"And was transfigured before them, and his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the
light."
There never existed in this world a person in whose life there was a
greater variety of incident than in the life of Jesus. He passed
through scenes of the most peculiar and diversified description, to
which we can find no parallel in the history of man, the effect of
which no ordinary mind could have borne. These were, in general,
connected with that lowliness and debasement to which he submitted for
the benefit of our sinful race; but occasionally, as at his birth, his
baptism, and transfiguration, there burst forth some bright rays of
glory from behind the dark cloud of his humanity, which proved his
possession of a nature that was divine.
It may have a good effect in strengthening our gratitude for the
Saviour's mercy, to remember that every complexion of circumstance was
freely and voluntarily submitted to, not merely for his own
satisfaction or benefit, but principally for the good of man. Jesus
never lost sight of his representative character. He always remembered
those whose cause he had espoused: and, whether he was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil--or into the
garden of Gethsemane, to sustain his more fierce and violent
assaults--or to the mountain, to put on for a season the habiliments
of light and glory--his chief object and desire was to effect the
redemption, and to revive the hopes of weak and fallen man.
We are now supplied by the Holy Spirit with a very brief account of
the transfiguration itself. Before, however, we make any remark upon
this description, or refer, as we desire to do, to the uses which this
transaction was intended to serve, we must direct our attention for a
few moments to the important preparation which the Saviour made for
it. And here there are, perhaps, many who may be disposed to ask, had
there not been sufficient preparation already? had not the Saviour
endured much physical fatigue in accomplishing the wearisome ascent of
the mountain? and had not the time, the place, and the spectators,
been carefully selected by himself? Let it however be remembered, that
in addition to all this, there was a necessary and absolutely
indispensable preliminary, not to be omitted even by the Son of God,
and that was prayer. It is said, by St. Luke, in the twenty-ninth
verse of his ninth chapter, that "as he prayed, the fashion of his
countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering."
Let us learn from this, that not all the labour, mental or physical,
which we can possibly exert, can ever bring us into the enjoyment of
one momentary smile of God's countenance, if we neglect prayer. We may
diligently peruse the records of redeeming mercy which the sacred page
of scripture contains; we may place ourselves under the pastoral care
of some faithful and devoted minister of Jesus; we may enjoy the high
advantage of intercourse and communion with many spiritually-minded
followers of the Saviour; yet, after all, we shall find no benefit
from these distinguished privileges if we neglect to pray. How many
Christians there are, who often wish they had a Luther for their
minister, because they feel dissatisfied with their spiritual progress
under him to whose charge they may have been entrusted by the great
Head of the church! And yet the cause of this may be traced to their
own want of constant and of earnest prayer. Prayer is the key that
unlocks the holy place where Jesus meets his people at the mercy-seat,
to dispense the gifts which have been purchased by his precious blood.
And when the united petitions of ministers and people ascend in an
unceasing stream of sacred incense to a throne of grace, blessings may
be expected to descend in rich abundance on the church.
But perhaps it may be considered that we have digressed from our
subject. We return, then, to the circumstance which more immediately
claims our attention. We are informed that Jesus was praying when he
was transfigured; nay, it is remarkable that St. Luke represents his
special object of ascending the mountain to have been in order to
devote himself to this sacred engagement. "It came to pass about an
eight days after these sayings, he took Peter, and John, and James,
and went up into a mountain to pray." Prayer was as much the Saviour's
duty, as it is the duty of any of his people. He had been expressly
commanded by his Father to ask of him to give him the heathen for his
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.
All his works, whilst he was tabernacling in the flesh, were
accompanied with prayer; and his present exaltation at the right hand
of his heavenly Father, instead of suspending, rather imparts a more
sublime intensity of fervour to his petitions. In vain had he shed his
blood without this; for his prayers are as essential for the salvation
of sinners, as his sufferings on the cross for their redemption; and
therefore the apostle, in the twenty-fifth verse of the seventh
chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, connects the unlimited ability
of Jesus to save, not only with his having offered himself as a
sacrifice, but also with his ever living to make intercession for us.
O! how welcome and delightful must be the accents of supplication to
the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth, when he withholds blessings, even
from his well-beloved Son, until he ask for them! And how necessary is
prayer, when Jesus cannot obtain blessings without it! There is a
reserve manifested by the Holy Spirit in this, as in other instances,
as to the contents of our Saviour's petitions. Most probably they had
some reference to that splendid scene in his earthly history, into
which he was about to enter. We may imagine him to have addressed his
heavenly Father in language somewhat similar to that which he employed
when he was about to devote himself as a spotless victim on the cross:
"Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may
glorify thee. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast
given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."
