“WE BEHELD HIS GLORY IN THE HOLY MOUNT.”
-APRIL 17.-MATT.
17:1-9.-
“We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.”-John
1:14.
LITTLE did the
disciples imagine that our Lord’s statement that some of them should not taste
of death until they had seen the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom, would be
fulfilled within six days to Peter, James and John in the Mount of
Transfiguration. Yet so it was, and evidently it produced a great and designed
effect upon the witnesses, one of whom, writing respecting it, says (2 Pet.
1:16-18), “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. For he received from God, the Father, honor and glory, when
there came such a voice to him 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.”
The transfiguration scene was not all that it appeared;-it was a “vision,”
as our Lord explained to the disciples when they were coming down from the
mount. In this vision, as in all visions, the unreal appears real. Just so it
was in the vision of John, on the Isle of Patmos, described in the book of
Revelation. He saw, he heard, he talked, yet the things thus shown him in the
vision were not realities-not beasts with many heads and many horns, and angels
and vials and thrones, nor real dragons, etc., merely a vision. And a
vision was in every sense of the word just as good, and really better suited to
the purpose, than realities would have been.
Moses and Elias were not present on the mountain, personally, but were
merely represented to the disciples in the vision. We know this not only from
our Lord’s statement, that it was a “vision,” but also from his statement that
no man had ascended up to heaven. (John 3:13; Acts 2:34.) We know also that
Moses and Elijah could not have been there, since they were not resurrected
from the dead; because our Lord Jesus himself was the “First-fruits of them
that slept”-“the first-born from the dead, that in all things he might have the
preeminence.” (1 Cor. 15:20; Col. 1:18.) Furthermore the Apostle to the Hebrews
distinctly mentions Moses and the prophets (which would include Elijah) and
their faithfulness in the past and their acceptance with God; but he points out
that they had not yet received their reward, and that they would not receive it
until after we (the Gospel Church) shall have received our reward as
joint-heirs with Christ in his Kingdom. “These all, having obtained a good
report through faith, received not the [blessings of the] promise; God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made
perfect.”-Heb. 11:39,40.
Since, then, the appearance of Moses and Elias with our Lord was an
appearance merely, we properly inquire, What was the significance or meaning of
this vision? We reply, It was a tableau, illustrative of the glorious Kingdom
of Christ, as our Lord had predicted, and as Peter understood it and expressed
it. In this tableau, the three disciples formed no part. They were merely
witnesses. Christ was the central figure; his features and garments, shining
with miraculous luster, represented in figure the glories which belong to the
spirit nature, which our Lord received at his resurrection, “the express image
of the Father’s person.” It is this same spirit glory that is represented in
the visions of Revelation, where our Lord is represented with eyes as a flame
of fire, and his feet bright as burning brass, etc. (Rev. 1:14,15; 2:18.) At
his second advent our Lord will no longer be flesh because, as he testified,
“flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” He is now, and every will
be, a glorious spirit being of the highest order-the divine nature: and the
transfiguration was intended to convey to the minds of his disciples a faint
conception of the glory which excelleth.
Moses represented the faithful overcomers who preceded our Lord, described
by the Apostle (Heb. 11:39,40), who cannot be made perfect until the
Kingdom shall have been established. Elijah represented the overcomers of the
Gospel age.
The topic discussed in the vision was our Lord’s crucifixion. (Luke 9:31.)
The cross of Christ is thus pointed out as being the necessary thing in order
that he might enter into his glory, as he himself expressed the matter after
his resurrection, saying, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and
to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26.) There could have been no Kingdom glory
without the redemptive work. But this vision portrays the Kingdom glories
which will ultimately result from our Lord’s death.
Possibly, too, the vision was intended to represent the two classes who
will be associated with the Lord in his Kingdom, first the Church-the body of
Christ, his bride and joint-heir, who shall be like him and see and share his
glory, as spirit beings. These in the present time are represented by Elijah.
Second, the overcomers of the past, who shall be the earthly representatives of
the Kingdom, as per our Lord’s statement;-The world “shall see Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom;” because they will be
restored, perfected human beings: but the world will not see the Lord and the
Church, his glorified spouse, because they will all have been changed from
flesh and blood (human nature) and will be spirit beings and of the divine
nature, and hence as invisible to men as are God and the angels.-1 Tim. 1:17;
6:16; Heb. 11:27.
Of course, the disciples did not clearly comprehend the matter at the
time, yet they realized a blessing and felt that it was “good to be there.”
Their meeting had started as a prayer-meeting: the three favorite disciples of
the Lord accompanying him on this occasion, as on several other occasions-for
instance, when he went in to awaken the daughter of Jairus from the sleep of
death, and a little later than this in the Garden of Gethsemane, they were
again his chosen and closest companions. We cannot suppose that the choice of
these was an arbitrary one, but must suppose that there was something about
these three men that made them specially companionable to the Lord. One thing
about them that impresses every reader of the New Testament record is their
faith in the Lord and their zeal for his cause. It was James and John who, in
their zeal (but not according to knowledge), were about to call down fire from
heaven upon the Samaritans, because they did not promptly recognize and
cordially receive the Master. It was Peter who first promptly confessed Jesus
as the Christ, the same Peter who drew his sword in the Master’s defense, and
declared that he would die with him. The Master himself was of a warm
temperament, and naturally and properly was most drawn toward those who were
similarly fervent.
