Up in the northeast corner of the Sea of Galilee, a mile or so past the village of Bethsaida, there is a mountain. Or, as near what you would call a mountain in that area. If you go there today, there is a parking lot nearby, and from there you walk a steep and rocky trail for about a mile and a half to get to the top of the mountain. Even with the trail, it is a tough trek. As Jesus, Peter, James, and John walked up the mountain that day there was no parking lot and no trail. It was an ideal place to go if you wanted to just get away. More and more, Jesus was looking for opportunities to get away.

A lot has happened since that day we met with the group on that hillside near the Sea of Galilee. The pressure was on. He had spent the past few years doing more teaching, healing the sick, an…