Third Sunday after Epiphany (OTA)

Micah 4:1-5
1 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Mic 4:1-5). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

There are many Mountains in the Bible. God has gathered his people to many different places. He gathered his people around Mount Sinai. Later he gathered His people to the Mount Top of Jerusalem where his Temple was built. Proclaimed himself as the one true God on Mt Carmel. God has even gathered his people back to Jerusalem or Mount Zion.

Jesus Christ finds himself standing or hanging on Mount Calvary. But this only comes after gathering his people on several other mountains. Jesus speaks the Sermon on the Mount. He is transfigured on the Mountain top. He then dies upon Mount Calvary.

Many of us find ourselves gathering on other mountains. In the Old Testament the High Places were a place of worship for many. The Woman of Sikar even talks about the different places in which people go to worship and what is Jesus' answer.

Jesus tells the people that you will be able to call upon the Name of the Lord on any mountain or Valley. But the city on a Hill can not be hidden. Jesus Christ gathers his people not to a certain mountain or place but to God our Father in Heaven. He has gathered you into his Kingdom. He has gathered you to Mount Zion. This is were the redeemed in the blood of Christ have been gathered. You have been saved and gathered to this place.