The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young Part 16

_The first wonder is_--THE WONDERFUL CHANGE--that took place in the appearance of our Lord on this occasion.

Jesus went up the mountain with his disciples. It was probably at the close of one of his busy days that he did this. It would seem from St. Luke's account,--chap. ix: 32--that Peter and his companions were weary with the day's work, and soon fell asleep. But, while they were sleeping, Jesus was praying. And it was while he was engaged in prayer that the Transfiguration took place. St. Luke tells us it was--"_as he prayed_."

Let us notice now, what the different evangelists tell us about this change. St. Matthew says--"He was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light."

St. Mark says, "His raiment became exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller"--one who cleans, or whitens cloth--"on earth can white them."

St. Luke says--"As he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening."

These are the different accounts we have of this surprising scene. If the disciples had been awake when this marvellous change began to take place, we cannot for a moment suppose that they would have gone to sleep while the heavens must have seemed to be opening above them and this blaze of glory was shining around them. They were, no doubt, asleep when the transfiguration began. And, as we know that the taking of an ordinary light into the room where persons are asleep will often awaken them, it is not surprising that the disciples should have been aroused from their slumber by the flood of light and glory that was beaming round their Master then. How surprised they must have been when they opened their eyes on that scene! They would never forget it as long as they lived. It was more than half a century after this when St. John wrote his gospel; and it was, no doubt, to this scene that he referred when he said, in speaking of Jesus;--"_we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father_" St. John i: 14. And, not long before his death, St.

Peter thus refers to it:--"We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from G.o.d the Father, honor and glory, when there came such a voice from the excellent glory, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." II. Pet. i: 16, 17.

One object for which this wonderful transfiguration of our Lord took place was, no doubt, to give to the disciples then, and to the followers of Jesus in all coming time, an idea of what his glory now is in heaven, and of what it will be when he shall come again in his kingdom. He had told his disciples about his sufferings and death, and the shame and dishonor connected with them; and here, as if to counterbalance that, he wished to give them a glimpse of the glory that is to shine around him forever.

How wonderful it must have seemed to the astonished disciples! When they had last looked on their Master, before going to sleep, they had seen him as "the man of sorrows," in his plain everyday dress, such as they themselves wore: but, when they looked on him again, as they awoke from their sleep, they saw his face shining as the sun, and his raiment dazzling in its snowy whiteness.

To what may we compare this wonderful change? Suppose you have before you the bulbous root of the lily plant. You look at it carefully, but there is nothing attractive about it. How rough and unsightly it appears! You close your eyes upon it for a brief s.p.a.ce. You open them again. But what a change has taken place! That plain-homely looking bulb has disappeared, and in its place there stands before you the lily plant. It has reached its mature growth. Its flower is fully developed and blooming in all its matchless beauty! What a marvellous change that would be! And yet it would be but a feeble ill.u.s.tration of the more wonderful change that took place in our Saviour at his transfiguration.

Here is another ill.u.s.tration. Suppose we are looking at the western sky, towards the close of day. Great ma.s.ses of dark clouds are covering all that part of the heavens. They are but common clouds.

There is nothing attractive or interesting about them. We do not care to take a second look at them. We turn from them for a little while, and then look at them again. In the meantime, the setting sun has thrown his glorious beams upon them. How changed they now appear! All that was commonplace and unattractive about them is gone. How they glow and sparkle! Gold, and purple, and all the colors of the rainbow are blending, how beautifully there! Are these the same dull clouds that we looked upon a few moments before? Yes; but they have been transfigured. A wonderful change has come over them. And here we have an ill.u.s.tration of our Lord's transfiguration. The first wonder about this incident in his life is the wonderful change which took place in his appearance then.

_The second wonder about the transfiguration is_--THE WONDERFUL COMPANY--_that appeared with our Saviour then_.

At the close of his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus had some wonderful company too, but it was different from what he had now.

_Then_, we are told that "_angels came, and ministered unto him_."

And in the garden of Gethsemane, when he was sinking to the earth, overcome by the terrible agony through which he was pa.s.sing, he had more company of the same kind; for we read that--"_there appeared unto him an angel from heaven strengthening him."_ St. Luke xxii: 43.

