“IF ANY man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” The Lord had spoken of His going to the cross, now He tells His own that they must be prepared to follow Him, in that path of shame and rejection in this world. They were not to allow the great trials of life to hold them back from following Him. For those who sacrifice everything to make headway in this world will be disappointed. But those who do not allow such things to hinder them from following Him will find comfort in Him.
Then He asks, “For what is a man profited, if He shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” There have been those who have sought to gain a large part of this world, but have also found out too late that they had lost their own soul.
Then the Lord speaks of a time coming when the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward men for their works. This will be after He has taken home to the glory those of this present age who have put their trust in Him. Then He will come back and take up the cause of those who have passed through the great tribulation (Psalm 2).
After this the Lord tells the disciples, “There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.” This takes place in the next chapter.
“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a nigh mountain apart.” The three disciples who were to be witnesses of His humiliation in the garden were wit nesses of His glory on the mount. It is wonderful to think that not only could the Lord Himself ascend into that glory but He could take others there with Him. For us He went to the cross in order that He might have us with Him in that glory.
Here on the mountain the disciples see the Lord in His glory — the glory that belongs to Him as Son of man when He comes in His kingdom to judge and reign. “His face did shine as the sun” — which speaks of all supreme glory; “and His raiment was white as the light” — His walk, His ways, His manner of life on earth, were such that they shone in all the brightness of the heavenly glory.
“And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him” — they were associated with Him in that glory. Moses represents those who have died in faith and will be raised from the dead, while Elias represents the living who are caught up at His coming. In Luke 9:3131Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:31) it says, they “spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem,” and no doubt they spoke of what His decease should mean They were not looking back to the law and the prophets, but on to redemption. Their being in glory with Him depended on the redemption that He would accomplish. What privilege for poor sinners to ha been able to gaze upon the Son of God in glory, and to have been manifested with Him in the same glory upon earth; to be His companions, talk with Him, and to know that they have been loved as He had been by of His Father.
ML-09/30/1962