“Hey, John, who do you think is the greatest among us?”
James glanced at me, his face still showing signs of annoyance from the argument that had broken out among the disciples.
“Well, it must be either us brothers or Peter.”
“You think so too, right?”
“Of course. Whenever something important happens, Jesus always takes the three of us along. Like when He raised the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue leader, and also when He went up the mountain this time.”
“But why don’t the other disciples acknowledge that? I really don’t understand. Even though it’s obvious that Jesus gives special treatment to the three of us, they act like it’s nothing. Look at them—they couldn’t even cast out a single demon and yet they make such a fuss.”
I recalled what happened on the way back from Caesarea Philippi to Galilee. At that time, the disciples argued about who was the greatest among them. Judging by Jesus’ actions, it’s clear that the highest-ranking person must be one of the three of us—Peter, James, or me—but some disciples absolutely refuse to admit that. For example, Judas Iscariot says that since Jesus entrusted him with the money bag, and that’s the most important task, he is the greatest. Others, like Andrew, claim Peter is the greatest based on Jesus’ previous words. While I can somewhat accept those reasons, what bothers us as brothers is that no one supports James and me as being the greatest. Are they ignoring us just because we’re younger?
“If this keeps up, I really think I should bring our mother to see Jesus sometime. Since she has served Jesus so much, He would surely listen to her.”
“But Jesus doesn’t even meet with His own family sometimes. Do you think bringing our mother will work?”
“We have to try something. If things stay like this, when His kingdom is established, we might end up with nothing.”
James is right. Lately, Jesus has spoken twice about the Son of Man being handed over, dying, and rising again on the third day. This confusing message has unsettled the disciples, but it’s clear that the time for Jesus to establish His kingdom is approaching. If I stay quiet in this situation, I might lose out completely. If Peter and Andrew are early disciples, then so am I. We left our jobs and families to follow Jesus, and our mother has served Him with many resources and sacrifices. If after all this, I don’t get a high position, it would be like wasting my time and effort.
“If only I could tell the others about what happened on the mountain, they would all understand. Why does Jesus forbid me from speaking about it?”
I listened to James, and recalled the events that had happened on the mountain not long ago.
Six days after Jesus revealed that He was the Christ, He took only three of us—Peter, James, and me—and led us up a high mountain. Jesus went to a quiet place and began to pray, and we sat a little apart so as not to disturb Him. At first, we tried to pray along, but as time passed, we gradually ran out of things to say, and our bodies grew stiff. We shifted around to pass the time. When even that became boring, drowsiness overcame us. We were all so tired that we fell asleep without realizing the sun had set and a new day had begun.
In my half-sleep, I sensed a sudden brightness where Jesus was, and I thought I heard Him talking with someone, but I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality. I couldn’t open my eyes. Then James shook me awake, and only then did I realize that what I thought was a dream was actually happening.
Jesus’ face shone like the sun, and His clothes were dazzlingly white—whiter and brighter than any laundryman on earth could ever make them. Beside Jesus stood two men I had never seen before. The three of them were wrapped in glory and talking together. It seemed they were discussing what Jesus would accomplish in Jerusalem, but I couldn’t understand their words. Even when Jesus spoke directly, we couldn’t grasp or accept what He said, so there was no way we could understand this conversation.
We just quietly watched the scene. Everyone was curious about who those two men were, but no one had the courage to approach and ask. Think about it—where we sat was dark, but where the three of them stood was bright. That place was light, and here was darkness. It felt as if all our sins would be exposed if we went there. Who would have the courage to step into that? Besides, that place was surrounded by glory. No Jew could fearlessly approach the glory of God. God is supremely holy, and we could never dare to come close to that glory. Only Jesus, the Son of God, could do so. So it was clear that those two men were no ordinary people.
As we three stood there stunned, the conversation ended, and just as the two men were about to leave, Jesus called out to them. Moses and Elijah. Who was Moses? He was the most revered man among all Jews, a prophet. Through him, we Jews had been freed from Egypt’s oppression and had become a nation. The Torah even states clearly that no prophet like Moses would ever arise again. The law he gave us was precious, something we would give our lives to keep. That was Moses.