But it was not the company of angels that waited on him at the time of his Transfiguration. No: but we read that, "there appeared unto him Moses, and Elias," or Elijah. And if we ask why did not the angels come to him now, as they did on other occasions? Why did these distinguished persons, of the Old Testament history, come from heaven to visit him in place of the angels? It is easy enough to answer these questions. This transfiguration of Christ took place, as he himself tells us, in order to give his disciples a view of the glory that will attend him when he shall come in his kingdom. When he shall appear, on that occasion, all his people will come with him. Those who shall have died before he comes will be raised from the dead and come with him, in their glorious resurrection bodies. And those who shall be living when he comes will, as St. Paul tells us,--"_be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye_"--I. Cor. xv: 52, 53--and have beautiful, glorified bodies, like the bodies of those who have been raised from the dead. And both these cla.s.ses of Christ's people were represented by the distinguished persons who formed the company that appeared with Jesus at the Transfiguration.

Moses had been in heaven nearly fifteen hundred years when this scene took place. He had died, as other men do, and had been buried. It is supposed by many wise and good men that his body had been raised from the dead, that he might appear in it on this occasion. And thus Moses represented all the dead in Christ, who will be raised to life again at his coming. Elijah had been in heaven for almost a thousand years.

He had never died, and never lain in the grave. He was translated.

This means that he was taken up to heaven without dying. But St. Paul tells us that bodies of flesh and blood, like ours, cannot enter heaven. I. Cor. xv: 50. They must be changed, and made fit for that blessed place. And so, we know, that as Elijah went up to heaven, in his chariot of fire, the same wonderful change must have pa.s.sed over his body which we have seen will take place with those of Christ's people who shall be living on the earth when he comes again.

Jesus was transfigured that we might know how he himself will appear when he comes in his kingdom. And Moses and Elias "appeared with him in glory," to show us how the people of Christ will appear when they enter with him into his kingdom. And this was a good reason why these very persons, and not the angels, should have formed the company that came to visit our Saviour on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was wonderful company indeed that waited on Jesus then. But, it was a wonderful occasion. None like it had ever occurred before; none like it has ever occurred since; and none like it will ever occur again till Jesus shall come in the glory of his heavenly kingdom. The second wonder of the Transfiguration was the wonderful company.

_The third wonder connected with this great event was_--THE WONDERFUL CONVERSATION--_that took place between Jesus and his visitors_.

All the three evangelists, who tell of the Transfiguration, speak of this conversation. St. Matthew and St. Mark merely state the fact that Moses and Elias "were talking with Jesus;" but they do not tell us the subject of the conversation, or what it was about which they talked. But St. Luke supplies what they leave out. He says, "_they spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem_" This means that they talked about the death upon the cross which he was to suffer. And when we remember that these great and good men had just come down from heaven, where G.o.d, the loving Father of Jesus dwells, and where all the holy angels are; and that this was the only time when they were to be present with Jesus, and have an opportunity of talking with him, during all his life on earth, we may wonder why they did not choose some more pleasant subject of conversation. And yet they did not make a mistake. G.o.d the Father had sent them from heaven to meet his beloved Son on this occasion. And, no doubt, he had told them what subject they were to talk about, and what they were to say to Jesus, on that subject. And then they knew very well how Jesus felt about this matter. And painful as the death upon the cross would be, they knew it was the nearest of all things to the heart of Jesus. It was the will of his Father that he should die on the cross, and it was the delight of his heart--the very joy of his soul to do his Father's will. And here we learn the unspeakable importance of the death of Christ. The apostle Paul was showing his sense of its importance when he said, "G.o.d forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus." Gal. vi: 14. He puts the word "_cross_" of Christ, for the death of Christ, but it means the same thing.

Some one has compared the cross of Christ to a key of gold, that opens the gate of heaven to us, if we believe in Jesus; but if we refuse to hear and obey the words of Jesus, it becomes a key of iron, and opens the gate of destruction before us.

