And after six days Jesus taketh Peter , James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart ,
Jesus takes three of his closest disciples — Peter, James, and John — up a high mountain privately, setting the stage for one of the most dramatic moments in the Gospels: the Transfiguration, where Jesus' appearance would be transformed, his face shining like the sun and his clothes becoming dazzling white. The phrase 'after six days' is deliberate — it connects directly to the passage just before it, where Jesus told his disciples he would suffer and die. Mountains held deep significance in Jewish and biblical culture as places of divine encounter; Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai, and prophets repeatedly met God on high places. This verse is the quiet walk before the overwhelming revelation.
Lord, help me keep climbing even when I cannot see what is waiting at the top. When the six ordinary days feel heavy and confusing, remind me that you are present in the silence between promises. Give me the courage to follow you up the mountain. Amen.
Six days. That's what the text gives us — six ordinary days between Jesus telling his disciples he was going to die and the moment on the mountain when everything blazed with glory. Six days of silence we aren't told about. Six days of walking, eating, probably arguing, definitely not understanding what he had just said. You might be in one of those six days right now — after a hard conversation, after a diagnosis, after something broke that you thought was solid, before something you can't yet see. The disciples had no idea what was waiting at the top of that mountain. They just kept walking with Jesus. That is the whole invitation here: not to understand what's coming, but to keep climbing anyway. What you find at the top might be more than you bargained for — and exactly what you needed.
What do you think the disciples were feeling or talking about during those six silent days after Jesus predicted his death and resurrection?
Has there been a 'mountain moment' in your own life — a time when God showed you something that reframed a period of confusion or fear? What was it like?
Jesus chose only three of his twelve disciples for this experience. Why do you think God sometimes reveals himself to us privately or with only a few trusted people rather than broadly or publicly?
How does sharing a significant spiritual experience with others — the way Peter, James, and John shared this one — shape or deepen your relationships with them?
Is there a hard climb you have been avoiding — a difficult step of faith, an uncomfortable conversation, a calling you keep deferring? What would it look like to keep walking with Jesus through it this week?
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
2 Peter 1:18
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Matthew 10:2
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
Acts 3:1
And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.
Luke 9:28
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John the brother of James, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
AMP
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
ESV
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
NASB
The Transfiguration After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
NIV
Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves;
NKJV
Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.
NLT
Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain.
MSG