Elijah was also an incredible man. He was the only prophet who called the northern kingdom of Israel to repentance from idolatry. He alone defeated hundreds of Baal and Asherah prophets on Mount Carmel. During a three-and-a-half-year famine, he stayed at the widow’s house in Zarephath between Tyre and Sidon, where the food never ran out. When the widow’s son died, Elijah prayed to God and brought him back to life. After appointing Elisha as his successor, Elijah was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot without dying. These were the very men we saw talking with Jesus.
People who didn’t witness this might ask how we could be sure they were Moses and Elijah, but since we saw the indescribable light and glory, we had no doubt. What could we possibly question?
Just as the two were about to leave, Peter suddenly shouted,
“Lord, Rabbi—it is good for us to be here. If you want, let us make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Later, when we came down from the mountain, Peter said he didn’t even know what he was saying at that moment. Even James and I couldn’t have said anything better. We were all terrified, but having witnessed these great figures from the Scriptures, we couldn’t just let them leave. Our feelings were complicated.
Before Peter finished speaking, a bright cloud enveloped us, and they disappeared into the cloud. The light now shone even into the darkness where we stood. From the cloud came a voice:
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
Jesus had once told us that when He was baptized, John the Baptist heard a voice from heaven. I wanted to ask if that voice was as powerful as this one, because this voice shook my whole heart. That light in the cloud was clearly the glory of God. No one can remain unaffected when encountering God’s glory. We fell on our faces, trembling with fear. The fear the Israelites felt when they heard God’s voice in Moses’ time was no exaggeration.
At that moment, Jesus’ gentle voice came to us:
“Get up, and don’t be afraid.”
That voice gave us incredible courage, the kind that could overcome any fear in the world. It gave us hope that if we trusted Jesus alone, we could live even before the holy God. Jesus comforted us trembling in fear and gave us that great hope. Encouraged by His words, we raised our heads. The shining cloud had disappeared, and only Jesus remained.
As we came down the mountain, Jesus told us,
“Don’t tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”
We asked each other what He meant by the Son of Man rising from the dead, but we couldn’t find an answer. We were afraid to ask Jesus directly, fearing He might say something we didn’t want to hear or understand. The only question we dared to ask was,
“Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
Jesus answered,
“Elijah indeed comes first and will restore all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised? But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him. In the same way, the Son of Man will also suffer by them.”
Only then did we realize that Jesus was speaking about John the Baptist as Elijah.
This was the event that only the three of us—James, Peter, and I—saw, heard, and experienced firsthand. If we could tell the other disciples about it, they would surely recognize one of us as the greatest. As James said, we could try to settle the competition with Peter through our mother, but first we needed to deal with those other disciples who claimed to be the greatest. However, as long as we couldn’t speak about what happened on the mountain, we had no way to convince them, so the argument on the road only grew worse.
* * *
“What were you arguing about on the road?”
Suddenly, Jesus asked a question. The disciples were caught off guard. Not a single one of them could answer Him properly. They all thought that if Jesus found out they had been arguing about who was the greatest, He would surely rebuke them again. So they kept their mouths tightly shut and remained silent. But Jesus’ gaze did not waver, and finally, one of the disciples stepped forward and asked,
“Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus looked around at all twelve of the disciples and said,
“If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
The disciples were only human, after all, and each of them wanted their devotion to be highly valued. Who in the world wouldn’t want to be recognized by God? But what they sought through that recognition was to be higher than others. They thought they could only be satisfied if they were above everyone else. They desired the highest place, but Jesus wanted to tell them that their way of thinking was wrong.
So He called over a little child, gently embraced the child, and set him among them. Then He said,
“Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not only me but him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great.”
The passages from Matthew 17:4-12, 18:1-5, Mark 9:5-13, 33-37, Luke 9:33-35, 48 quoted in this narrative are taken directly from the World English Bible (WEB) translation.
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