how we came." He was taken back to his table where he got into it. And he helped sell the event to others. A good friend and mentor, whom I had asked to study under during my internship year in seminary turned me and others down for nineteen years! You read that right; 19 years before he finally said yes. And he went to a walk in Boerne during a Super Bowl weekend and he blessed our household watching that SB with us.
Jesus holds His own retreat on a high mountain. The only invited pilgrims were Peter, James, and John. This was the inner circle or cabinet as it were, of the Lord Jesus. Jesus had a purpose behind this retreat. Peter became the one who did not want to come down off that mountain because his eyes saw what no one else had ever or since seen. In that retreat time, There before his mortal eyes were the figures of Moses and Elijah; two central heroes of the Old Testament. Moses, as the giver of the law, and Elijah, the great prophet whose life represented a bridge between God's past revelation and God's future renewal. In fact, the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi spoke in 4:4-6 of the importance of each and how God would send them before the renewal that God spoke. Add to this scene the voice of God announcing, "This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!" Boom! Peter says he'd rather set up camp with tents or shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah; he realized it was good that they were there. Jesus had other plans. This vision of glory was to prepare them for the coming sufferings of Jesus. This was a worship even meant to commission and preparation for the hard work ahead. We need our mountaintop moments—those worship services that move us to tears, those prayer retreats where God feels near, those experiences of God's presence that mark our souls. But we can't live there. The world that needs Christ is down in the valley: sick people who need healing, broken relationships that need reconciliation, hungry neighbors who need bread, lost souls who need hope.
The disciples came down that mountain different. They had seen something that would anchor them through confusion, persecution, and doubt. They had heard the Father's voice: "This is my Son... Listen to him!" That certainty would carry them when everything else fell apart.
Transfiguration Sunday sits on the edge of Lent. We're about to walk with Jesus toward Jerusalem, toward suffering, toward the cross. We need this glimpse of glory to remember who Jesus really is when the road gets dark. We need to hear the Father's voice before we enter the wilderness.
But we also need to remember: the point of seeing Jesus transfigured is so we can be transformed. The glory isn't for our comfort—it's for our commissioning. We come down the mountain with a clearer vision of Christ, ready to listen to him, ready to follow him, ready to reflect his light in a world that desperately needs it.
Don't try to build shelters on the mountain. Let the glory change you, then bring you back down to the people who need what you've seen.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for moments when you reveal your glory. Give us eyes to see you clearly and courage to follow you faithfully—not just on the mountain, but down in the valley where your people need us. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Reflect on a time you experienced God's presence powerfully. How is God calling you to let that experience fuel your service to others this week?
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me! Make your life count!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
