FEAR OF SUFFERING

FEAR OF SUFFERING

In approaching the subject of the TRANSFIGURATION it will be best first to take a general survey of the field, by considering,—first, it’s OCCASION; secondly, it’s WITNESSES; and thirdly, it’s PURPOSE.

  Each evangelist commences his account of the trans­figuration with a suggestive word—"after." Matthew and Mark say "After six days." (Matt 17:1; Mark 9:2) Luke writes "Eight days after." (Luke 9:28) There is here no real discrepancy. The first two count the intervening days only, and the third reckons also the two days, on which the two events in mind oc­curred. This uniformity in the use of the word "after" arrests attention, and the question is naturally asked, after what? A study of the context will show that the refer­ence is to the conversation between Peter and Jesus, the first part of which contained Peter's confession, and our Lord's commendation; and the second part Peter's shrink­ing from the cross, and the Master's stern denunciation.

Beyond these events, "after six days Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bring them up into a high mountain apart: and He was transfigured before them." (Matt 17:1-2) The first meaning, therefore, of the transfiguration to the men who witnessed it, was a con­firmation of the truths uttered on that memorable occasion. In the splendors of the mount THE TWO FACTS OF THE MES­SIAHSHIP AND SAVIORHOOD OF THE CHRIST WERE CONFIRMED.

They saw the Messiah in the glory of His Person, they looked upon Him standing in the glory of God, and con­versing with the spirits of just men made perfect, which is our destiny also (Matt. 5:48). They beheld no longer the Man of sorrows, upon Whose face was the mark of a perpetual pain, but a Man shining in all the splendors of His own perfect character, as it TRANS­FORMED AND TRANSFIGURED the veil of His flesh.

The mount was also a confirmation of the necessity of the Cross of which the Lord had spoken, and from which His disciples had shrunk. They listened to the conversa­tion between Jesus, and Moses and Elijah, and it was of His coming exodus. The Cross, concerning which Peter had rebuked his Lord, was the subject of conversation in the strange and marvelous light of the holy mount.

Thus the mount endorsed both the confession of Peter, and the teaching of Christ.

There is, therefore, a distinct connection between the transfiguration and the events immediately preceding. "After six days," but what happened during those days? There is no detailed record of them. Follow the clue carefully, and it will be seen that during the period there had been a sense of estrangement between the disciples and the Master. They were amazed, afraid to ask Him questions, and do not seem to have walked in very close companion­ship with Him. He was going towards Jerusalem, moving with determination towards the very Cross of which they were afraid. They, being afraid, followed at a distance reluctantly, full of perplexed wonderings and questions afraid to ask. Do not blame them. They had arrived at the moment when one of their number had confessed the Messiahship of Jesus, and He had not denied, but had rather crowned the confession with His blessing.

Then, suddenly, by His foretelling of the Cross, all that Messiahship meant to these men seemed to have been rendered impossible of achievement. The Cross of shame loomed ahead, and they were bewildered, they fell back, fear possessing their hearts, and mystery enshrouding their pathway. Those six days must have been among the saddest in the life of the Master; six days of silence, six days in which His loneliness was the ultimate fact in His progress. He had chosen these men, but there was not one of their number who fully followed Him now. They loved Him, and He loved them, and having loved them, He loved them to the end; but the way to the end lay through the desolate days in which He realized, and they proved, their present incapacity for fellowship with Him in suffer­ing. He was moving in awe-inspiring loneliness to His Cross.

When the six days had passed, He called three of them, and leading them to the mount, was transfigured before them. In that sacred vision He spoke to their fear, and flung new light upon the overshadowing mystery, as He re­vealed the inward fact of the glory and strength of His Person and character, permitting, for a moment, that glory to shine through the veil of His flesh, that He might dispel their fear, and clear away, as much as might be, the cloud of mystery that enshrouded them.

In this light Peter spoke again: "Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, I will make here three taber­nacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (Matt 17:4) It was a sad blunder, and yet a revelation. “Be it far from Thee, Lord," (Matt 16:22) he had said in sight of the Cross. “It is good to be here," he said in the light of the glory. The Cross? No. The glory? Yes. It was as though he had said: Suffering and passion, and blood and death, I cannot look upon. This glory is what I crave for Thee, my Lord and Master. It was still the speech of love, blind and blundering, but yet love. It seemed as though the Master said in effect: I spoke to you of the CROSS, and you were afraid. I spoke also of RESURRECTION, and you did not hear, but come with Me into a mountain apart, and in its light and glory My converse shall be still of the CROSS.

He repeated the teaching of six days ago, but under dif­ferent circumstances. For the strengthening of feeble faith, and the quieting of the hearts of terror-stricken men, He was transfigured before them.