( Matthew 17:1-9 ) - [ Deutsch ]
There are moments - you never forget them. God's Window is located on the steep slope of the Drakensberg Mountains in Mpumalanga. One look down is enough to understand why it is called "God's Window". With its magnificent views, gorges, rock formations and waterfalls, God's Window is truly breathtakingly beautiful. Take a deep breath and rise above things for a short while. At the top of the mountain, many things down there suddenly seem very small.
We need such summit experiences - highlights in life.
The days rush by, week after week, month after month.
And sometimes, maybe it's the same for you, something heavy comes up inside you. Tough. Almost oppressive.
Jesus is on the way with his disciples.
They too have lost their lightness.
It was exciting to walk with Jesus. But then Jesus says,
there's something coming his way, and for all of them.
Something heavy. Most of them try to ignore it.
What is in store for them?
Reading of the Bible text
After six days comes the seventh day, Shabbat - a day of interruption.
Day of the Lord, for us Christians that is on Sunday.
God gives us a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. That is how it is meant to be. Sunday gives us a taste of salvation and lets the kingdom of heaven shine for a moment.
Jesus takes his friends out of their dull everyday life and leads them up a high mountain. A summit moment.
On the mountain, Jesus and the disciples are not alone.
A summit meeting of a special kind takes place up there.
Three prominent mountaineers meet:
Moses and Elijah, the two great witnesses of the Holy Scriptures,
are in conversation with Jesus. God's word is in the Torah and the Prophets. To Moses, God gives his instruction in the Torah.
Elijah stands for the prophetic writings in the Bible.
God came close to him too - on Mount Horeb.
Moses and Elijah - their names have written history.
Jesus is included in this history.
Moses, commissioned by God to liberate the people of Israel from Egypt
and lead them into the Promised Land, represents the birth of the Jewish people.
Elijah, on the other hand, looks to the coming Kingdom of God:
He will reconcile the generations at the end of the days and return as the forerunner of the Messiah.
Moses and Elijah have long since died.
And yet they are not dead.
They form a living and life-giving force that transcends all conceptions of time. They might talk to Jesus about what that is like. And that it will also come to pass for him.
And his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white like the light. Sometimes people have such a glow, such a radiance.
"It's good to be here," Peter says, deeply absorbed, his gaze transfigured.
I want to climb a mountain like that. To get clarity, an overview and, above all, a perspective. Peter wants to build huts - for Moses, Elijah and Jesus. They are reminiscent of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. Huts are quickly put up and taken down again and with a roof made only of palm branches, reminds the people of Israel - reminds us that we are on the way.
Eternity lasts only a - shining - moment.
But already the glaring brightness is overshadowed, a light cloud only and a voice: "This is my dear Son, him you shall hear."
There are moments - you don't forget them. But they do not last forever. The way of Jesus leads down again -
to the community with the people who have a hard time.
You can't enjoy the view at God's Windows forever. You can refuel there.
And then come down again. And gather strength for the challenges you face in everyday life.
What remains of the shining moment on the mountain is the voice that says:
"You shall hear him!"
The disciples are frightened at first. It is a deep spiritual experience that they have there on the mountain. As God often shows himself and speaks on mountains in the Bible. Religious experience can take hold of a person completely, literally knock him/her down.
And the first thing Jesus then says is, "Rise up and fear no more!" You have come to the right place. You have experienced it: God is with me and I am part of the story of God and man - just like Moses and Elijah. Do not be afraid.
Then they come down from the mountain, go back to where they came from. Return to their everyday lives, richer by one fascinating experience. They are to prove themselves in everyday life. It's not much different with us. We are not measured by our Sunday piety, but by whether we are recognisable as Christians in everyday life.
But proving ourselves in everyday life is not possible without refuelling. Everyday life is not possible without Sunday. Work is not possible without prayer. Sometimes we need time out, spiritual experiences, a hike up the mountain.
And Jesus says: I am with you always.
I walk with you.
Until the end of the world.
Amen