"The Power of the Cross." A heathen ruler had heard the story of the cross and desired to know its power. When he was sick and near his end, he told his servants to make him a large wooden cross, and lay it down in his chamber. When this was done, he said--"Take me now and lay me on the cross, and let me die there." As he lay there dying he looked in faith to the blood of Christ, that was shed upon the cross, and said--_"It lifts me up: it lifts me. Jesus saves me!_" and thus he died. It was not that wooden cross that saved him; but the death of Christ, on the cross to which he was nailed--the death of which Moses and Elias talked with him, that saved this heathen man. They knew what a blessing his death would be to the world, and _this_ was why they talked about this death. Here is one of Bonar's beautiful hymns which speaks sweetly of the blessedness and comfort to be found in the cross of Christ.

"Oppressed with noonday's scorching heat, To this dear cross I flee; And in its shelter take my seat; No _shade_ like this to me!

"Beneath this cross clear waters burst; A fountain sparkling free; And here I quench my desert thirst, No _spring_ like this to me.

"A stranger here, I pitch my tent Beneath this spreading tree; Here shall my pilgrim life be spent, No _home_ like this to me!

"For burdened ones a resting place Beside this cross I see; Here, I cast off my weariness; No _rest_ like this for me!"

Moses and Elias understood how the blessing of the world was to flow out from that death upon the cross which Jesus was to suffer; and so, we need not wonder that during the short visit which they made to Jesus, amidst the glory of his Transfiguration, the subject, above all others, about which they desired to talk with him--was his death upon the cross,--"his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem."

These are the three great wonders of the Transfiguration--the wonderful change--the wonderful company--and the wonderful conversation.

And this brings us to the second part of our subject, which is--_the three lessons_ taught by the Transfiguration.

_The first of these is_--THE LESSON OF HOPE.

One thing for which the Transfiguration took place was to show us what we may hope to be hereafter, if we are the servants of Christ.

We are told how Jesus appeared on this occasion. His glory is described. The brightness and glory that shone around him exceeded that of the noonday sun. But there is no particular description given Moses and Elias. We are not told how they looked. It is only said of them that--"they appeared in _glory_." St Luke ix: 31. I suppose the meaning of this is that they shared in the glory which Jesus himself had when he was transfigured. Their raiment was as white as his; and the same brightness and beauty beamed forth from their faces which made his so glorious. They shared their Master's glory. And, if we are loving, and serving Jesus, this is what we may hope to share with him hereafter. This is what we are taught to pray for in the beautiful Collect for the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. These are the words of that prayer: "O G.o.d, whose blessed Son was manifested that he might make us the sons of G.o.d, and heirs of eternal life; Grant us, we beseech thee, that having this hope, we may purify ourselves, even as he is pure; that when he shall appear again, with power and great glory, _we may be made like unto him in his eternal and glorious kingdom;_ where, with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, he liveth and reigneth, ever One G.o.d, world without end.

Amen."

And it is right to offer such a prayer as this, because the Bible teaches us to hope for this great glory. How well a hope like this may be called "_a hope that maketh not ashamed_," Rom. v: 5; "_a good hope through grace_," II. Thess. ii: 16; "that _blessed hope_," t.i.t.

ii: 13; "_a lively hope_," I. Peter i: 3. And how well it may be spoken of as "_a helmet_"--to cover the head in the day of battle; and as "an anchor" to keep the soul calm and steadfast when the storms of life are bursting upon it! Moses and Elias appeared with Jesus at his Transfiguration, and shared his glory on purpose to teach us this lesson of hope, and to show us what we shall be hereafter. We shall be as glorious as Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration! This seems something too great and too good to be true. But no matter how great, or how good it is--_it is true_. Jesus taught this lesson of hope when he said--speaking of the time when he shall come in his kingdom, "_Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father_," St. Matt, xiii: 43. He taught us the same lesson, in his prayer to his Father, when he said, speaking of all his people, "_And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them_," St. John xvii: 21. And the apostle John taught us the same lesson, when he said,--"We know that when he shall appear _we shall be like him_," I. John iii: 2. These sweet pa.s.sages make this lesson of hope very sure. And this is just the way in which we are made sure about other things we have not seen.

"How we Know There is a Heaven." A Sunday-school teacher was talking to one of her scholars about heaven and the glory we shall have when we reach that blessed place. He was a bright boy, about nine or ten years old, named Charlie. After listening to her for awhile, he said: "But you have never been there, Miss D., and how do you know there really is any such place?"

