In 1924 the British mountain climber George Mallory joined an expedition to climb Mount Everest for his third time. He was reluctant to go since he had taken a teaching position at Cambridge and his young family had joined him there. But the thought of missing out on being part of the first expedition to conquer Everest drove him to climb the mountain. When asked why, Mallory replied with "Because it is there." Mallory died on Everest in his attempt to reach the summit. His body was finally discovered in 1999.
Mallory's body is not the only body on Everest's heights. There have been over 200 people killed in their attempts to climb the mountain with around 120 bodies remaining on the peak. While some might see some rationale in risking one's life to be the first to climb a mountain, most of these deaths have taken place after Sir Edmund Hillary's 1953 successful ascent. Why do people risk their lives to climb a mountain that has been conquered?
We might ask a similar question today. As Jesus stands on the mount of Transfiguration we are reminded once again that He has conquered a mountain for us. The mountain that He conquered is the mountain referred to in today's Old Testament lesson, the mountain on which God gave His Law to Moses. The Law that God gave on Mount Sinai made up the conditions on which God based His covenant with Israel. They would be His people and He would be their God if they kept this Law — if they climbed the mountain.
But the mountain of the Law is insurmountable. Over and over again Israel failed to climb the mountain by keeping the Law. This is the purpose of the Law. It shows us our sins. It accuses and condemns us. But today we rejoice because Jesus has conquered this mountain. He has kept the Law perfectly for us. He stands on the mount of the Transfiguration triumphant. No longer can the Law accuse us. No longer does it condemn us. Jesus has accomplished what we could not. The mountain of the Law is conquered and He has taken away any and all reasons for us to try to climb it again.
