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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
December, 1938
“There appeared unto them Moses and Elijah” (v. 3). Moses was the human founder, and Elijah the human vindicator, of the Law. They were both literal men. The disciples on the mount saw and knew them. The two were talking w ith th e Lord; they had no conversation with the disciples. W e are not told h o w the disciples knew them, but the fact of their instant recogni tion of one another doubtless is an illustra tion of how the redeemed will know each other in heaven. In the midst of this awe some sight, Peter in his ignorance proposed the building of three tabernacles. Uncon sciously, perhaps, but nevertheless really, he was putting Moses, Elijah, and even Christ on a plane with himself and his com panions, implying that the disciples were capable of fulfilling the law given to Moses, understanding the mysteries spoken pro phetically by Elijah, and becoming like the Lord Himself. II. H earing the V oice (5-9) The voice which the disciples heard ex pressed the Father’s thought concerning Jesus. It was the Father’s full recognition of His Son Jesus Christ: “This is my be loved Son,” identifying Him as the King who should be set one day upon the holy hill of Zion (cf. Psa. 2). It was the Fa ther’s acknowledgment of the acceptance of all the conduct of Jesus: “In whom I am well pleased.” And it was the Father’s identification of Jesus as the promised One of Isaiah 42:1. Then came the command, “Hear ye him” (v. 5). These words embody the thought of God the Father’s appointment of God the Son as the One who should supersede all other prophets of Jehovah (cf. Deut. 18: 15-18). Jesus Christ supersedes all others, not by contradicting their utterances, but by fulfilling them. Moses, representing the law, and Elijah, representing the prophets, were withdrawn from the scene, and Jesus alone remained. The law and the prophets spoke concerning the Truth. Christ was, and ever is, the “Truth.” The shadows dis appeared: the Substance remained. The Old Testament is not abrogated by the New, but is fulfilled in the New. Witnessing the Transfiguration splendor, the disciples were filled with a fear that drove them to their faces before the Lord. But at once His reassuring voice was heard, saying, “Arise, and be not afraid” (v. 7). III. O bserving the P ower (14-18) Following the great revelation given to the disciples on the mount, a circumstance occurred which demonstrated the need for the application of divine power in the everyday life. A father came to Christ, beseeching Him on behalf of his epileptic son. The boy had been brought to the dis ciples, but they had been able to do nothing. In the boy’s affliction, Satanic strength was at work: divine power was needed to free the sufferer. Jesus said: “Bring him hither to m e" (v. 17)—and when that word was obeyed, deliverance came. W e would be spared many anxious days and weary nights if we would learn the lesson of bring ing all our difficulties to Jesus at once, in stead of waiting until we become exhausted by our own profitless struggles. “Jesus re buked the demon,” and the boy was set
free “that very hour.” The incident of this lesson is an illustration of the coming king dom, when all created things will be under the control of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose voice of authority and power will be obey ed by all. Points and Problems "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom’’ (Matt. 16:28). It is very unfortunate that the artificial chapter divi sion at this point has sundered Matthew 16:28, from the story beginning in 17:1, for each sheds light upon the other. The Lord intended us to see in His transfigura tion a kind of prevision of what things will be like when He comes “in his kingdom.” Let us note several things: 1. i'B ringeth them up into a h igh m oun tain apart” (v. 1). Here we have in beau tiful miniature a suggestion of the very first act of the Lord when He comes a second time. He will remove His waiting people from the earth and bring them up into a high mountain, the place of His house. There we shall be “apart” from a doomed world. 2. He "w as transfigured b efo re them ” (v. 2). There we shall see Him in His glory, in fulfillment of His great prayer in John 17:24: "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold m g g lo r y .” 3. "T here a p peared unto them M oses and Elias” (v. 3 ). Now these two men were Old Testament saints. Thus their ap pearance here becomes the earnest of things to come, for the godly of the Old Testament are to have a part in the first and better resurrection. 4. “Talking w ith him” (v. 3). Luke tells us what they talked about. It was con cerning “his d ecea se” to be accomplished in Jerusalem (Lk. 9:31). So in the blessed day of His coming and our own transla tion, the great subject of conversation and praise will be the cross. 5. Verses 4 to 8 suggest that, high as the disciples’ estimate of the Lord had been, it w as n ot h igh en ou gh . And I venture to say that even the most godly saint of the pres ent age will find in the glory of His pres ence that the highest reach of our thought about Him is still too low, for He is infinite and we are but finite creatures. 6. While the Lord was on the mountain with His own, there was down in the val ley a ca se o f d em on -possession w hich m en had tried to cu re but co u ld not. Even so, when the Lord shall take His own out of the world for a period of divine judgment, the world will suffer from demon-possession and insanity which all the efforts of men cannot cure. It will be a “lunatic” world, “sore vexed,” and often falling “into the fire” (v. 15). 7. When finally the Lord came down from the mountain with His own, H e took th e incurable ca se and ca st ou t th e dem on. By His mighty power He accomplished in stantly what men had utterly failed to do. Thus will the Lord deal with a demon- crazed world in the day of His revelation in glory.
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