Christ’s Selection for the Mount

“Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves.” — Makk ix. 2.

HERE are some minds that have moments

of religious elevation. I would not say that all religious people have. The large majority are destined for the plain, and find on the plain all that they need. But there are some men who are destined for the valley, and these require moments on the mount. Consider the three in the passage that were so elevated — Peter, James, and John. Is there any point of likeness between these? Yes — they were all bound for the inner circle of Gethsemane. They were to be together in the sharing of Christ’s sorrow, and therefore they are brought together in an experience of joy. I used to wonder why the three men

taken to the glory of the Mount were the same three afterwards taken to the sadness of the Garden. I understand it now; it was because they were destined for the Garden that they were carried to the Hill. The lives that most need sunbeams are the lives that are to be called into the inner grounds of Gethsemane. Only these three got there. Among the others there were splendid workers; Andrew was a finder of men, and Philip a political economist, and Matthew a dispenser of Christian hospitality. But just on account of their work they had less time to feel; the urgency of labour precluded the entrance of depression. Peter, James, and John were all destined for the burdens of the soul rather than the burdens of the body. Peter was to weep over his sin. James was to die a martyr in lifes morning. John was to bear in Patmos an exile by a lonely sea. They were all coming to states of mind in which work would be impossible and which would require another aid than the plain. And so Jesus took them up to the mountain. He gave them a draught of delight in anticipation of the day of darkness. He gave them a sight of the sunbeam, a glimpse of the glory, a cluster of the grapes of Canaan. He said in effect: “It will be a sustaining memory to you in the coming days. When the pillar of cloud is around you, you shall have a pillar of fire behind you. You shall live by the light of yesterday; you shall glow with the sunshine of the past. The songs of the morning shall be with you in the night; the air of the mountain shall be with you in the dungeon; the remembrance of the music shall be with you in the battle’s roar.”

Lord, I thank Thee for my glimpses on the hill; it is by these I conquer in Gethsemane. Nothing but joy can conquer sorrow. I can triumph through the cross, but never by the cross. Even in Thy cross Thy victory came from Thy peace — from the joy already laid up in Thy heart. I could never bear my hour in the valley were it not for the memory of my hour on the height. There is an angel that comes to strengthen me, and that angel comes from the past. I remember the days of old, and I refuse to let my spirit touch the lowest ground. I should be consumed but for my yesterdays — the retrospects of Thy love. Therefore, O Lord, I prize my glimpses on the hill. Men tell me they are valueless — only coming that they may pass away. Yes; but it is when they pass away that they are strong. It is in memory they are mighty. I never know their power till they are gone. The songs of the noon come back to me in the night. The rose of the dawn returns to me at dusk. The view from the hill supports me in the hollow. Send me Thy draught for the desert! Pour me Thy wine for the weariness! Gird me with strength for my struggle! Arm me with peace for my Patmos! Bring me a flower for life’s fading! Light me a torch for earth’s tunnel! Nerve me with calm for my crosses! Fill me with joy for my journey! One breath of Thy mountain air will keep me all the day.