Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory
“After six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves…” (Mark 9:2a). Six days after what? Jesus and His disciples had been in the area of Caesarea Philippi, in the far north of Israel. There Jesus asked them the most important question of their time together: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29). Immediately, Peter speaks up, and for the first time one of the Twelve identifies Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus goes on to teach His disciples the implications of Messiahship: suffering and death.
Six days later, they are ready for another lesson in His identity. The high mountain Mark describes is most likely Mt. Hermon, the highest peak inside modern Israel’s borders, towering 9,230 feet above sea level. Jesus now leads Peter, James, and John on the grueling hike up the slope to the summit. While they were there, “His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them…. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is My beloved Son; listen to Him’” (Mark 9:2b-3, 7). Imagine the terror and exhilaration! And as quickly as the cloud appeared, just that quickly it disappeared.
Rev. Thomas Troeger vividly describes this moment in his hymn “Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory” (LSB 416):
Swiftly pass the clouds of glory, heaven’s voice, the dazzling light;
Moses and Elijah vanish; Christ alone commands the height!
Peter, James, and John fall silent, turning from the summit’s rise,
Downward toward the shadowed valley Where their Lord has fixed His eyes.
And as soon the walk down the mountain began, Jesus was again speaking to them of suffering. He takes their eyes off the mountaintop and puts them back on Him and what He was about to do for them…and for us. Oh, how we want to stay on the mountaintop with a cloud overshadowing all the troubles of our lives. But Jesus doesn’t want our eyes on the mountaintop. He wants our eyes on Him.
Lord, transfigure our perception with the purest light that shines,
And recast our life’s intentions to the shape of Your designs,
Till we seek no other glory than what lies past Calvary’s hill
And our living and our dying and our rising by Your will.
(Click here for Aaron's full February 2021 newsletter.)