"Charlie," said the teacher, "you have never been to London; how do you know there is such a city?"

"O, I know that very well," said Charlie, "because my father is there; and he has sent me a letter, telling me all about it."

"And G.o.d, my Father, is in the heavenly city," said Miss D., "and he has sent me a letter, telling me about the glory of heaven, and about the way to get there. The Bible is G.o.d's letter."

"Yes, I see," said Charlie, after thinking awhile, "there must be a heaven, if you have got such a nice long letter from there."

The lesson of hope is the first lesson taught us by the Transfiguration.

_The next lesson taught us here is_--THE LESSON

OF INSTRUCTION.

The great event of the Transfiguration took place in our Saviour's life for _this_ reason, among others, that we might learn from it _how we are to think of Christ_. While the disciples were gazing on the glory of that scene, and on the distinguished visitors who were there, there came a cloud and overshadowed them. This cloud, we may suppose, was like a curtain round Moses and Elias, hiding them from the view of the disciples. And, as Jesus in his glory was left alone for them to gaze upon, there came a voice from the overshadowing cloud, saying--"_This is my beloved Son; in whom I am well pleased_." This was the voice of G.o.d, the Father. It spoke out on this occasion to teach the disciples then, and you and me now, and all G.o.d's people in every age, what to think about Christ. G.o.d, the Father, tells us here what he thinks about him; and we must learn to think of him in the same way. His will, his command is that "_all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father_," St. John v: 3.

Moses and Elias were great men in their day. They appeared on this occasion to add to the honor of Christ. And then they disappeared, as if to show that they were nothing in comparison with him. He is the greatest and the best of all beings. He must be first. Prophets and priests, and kings, and angels even, are as nothing to him. We must love him--and honor him above all others. The words of the hymn we so often sing, show us how G.o.d would have us think and feel towards him:

"All hail the power of Jesus' name Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown him Lord of all.

"Let every kindred, every tribe, On this terrestrial ball, To him all majesty ascribe, And crown him Lord of all."

"How Christ Should be Honored." There is a story told of the Emperor Theodosius the Great which ill.u.s.trates very well how we should honor Christ. There were at that time two great parties in the church. One of these believed and taught the divinity of Christ--or that he is equal to G.o.d the Father. The other party, called Arians, believed and taught that Christ was not divine; and that he was not to be honored and worshiped as G.o.d. The Emperor Theodosius favored this latter party. When his son, Arcadius, was about sixteen years old, his father determined to make him a sharer of his throne, and pa.s.sed a law that his son should receive the same respect and honor that were due to himself. And, in connection with this event, an incident occurred which led the emperor to see how wrong the view was which he held respecting the character of Christ, and to give it up. When Arcadius was proclaimed the partner of his father in the empire, the officers of the government, and other prominent persons, called on the emperor in his palace, to congratulate him on the occasion, and to pay their respects to his son.

Among those who thus came, was a celebrated bishop of the church. He was very decided in the views he held about the real divinity of Christ, and very much opposed to all who denied this divinity.

Coming into the presence of the emperor, the bishop paid his respects to him, in the most polite and proper manner. Then he was about to retire from the palace, without taking any special notice of the emperor's son. This made the father angry. He said to the bishop, "Do you take no notice of my son? Have you not heard that I have made him a partner with myself in the government of the empire?"

The good old bishop made no reply to this, but going to Arcadius, he laid his hand on his head, saying, as he did so--"The Lord bless thee, my son!" and was again turning to retire.

Even this did not satisfy the emperor, who asked, in a tone of surprise and displeasure, "Is _this_ all the respect you pay to a prince whom I have made equal in dignity with myself?"

With great warmth the bishop answered--"Does your majesty resent so highly my apparent neglect of your son, because I do not treat him with equal honor to yourself? What, then, must the _Eternal G.o.d_--the King of heaven--think of you, who refuse to render to his only begotten Son, the honor and the worship that he claims for him?"

This had such an effect upon the emperor that he changed his views on this subject, and ever afterwards took part with those who acknowledged the divinity of Christ, and honored the Son, even as they honored the Father.