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 God, the Father. It spoke out on
this occasion to teach the disciples then, and you and me now, and
all God's people in every age, what to think about Christ. God, 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 God 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 illustrates 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 God 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 God. 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 passed 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 God_--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.
And so we see that the second lesson taught by the Transfiguration
was the _lesson of instruction_. We must learn to think of Christ as
the Father in heaven thinks of him.
_And then there is_--A LESSON OF DUTY--_that comes to us from this
Transfiguration scene_.
We are taught this lesson by the last two words that were spoken, by
the voice which the apostles heard from the cloud that overshadowed
them. These are the words:--"_Hear Him."_ "This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased: _Hear Him_." This is God's command to every
one of us. To hear Jesus, means to listen attentively to what he has
to say, and to do it. And what does Jesus say to us? He says many
things. But the most important thing he has to say to the young, is
what we find in St. Matt, vi: 33: "_Seek ye_ FIRST _the kingdom of
God_." This means that we must give our hearts to Jesus, and serve
him while we are young. We must do this _first_,--before we do
anything else. We cannot hear or obey Jesus in anything, till we hear
and obey him in this. And there are three good reasons why we should
do this.
We should "hear him" because there is _safety_ in it. We are exposed
to dangers every day, and nothing will so help to keep us safe in the
midst of these dangers as hearing Jesus, and doing what he tells us
to do. Here is an illustration of what I mean.
"Life in the Midst of Danger." There was an alarm of fire one day,
near one of our large public schools. The children in the school were
greatly frightened. They screamed, and left their places, and began
to rush to the windows and stairs. The stairway leading to the door
was soon choked up; and although the fire never reached the
school-house, many of the children had their limbs broken and were
bruised and wounded in other ways.
But there was one little girl who remained quietly in her seat
during all this excitement. When the alarm was over, and the wounded
children had been taken home, and order was restored in the school,
the teacher asked this little girl why she sat still in her seat, and
did not rush towards the door, as the other girls had done.
"My father is a fireman," she said, "and he has always told me that
if ever there was a cry of fire when I was in school, I must remain
quiet in my seat, for that was the safest way. I was dreadfully
frightened; but I knew that what father had told me was best; and so
I sat still, while the others were running to the door." This little
girl _heard_ her father. She minded him. She did what he told her to
do, and she found safety in doing so. And if we "_hear him_" of whom
the voice from the Mount of Transfiguration speaks to us--we shall
find safety from many a danger.
We ought to learn this lesson of duty, and "hear him," because there
is _success_ in it.
In old times, when the racers were running in the public games, if a
man wished to be successful in the race, it was necessary for him to
fix his eye on the prize, at the end of the race-course, and keep it
fixed there till he reached the end. No one could have any success in
racing who did not do this.
Here is an incident about some boys at play that illustrates the
point now before us.
"How to Walk Straight." A light snow had fallen in a certain village,
and some of the village boys met to make the best use they could of
the new fallen snow. It was too dry for snowballing, and was not deep
enough for coasting; so they thought they would improve the occasion
by playing at making tracks in the snow.
There was a large meadow near by, with a grand old oak tree standing
in the centre of it. The boys gathered round the tree, and stood, on
opposite sides, each one with his back against the tree. At a given
signal they were to start, and walk to the fence opposite to each of
them; and then return to the tree, and see which had made the
straightest track.
The signal was given. They started. They reached the fence, and
returned to the tree. "Now, boys, who has made the straightest
track?" said one of the boys, named James Allison.
"Henry Armstrong's is the only one that is straight at all," said
Thomas Sanders.
"I don't see how we all contrived to go so crooked, when the meadow
is so smooth, and there is nothing to turn us out of the way," said
one of the boys.
And then, looking to their successful companion, they said--"Tell us,
Harry, how you managed to make so straight a track?"
Now mark what Harry said:--"I fixed my eye on yonder tall pine tree
on the other side of the fence towards which I was to walk, and never
looked away from it till I reached the fence."