But we must pass on to the description which is given of the
transfiguration of Jesus. "His face did shine as the sun, and his
raiment was white as the light." On this we can say but little, for no
imagination can conceive, nor can words express the exact nature of
that splendid scene which is here so slightly glanced at. The Holy
Spirit has employed the most concise mode of description in order to
restrain our fancy within proper limits. We are, therefore, altogether
incompetent to expatiate on a subject so sublime, for we know nothing,
beyond what is written, of the glory which is associated with
spiritual bodies. When Paul was led to speak of a state of future
enjoyment, he could only express himself in the language of
conjecture, and say, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be
revealed in us." And when, on another occasion, he was anxious to
comfort the church by a description of the resurrection-body into
which the Saviour shall change the vile bodies of his people, he could
only describe it by the use of words which merely implied a direct
contrast between what we now are and what we shall be. Our present
bodies are earthly, natural, mortal, and corruptible; our resurrection
bodies shall be celestial, spiritual, immortal, incorruptible: but
these latter expressions are only negations of the former; as to any
positive apprehension of the nature of glorified bodies, "it doth not
yet appear what we shall be." And there is much wisdom in this
reserve: there is enough told us upon the subject to encourage us to
persevere in our endeavours to attain to the joy that is set before
us, but not as much as would, in the meantime, render us too much
discontented with our present state.
We must, however, carefully note that the Holy Spirit, in so far
describing the Saviour's transfiguration, has given a literal account
of a real transaction. There is no cunningly-devised fable here. There
was nothing visionary in the exhibition itself; there is nothing
fanciful in the description of it. Jesus was actually metamorphosed;
"his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the
light," and, as on all ordinary occasions in the days of his flesh he
was God manifest in the nature of man, so, during the continuance of
this splendid scene, he exhibited his human nature manifested in and
encompassed by the brightness and glory of his Godhead.
But it may be profitable to inquire into some of the uses of this
great transaction, for such an occurrence could not have taken place
without some important object. It was intended to prepare the Saviour
for his approaching sufferings; to shew the interest which heaven
took in his sacrifice; to be a source of strength and comfort to the
church, by giving a type and specimen of that high degree of glory to
which the nature of man is destined to be exalted in consequence of
the Saviour's dying love. But the leading object of this event was to
give a representation of his second coming in majesty at the last day.
It is not by any gratuitous assumption that we maintain this, but on
the sure ground of strong scriptural testimony. We find St. Matthew
representing the Saviour as promising some of his disciples that they
should not taste of death till they saw him "coming in his kingdom;"
and in the parallel passage in the ninth chapter of St. Mark, he is
represented as saying that there were some standing with him who
should not see death until they had seen the kingdom of God "come with
power." Now the apostle Peter combines the substance of these two
declarations, in a manner which distinctly shews that he considered
them as having a reference to the future advent of the Redeemer. "We
have not followed cunningly-devised fables, when we made known unto
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" and he speaks of
"majesty," "honour," and "glory," which are the appendages of a
kingdom, and are to be the characteristics of the second advent of
Jesus, in contrast with the meanness, poverty, and degradation of his
first appearance in our world. Those, therefore, who say that the
transfiguration had a typical reference either to the effusion of the
Spirit on the day of pentecost, or to the destruction of Jerusalem,
are greatly in error. It was meant to be a specimen and earnest of our
Lord's appearance hereafter in glory, when he shall come to be admired
in all them that believe, and to establish his everlasting kingdom of
righteousness and peace in the earth. The use of a type is to arrest
and embody in a kind of visible indication the prominent features of
its antitype; and, accordingly, if we examine the leading
circumstances of the transfiguration, we shall find such a resemblance
between it and the second coming of our Saviour, as will clearly
establish such a relationship between these two events. Jesus appeared
in literal human nature on the mountain; so shall he come again, as
the Son of man, possessing the same nature with his people; for the
apostles were informed when he ascended, that the very same Jesus who
had been taken up from them into heaven should even so come in like
manner as they had seen him ascend into heaven. He appeared in glory,
and not in humility; such as he shall descend hereafter, when he shall
come with all his holy angels and sit upon the throne of his glory. As
he was visible on the mountain, so, when he shall come again, every
eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him. As he was encompassed by a
cloud on the summit of Tabor, so shall he come hereafter in the clouds
of heaven, with power and great glory. As he stood in majesty upon the
mountain, so according to the declaration of the prophet, his feet
shall stand, when he comes again, upon the mount of Olives. And as
Moses and Elias appeared in glory with the Saviour, so shall he bring
his people with him on his return to our world, for, when Christ who
is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory.
Such we believe to have been the great primary object of this
interesting event. How full of consolation and encouragement must it
appear in this important view to every believer who is still
struggling with the infirmities and trials of his earthly pilgrimage.
It directs the attention of such to the crown of righteousness that
awaits him, and says, "Be ye stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in
vain in the Lord."