March 1927
169
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
the serious problems before him. “I’ve listened to this one, that one and the other one,” said he, “yet every move I make gets me in deeper.” His little daughter of about seven left her chair and, placing her arm about her father’s neck, said: “Papa, have you lis tened to Jesus?” It went home to his heart, for in the midst of his distractions, he had taken little time to meditate upon God’s Word or to pray. That night he cast his burden upon the Lord, and by lis tening to Jesus, he found the way out. There are many voices in the world. Even some Bible teachers today tell us that the words of Jesus are only for the Jew. The voice from heaven says— "Hear ye Him.’’ Selected from W m . M. T a y lo r in “Peter, the Apostle.” ABOUT eight days after the conversa- 1 tion between Christ and His apostles, and while yet their minds were earnestly engaged with the. startling information Saviour was drawn by a peculiar attrac tion; so that when He had any special privilege to bestow, He generally chose to confer it upon them. Thus they were se lected to be the witnesses of the resur rection of the daughter of Jairus; and they were honored to go farthest with him into Gethsemane. It is as vain to ask for the reason of this preference as it is to inquire why, out of these three, one was known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” and was per mitted to lean upon his bosom. There were doubtless good grounds for the se lection in both cases; but whether it is to be accounted for by the supposition that these chosen ones had more in them in common with the -Master than the other nine, or to be referred to the absolute sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, it is not for us to say. Up the sides of a mountain Jesus led his three apostles as the day was declin ing, that the night might be spent by him in communion with his Father. He gave himself unto prayer, and they, heavy with slumber, had a hard battle to keep them selves awake; but, having overcome their drowsiness, they were rewarded by such a vision as mortal eyes never before or since beheld. For the fashion of the Lord’s countenance was altered, his rai ment became white, flashing out like light ning, dazzling as the snow beneath the sunlight. We are reminded, as we read, of the case of Moses as he came down from the mountain, and of that of Ste phen as he stood pleading his cause be fore the council; but both of these shone with a reflected lustre, giving back that which they had first received, whereas here the Saviour’s radiance .came from within. For the moment the glory of His Godhead broke through the veil of that humanity by. which on earth it was so largely concealed ; and he appeared “cov which he had given them concerning his s u f f e r i n g s and death, the L o r d took P e t e r and J a m e s and John apart with Himself, and led them up “in to a high mountain.” To these three of His disciples th e
ering himself with light as with a gar ment.” He was to meet a deputation from the realms o f glory, and it became him to array himself in his celestial state. The night was filled with the splendor;, the very darkness was light about them; and not all at once could the privileged spectators accommodate their vision to the brightness. But when they could see into the glory, they beheld with their Master two -shining ones, whom they knew to be Moses and Elijah, and whom they heard conversing with him on that very death which had been so distaste ful to them, and for deprecating of which Peter had drawn upon himself such a startling reproof. The purposes which this, remarkable oc currence was designed to serve will ap pear only when we take into consideration the different individuals' of whom the group on the mountain-top was composed. So far as Jesus Himself was concerned, there can be little doubt that it was meant to sustain him through the dreadful or deal of Gethsemane and Calvary. In the near future of His ministry, there lay be fore Him those sufferings and that death of which he had so recently spoken to His followers; and in the hour of that awful agony when His sweat was as. great drops of blood falling heavily upon the earth, as well as in the moment of that dreadful loneliness when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ?” the memory of this voice upon the mount, and that other by the banks of the Jor dan, must have come back upon His spirit with reassurance and consolation. Before the conflict with the prince of darkness in the wilderness, the vision at the Baptism was given to inspirit Him for the fight; and now again, just before He set out on His last journey to Jerusa lem, and when He had the near prospect of meeting the combined assaults of earth and hell, He is comforted and cheered by the words of Moses and Elijah, and by the voice from the eternal Father.. I f there be a cross before us, God will'grant us also a transfiguration, that we may not flinch in the time of trial. He “sendeth none a warfare on his own charges,” and the glory of Hermon lightens the dark ness of Gethsemane. One object secured by the presence of Peter, James and John was that there were eye-witnesses of the Redeemer’s majesty on this occasion, when for a brief season he resumed his regal state. But while that was a matter of undoubted im portance, the effect produced on these three disciples themselves must not be overlooked; and to obtain a correct idea of that, we must take into account the conversations . in immediate connection with which the Transfiguration occurred. The Lord had asked them first, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” and they had replied, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist; . some Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets;”
and now, Moses and Elijah themselves ap pear doing homage to Jesus, and setting that matter completely at rest. He had asked again, “But whom say ye that I am?” whereupon Peter, speaking for the band, had said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God;” and lo ! as they gazed on His robe of light, they had ocular demonstration of the truth to which Peter confessed, while the voice out of the cloud left no room for any lingering doubt as the great God him self proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son.” Once more-: He had now, for the first time, spoken plainly to them of His suf ferings and death; and they were offend ed thereby; so that Peter, in their name, had protested against His enduring any such indignities at the hands of men; and all had marveled at the force of the re proof which he had thereby drawn upon his head. But, behold! when Moses and Elijah came from heaven to hold fellow ship with Christ, it is of this very death they speak. They say nothing of the glory of His miracles; they utter no word about any earthly monarchy, such as that which His followers supposed He was about to found; they have no conference’ concern ing the conquest of Israel’s Roman op pressors; they speak only of “the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusa lem.” In their estimation, that was the central point in His career; the most glorious and the most God-like thing He was to do was to give His life a ransom for many, for thereby He was to accomp lish an Exodus more far-reaching in its results, and more illustrious in its re nown, than that with which the name of Moses is imperishably associated. The effect of all this upon the listening apostles must have been great. They would learn at once that in the dying of their Lord there was to be nothing really disgraceful to Him, however much indig nity men might endeavor to connect with it; and though, for the time, they might not be able to comprehend how the death of the Lord could be a theme of such in terest to celestial beings, and could be so intimately associated with their Master’s honor, yet, in later days, after the Holy Ghost had been conferred upon them, they would, through their remembrance of this wonderful conversation, be enabled to understand more thoroughly the mys tery as well as the majesty of the cross. We are reminded here that a devotional spirit sees new glory in Christ and in His Word.' When Peter and his brethren re tired apart with Christ, he was transfig ured before them, and Moses and Elijah shared his brightness. Now, when we give ourselves to the devotional study of the Scriptures, new radiance breaks forth from its pages for us. One reason why we do not relish the closet as we ought is that we make it a place for mere asking, rather than for the study of Christ and His salvation, as they .are revealed in this book. There are few joys greater than that which is awakened in us by the discovery of some new beauty in Christ, through the study of His Word, and if you will give yourselves to that work in your closet hours, you will be rewarded with a happiness akin to that of Peter on the mount, when, in listening to the conversa tion of the glorified triumvirate on the death of Christ, he said, “Master, it is good for us to be here.’”
Why N oU ~ Say a good word for The K. B. to the teachers in your Sunday School— the Superintendent— the Pas tor?
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