The other boys were walking without any particular aim in view. No
wonder that their walk was crooked. After the apostle Paul became a
Christian, he made one of the straightest tracks through this world
to heaven that ever was made. And he made it in just the same way in
which Harry Armstrong made his straight track through that meadow. We
have seen what Harry said of his track through the snow; now see what
St. Paul says of the way in which he made his straight track through
this world to heaven. _This_ is what he says:
"One thing I do; forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the
mark, for the prize of the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus,"
Phil, iii 13,14. This was just what the racer used to do in the
ancient games, when he fixed his eye on the prize and pressed right
forward till he reached it. And it was just what Harry Armstrong did
in his play. He fixed his eye on the big pine tree and never turned
to the right hand or to the left till he reached it. The apostle Paul
fixed his eye on Jesus, and made a straight track through the world
till he reached the glorious heaven where Jesus dwells. And, in doing
this, the great apostle was only practising the lesson of duty taught
by the voice that speaks from the Transfiguration scene. "_Hear
him_," said that voice. And if you and I listen to it, and obey it,
as St. Paul did, it will lead us to follow him as he followed Christ;
and then we shall make a straight path through this world to heaven,
as he did in his Christian course. There is success in doing this.
And then there is--_profit_--in learning this lesson, as well as
safety and success.
David says, when speaking of God's commands, "In keeping of them
there is _great reward,"_ Ps. xix: 11. This is true of all God's
commands; and it is especially true of the command we are now
considering--"Hear him."
Samuel obeyed this command, and it made him a blessing and an honor
to the nation of Israel. David obeyed it, and it made him one of the
greatest and most successful kings. Daniel obeyed it, and it covered
him with honor, and made him a blessing to his own nation, and to the
church of Christ in every age.
"The Reward of Obedience." Here is an Eastern story which illustrates
this point of our subject. The story says there was once an enchanted
hill. On the top of this hill a great treasure was hidden. This
treasure was put there to be the reward of any one who should reach
the top of the hill without looking behind him. The command and the
promise given to every young person who set out to climb that hill,
were--do not look behind you, and that treasure shall be yours. But
there was a threat added to the command and promise. The threat was,
if you look behind, you will be turned into a stone. Many young
persons started, to try and gain the prize. But the way to the top of
the hill led them through beautiful groves, which covered the side of
the hill. In these groves were birds singing sweetly, and sounds of
music were heard, and melodious voices inviting those who passed by
to stop and rest awhile. One after another of those who set out for
the prize at the top of the hill would stop, and look round to see
where the voices came from; and immediately they were turned into
stones. "Hence," says the story, "in a little while the hillside was
covered with stones, into which those had been turned who neglected
the command given them when they started."
Of course there never was such a hill as this. But the story gives us
a good illustration. Our life may well be compared to such a hill.
The treasure, on the top of it, represents the reward that awaits us
in heaven, if we serve God faithfully. The songs, and the voices,
from the groves, on the hillside, represent the temptations that
surround us in our daily paths. The lesson of duty that comes to us
from the Transfiguration scene--"Hear him"--is the only thing that
can preserve us from these temptations. If we hear Jesus when he says
to us--"follow me;" if we give him our hearts and walk in his way, he
will carry us through all temptations; he will bring us safely to the
top of the hill; and the reward laid up there will be ours. Let us
learn this lesson of duty, because there is safety in it; there is
success in it; there is profit in it.
And so we have spoken of two things in connection with the
Transfiguration; these are the wonders that attended it, and the
lessons taught by it. The wonders are three--the wonderful
change--the wonderful company--and the wonderful conversation; and
the lessons are three--the lesson of hope--the lesson of
instruction--and the lesson of duty.
In leaving this subject, let us lift up our hearts to Jesus, and say,
in the beautiful language of the Te Deum:
"Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ!
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death
Thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God,
In the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants
Whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy saints,
In glory everlasting. Amen."