All three Synoptic Gospels discuss the Mount of Transfiguration, but only Luke mentions that the disciples went to sleep on the mountain. He is also the only one who reports that Christ prayed while the disciples slept (Luke 9:28-29, 32).
Why was Jesus praying? He was setting an example for the disciples. He had just told them He was going to suffer and die and that if they wanted to follow Him, they would suffer as well. Now, He was showing them what they should have been doing. They should have been praying for the strength they would need in the difficult days ahead.
Why were the disciples sleeping? They did not see the need to be alert or to ask God for help, and they did not believe they would suffer.
The Mount of Transfiguration illustrates two different attitudes. The Lord approached God in prayer and was transformed before the disciples. They saw His glory. The disciples saw no need to pray. They mistakenly thought the kingdom was coming to Israel in the next few days, even though Christ had told them it would not.
He was full of glory. They were clueless.
The same thing would happen later in the Lord’s earthly ministry. He took the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed as He headed to the cross and asked the disciples to pray with Him. He prayed. They did not. He pleased the Father, while they abandoned Him in shame.
The lesson from the Mount of Transfiguration and Gethsemane is that if believers want to follow the Lord, we must be people of prayer. We have to rely on Him. In prayer, we acknowledge our need of Him in order to face the difficulties connected with being faithful to Him while we’re living in this fallen world. The author of Hebrews tells his readers, who were facing difficulties because of their faith, that they needed to approach Christ to find the help they needed in order to remain faithful (Heb 4:16).
Paul tells us that Christ’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration provides another lesson: As the believer looks to Christ in His Word—as he goes to Him in prayer as his great High Priest —he is transformed from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18). Since Christ lives within the believer through the Spirit, the Spirit can transfigure the believer into His glory. We can reflect the glory the disciples saw on the mount as He lives through us.
Prayer is critical in the life of the believer. We can be believers who are asleep, and we will be if we do not listen to and rely on the Lord. Such a life is foolish and full of shame. If Christ saw the need to pray as He faced difficult days, we certainly should. If we follow His example, we will be able to show His glory to all with whom we come into contact.
Should we pray or sleep? The wise choice is obvious.
