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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
November 1924
For He received from God the Father honor and glory; when there came such a voice to Ilim from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the holy mount.” (1 Peter 1:16-18.) The three Christian graces are called out in quick suc cession during this memorable week. Faith, with its rock- foundation; love, with its self-sacrificing devotion; and, last of all, hope, with its vision of heavenly glory. The Glory of Jesus. That the transfiguration marked a crisis in the career of Jesus- there, cag be 90 . doubt. From this time he walked consciously, under the shadow of. the cross. As not .before,, Jesus was made to realize the sacri ficial, character of His mission; w;as COMMENTS made to know for a certainty that death, FROM THE soon and cruel, was to be His ¡portion; COMMENTARIES was made to know also that His mission Thomas L. Colwell as,the fulfillment of Law. (Moses), and prpphecy, (Elijah) was not to be frus trated by death. In His .heart now would sound forever the Father’s approval, “ This ,is My beloved .Son in whom I am well pleased-” . The scene, therefore, .wrought, out in Jesus a new. fervor, a new boldness, a new confidence of ultimate victory which, as a:_sourc§,.qf holy joy, enabled Him to endure the cross and to despise the shame (Hab. 12:2). In the disciples the scene must have wrought a new faith in the heaven-sent leadership of Jesus. In the dark days; which were soon to come upon them the memory of the brightness of that unforgettable night would be a stay and strength. There might be. opposition,, but, there could be no permanent defeat of ,one whose work was ratified by Moses, by Elijah, by God Himself: .Indeed, was not the pres ence of Moses and Elijah a pledge ,-ef immortality for all ? How in the face-of such evidence,;geasfeAio tAhePf, however it might be to others, could they ever again doubt the triumph of life and of Him who was the Life of life? ¡The abiding lesson of the transfiguration is that p.f the reality of the unseen world, of its nearness to us, and of the comfort ing, and inspiring fact that “ spirit with spirit may ineet.’-Vy Stuart. ■ V. 28. After Peter’s .confession, Christ spoke freely and fully to His disciples,: disclosing to them, the terrible future that lay before Him; and the awful death He' must die. When Peter daringly protested,' Christ administered to Him the most severe rebuke, perhaps, that is recorded in the New Testament, calling him Satan, and a stumbling block, ;one whose mind was filled with thoughts of men rather than of God. Mark, which is probably Peter’s gospel, honestly records tjiis event, though only Matthew sets down Peter’s conceifed worjs,—Peloubet. These three; (with Peter leading), constituted the .inner circle of the Twelve, those closest-to the Saviour in spirit and purpose, admitted by Him to fullest communion. James was the first apostle to meet martyrdom. John, after a long life of heroic usefulness, was probably the last of the apos tles-to. die. Peter was revered by the early Christians along with Paul. Christ’s insight was confirmed by these records, so far in-advance of anything told us of the rest of the apos tles, During the earthly ministry of Jesus the, Inner Circle was small. In these days of His spiritual ministry the Inner Circle is. still small. And it is small because most Chris tians are contented with meager spiritual attainments;and mere nominal membership in some church,:—DeWitt Jones. It also strongly asserts that Mount . Tabor dm Galilee, about 1,700 feet high, was the mountain;, but it was inhabited at the time, and the requisite solitudd dould ndt be found there. Ewing holds that it-could not have been Mount Hermon because of the Gentile surroundings of that moun tain, and suggests Jebel Jermuk, 4,000-feet high, in Upper Galilee, the loftiest summit of Palestine ;priiper,-~-Int. St. B. Enc. 5? Most scholars, however, think that the scene of this great event was Mount Hermon, easily reached in less- than a week from Caesarea Philippi. Hermon is a majestic, snow- clad mountain just north of Palestine proper. It is 9,200 feet high and extends about eighteen miles from north to south. The wolf, the leopard, and the brown bear are found on Hermon, and the mountain is the dominating feature of all the region around. It is the loftiest place on earth
More than ever there seemed a need of it now when He had stedfastly set His face toward Jerusalem. It might have been evening when they went up, remaining all night upon the summit, and morning when they came down. This would explain the drowsiness of the disciples., , While the Saviour prayed, His form became incandescent, the glory within shining through the veil of flesh. His face became radiant as the sun and His raiment white as the light. There was not only heavenly light, but heavenly company, for there appeared Moses and Elias talking with Him. The disciples could not sleep through this: “ When they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men that stood with Him.” (Luke 4:32, R. V.) We are not told how the disciples recognized these heav enly visitors. It may have been through their conversa tion, of which Luke gives the substance. “ They spake of His exodus which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.” The human soul of Jesus might have longed for an exodus then and there, from the height of Hermon to the presence of God. It would have seemed most fitting as the climax of His earthly career; but had He returned to heaven at that time He would have gone alone and remained alone throughout eternity. He chose another and different exodus at Jerusalem through the gates of death in order that, when at length He should return to heaven, He'might lead a multitude of captives and give gifts to men. This, Moses and Elias also knew and their words must have brought the Saviour encouragement and strength, as well as giving hope and assurance to the wavering hearts of Peter, James and John. The conversation of Moses and Elijah must have: been intended for the benefit of the disciples by the way in which Petér’s interruption is mentioned: “ Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus;” Peter was in the habit of speaking without thinking. He feels as if he ought to say some thing and, as his mind is a blank, he blunderingly blurts out a proposal to make three tabernacles for their abode- Besides its, thoughtlessness and absurdity there is a hint in it of his falling báck into an error which he had renounced a week before, viz.: the error of putting Jesus into the sainé class with MoSés and Elias, reckoning Him “ as one of the prophets,” as Some of the people had done. His mistake is at once corrected. A bright and glorious cloud settles down upon them— fitting symbol of the Divine presence. Out of the cloud, a voice is heard saying: “ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him,” Moses stands for the law and Elijah for the prophets. “ The law and the prophets were until John.” Both now give place to Jesus, who is all in all. A greater than Moses or Elijah is here and they must retire. When the voice ceases and the cloud lifts, Jesus is left alone. • There is no one to divide His authority, there is no one to share His sorrow. Paralyzed with fear, the three disci ples were prostrate on the earth. Jesus came and touched them, saying: “ Arise, and be not afraid;” then He, sealed their lips concerning the vision until the Son of Man should be risen from the dead. Upon these disciples the transfiguration produced a deep and abiding impression. One of the disciples died a mar tyr’s death so soon afterwards that we have nothing from his pen. (Acts 12:2.) John evidently has it in mind when he writes in the prologue of his Gospel: “ We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” (John 1:14.) Peter refers to it in his first epistle, on this wise: “We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
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