There is a lesson here for us, to the effect that, if we would be closest
to the Master and most frequently privileged to have fellowship with him, we
should similarly have and cultivate this earnest, zealous spirit. Cold, calculating people may have other good qualities, but
there is no room for coldness or even luke-warmness on the part of those who
have once tasted that the Lord is gracious. With such, the love enkindled
should lead to a consuming zeal. It was thus with our Lord Jesus, and this was
one of the reasons why he was beloved of the Father. Speaking for him,
the prophet said, “The zeal of thine house hath consumed me.” Let all who desire to be pleasing in the Lord’s sight become
so filled with the same spirit of zeal for righteousness and truth that it will
consume them as sacrifices upon the Lord’s altar. Thus they will be most
pleasing and acceptable to him through Jesus our Lord. As a rule, only
the warm and zealous ever get free from Babylon. The others coolly calculate
and weigh matters so long that the spirit of the world, the flesh and the devil
puts fresh blinds on them, even after they have gotten into the light and see
considerable.
Peter proposed making some booths on the mountaintop for the Lord and his
guests. Luke adds, “Not knowing what he said.” He was bewildered, confused,
but in harmony with his natural temperament wished to say something. The voice
from heaven, however, seemed to say, Be still! hearken rather to the words of
my beloved Son. Not a few need to learn the lesson of quietness-to hear and
learn, be taught of God, before they have much to say. Peter evidently
learned, as we may judge from his after conduct, to be slower to speak and
swifter to hear. (James 1:19.) This is an important lesson to all who would be
servants of the Lord: we must learn that of ourselves we know nothing, and can
do nothing aright. The proper learning of this lesson means a lesson in
humility and in patience, a lesson respecting our own nothingness, and that
“our sufficiency is of God.” Those who reach this condition become apt
students in the school of Christ-not forgetful hearers, but doers of the Word:
and such only are prepared to teach the truth to others. Those who are too
forward and ready to teach, before they have received instruction from the
Lord, are very apt not to know what they say, as was Peter’s case; and if such
be true-hearted and worthy of being used of the Lord as his servants, they are
very apt to receive numerous reproofs from time to time.
The first lesson for such to learn is that “The fear [reverence] of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Thus, Peter’s rash expression, “not knowing
what he said,” found a reproof in the voice from heaven which said, “Hear ye Him.”
And fear fell upon the disciples.
Not only is the fear of the Lord valuable as a beginning of true wisdom,
but it is valuable all our journey through. One tendency amongst those who
have received the light of present truth, and who lose thereby the terrible and
slavish fear inspired by misrepresentations of the divine character and plan,
is to lose all fear. And according to the Scriptures this is a very dangerous
condition, an ultra freedom that is apt to lead to license, under our present
imperfect conditions.
It is true that “perfect love casteth out fear,” but it is also true that perfect
love is a very scarce commodity on earth even amongst the saints. Hence the
Apostle urges, “Let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering
into his rest, any of us should seem to come short of it.” (Heb. 4:1.) The
fear which we are to lose entirely is “the fear of man which bringeth a
snare.” He who loses the fear of God, and the fear of losing the great prize
which God has held out before us, is in a very dangerous position: he is likely
to become self-conscious and self-satisfied, and readily drops into the
condition where he does not believe even in the just sentence against sinners,
the second death, and where he is proportionately careless respecting the
keeping of his own words and thoughts and deeds in strictest alignment with the
principles laid down in the Word of the Lord. Having lost his fear of the
Lord, he rapidly loses carefulness respecting the Word of the Lord, and
inclines more and more to “lean to his own understanding,” and becomes blinded
to his own faults.
Let us note carefully additional encouragements to fear held out in the
Scriptures. Some of these are as follows:-“O fear the Lord, ye his
saints.” “Ye that fear the Lord, praise him.” “Let them now that fear
the Lord say, that his mercy endureth forever.” “Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” “The mercy of the
Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him.” “He
will fulfil the desire of them that fear him.” “The Lord taketh pleasure
in them that fear him.” (Psa. 34:9; 22:23; 118:4; 103:13,17; 145:19;
147:11.) Our Lord says, “I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear.” (Luke
12:5.) The Apostle Paul says, “Be not high-minded, but fear.” “Let us
also fear.” (Rom. 11:20; Heb. 4:1.) The Apostle Peter says, “Honor men;
fear God;” and “He that feareth him and worketh righteousness is
accepted with him.” (1 Pet. 2:17; Acts 10:35.) God says through the prophet
that they who fear his name, are the ones who speak often together, and
of whom a book of remembrance is made. And again he promises, “To you that fear
my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his beams.” (Mal.
3:16; 4:2.) Of our dear Redeemer himself it is recorded that Christ “was heard
in that he feared.”-Heb. 5:7.
The lesson of these various scriptures is that, to lose fear of God, in
the sense of losing fear of his displeasure or fearing to come short of the
grand possibilities which he has so graciously put within our reach, would be a
most serious loss, as it would probably cost us our eternal life; for those who
have lost this fear are like steam-engines which have lost their governors, and
are apt to run with too much liberty to self-destruction and unfitness for
service. Hence, as the Apostle again says to the pilgrims who seek the
heavenly country,-“If ye call on him as Father,... pass the time of your
sojourning here in fear” (1 Pet. 1:17); not in levity, nor in worldly
frivolities, nor in sensualities, nor in land and money grabbing, nor even
carelessly and slothfully, but in earnest watchfulness of every word and act,
to please the Lord and to copy his character and thus to make your calling and
election sure to a place in his Kingdom, when it shall be established in power
and great glory.