The disciples were permitted to enjoy the glory of Christ before the moment of His manifestation. They did not then understand the bearing of the scene which later on served to support their apostolic authority. Not having been called to behold it from this point of view, we only know it on their testimony; but we also are in present possession of a scene of glory, for it is said, “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)).
The Glory of the Mount and the Cloud
However, the holy mount is not only the scene of the future vision, or the present contemplation of the glory, but it gives the disciples a near portion with Christ. Peter, who a few days previously had incurred the Lord’s displeasure, is brought by grace with his companions where man had never before entered. A cloud overshadowed the disciples, and they entered into it with Jesus. For a Jew it was a terrible thing. How could they do anything but fear to penetrate into the cloud which was the sign of Jehovah’s presence? How not tremble at the remembrance that even the high priest, in order that he might not die when he went into the sanctuary of God, had to envelop himself with a cloud of incense? But the disciples might be reassured; the cloud was no longer for them the abode of Israel’s Jehovah, but the Father’s house. The presence of Christ with them in the cloud was the means of revealing to them the name of Him who dwelt therein. They became companions not only of the Son of Man in His glory, like Moses and Elias, but of the Son in the Father’s house. To dwell in the glory is indeed a future blessing which not even one of the saints fallen asleep has yet attained; to dwell in the Father’s house is a present as well as a future portion. If I can say in speaking of the future, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever “ (Psa. 23:66Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalm 23:6)), I can just as well cry in speaking of the present, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Psa. 27:44One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)). The prodigal son was brought into the Father’s house when he was converted; clad in the best robe, and standing in the dignity of a son, he was there given to share in all the Father’s possessions, and in the joy which He had in communicating them to him. This house is the secret abode of communion. Many things attracted the gaze of the disciples at the transfiguration; the face of Christ shining as the sun; His raiment white as the light; Moses and Elias, two celebrated men, appearing in glory. There was none of this in the cloud. Like Paul, caught up into paradise, the disciples saw nothing, for Moses and Elias disappeared; but it was in order that the disciples might give undivided attention to a word in which all the mind of God is summed up.
The Pre-Eminence of Christ
Peter forgot the pre-eminence of Christ as long as he saw Moses and Elias. He said, “Let us make three tabernacles.” He wanted to put the law and the prophets on a level with Christ by associating them with Him; and there are many Christians who unconsciously do the same. Poor Peter! How unworthy he showed himself of the vision! His language, his sleep and his fear, betrayed the state of his soul, and the more the perfection of Jesus shone out, the more Peter’s imperfections were multiplied. We find it so at every turn, until he has fully judged himself. The Spirit gives him power, the flesh deprives him of it; the Spirit enlightens his understanding, the flesh shows its ignorance, above all, concerning the cross; the Spirit directs his gaze to the glory of the kingdom, the flesh lowers this glory to the level of failing man. The same thing comes out in the scene of the tribute money, at the supper, in Gethsemane, and in the court of the high priest, until Peter learns what the flesh is, and receives power from on high, The excellent glory, far from repelling the disciples, attracted them to Christ, and set them at His feet as disciples, saying to them, “Hear Him.” Thus Peter, with the rest, was brought to enjoy the thoughts of the Father towards the Son of His love, and the Father’s house was the scene of this revelation. The disciples, as we have said, heard one word, the brief expression of what the presence of the Son called forth from the Father’s lips, but it is a word which lets us into the secret of His heart: “This is My beloved Son: hear Him.”
Such is our present blessing. We have been allowed to share the secret of the Father. He has brought us now into intimacy with Him which cannot be exceeded even in the eternal state, although, of course, it will be more perfectly enjoyed. We shall there see all the display of Christ’s glory, and we shall be seen in this glory; but now we are the depositaries of the Father’s thoughts revealing the Son, the Father revealed by the Son. “When the voice was past, Jesus was found alone.” As we listen to this voice we shall learn more and more what the Father is to Him and to us.
H. R., from Christian Friend