TJ A strong Christian tradition dating from the fourth century makes Tabor the scene of our Lord's Transfiguration. It was probably natural that this event should become connected with the most conspicuous mountain of Galilee, and as early as the sixth century three churches had been built to commemorate the three tabernacles which Peter proposed to erect. But at this particular period Tabor was covered with houses, and therefore could not correctly be described as "apart" (Matt. xvii. 1). Then again, just before His Transfiguration, Jesus was far away from Tabor, in the neighbourhood of Hermon.2
4. We are told by St. Luke that they went up " to pray." It seems most natural to accept this statement not only as correct, but as a sufficient statement of the object our Saviour had in view. The thought of transfiguration may not have been in His mind at all. Here, as always, He was guided by the will of His Father in heaven; and it is not necessary to suppose that to His human mind that will was made known earlier than the occasion required. We are not told that He went up to be transfigured : we are told
1 A. P. Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, 399.
8 A. W. Cooke, Palestine in Geography and History, i. 132.
342 THE TRANSFIGURATION
Lhat He went up to pray. It seenis probable that the idea was to spend the night in prayer. We know that this was a not infrequent custom with Him ; and if ever there seemed a call for it, it must have been now, when about to begin that sorrowful journey which led to Calvary. With this thought agree all the indications which suggest that it was evening when they ascended, night while they remained on the top, and morning when they came down. This, too, will account in the most natural manner for the drowsiness of the Apostles ; and the fact that their Lord felt none of it only proved how much more vivid was His realiza- tion of the awf ulness of the crisis than theirs was. We are to think of the four, then, as slowly and thoughtfully climbing the hill at eventide, carrying their abbas, or rugs, on which they would kneel for prayer, and which, if they needed rest, they would wrap round them, as is the Oriental custom. By the time they reached the top, night would have cast its veil of mystery on the grandeur of the mountains round about them, while snowy Hermon in the gloom would rise like a mighty giant to heaven, its summit " visited all night by troops of stars." Never;before or since has there been such a prayer meeting on this earth of ours.
Having gone up to pray, they would doubtless all kneel down together. As the night wore on, the three disciples, being ex- hausted, would wrap themselves in their rugs and go to sleep; while the Master, to whom sleep at such a time was unnatural, if not impossible, would continue in prayer. Can we suppose that that time of pleading was free from agony ? His soul had been stirred within Him when Peter tempted Him to turn aside from the path of the cross ; and may we not with reverence suppose that on that lonely hill-top, as later in the Garden, there might be in His heart the cry, "Father, if it be possible"? If only the way upward were open now ! Has not the Kingdom of God been preached in Judaea, in Samaria, in Galilee, away to the very borderlands ? and has not the Church been founded ? and has not authority been given to the Apostles ? Is it, then, absolutely necessary to go back, back to Jerusalem, not to gain a triumph, but to accept the last humiliation and defeat ? There cannot but have been a great conflict of feeling ; and with all the determination to be obedient even unto death, there must have been a shrinking from the way of the cross, and a great longing for heaven and
ST. MATTHEW xvn. i, 2 343
home and the Father's welcome. The longing cannot be gratified ; it is not possible for the cup to pass from Him; but just as later in Gethsemane there came an angel from heaven strengthening Him, so now His longing for heaven and home and the smile of His Father is gratified in the gladdening and strengthening ex- perience which followed His prayer — a foretaste of the heavenly glory, so vivid, so satisfying, that He will thenceforth be strong, for the joy that is set before Him, to endure the cross, despising the shame. For behold, as He prays, His face becomes radiant, the glory within shining through the veil of His mortal flesh. We all know that this flesh of ours is more or less transparent, and that in moments of exaltation the faces of even ordinary men will shine as with a heavenly lustre. We need not wonder, then, that it should have been so with our Lord, only in an immeasur- ably higher degree : that His face should have shone even "as the sun"; and that, though He could not yet ascend to heaven, heaven's brightness should have descended on Him and wrapped Him round, so that even " his garments became white as the light."