glimpses of the private life and experience of Jesus with which the ordinary disciples had no dire~t 001;1cern. It _need not have been told us how, or when, or where Jesus conducted his private devotions, or what happened on such occasions. Jesus had these three with him for two reasons. 1. For company. 2. That the revelation of his my,itery might be kept for a while, and revealed when the life-manifestation was com- plete, and his Divine Person and mission could be understood, 'l'he reason for the selection of there three is to be found in our Lord's estimate of character. He illustrates the Divine el,ection, which is always a Divine selection, in view of fitness for position. In these three men we can see a power of/aith, and a power of enthusiastic persona1 attachment, which suffice to account for their selection. L Timm MIBSI0N WAS TO KEEP THEm SAVIOUR COHPANY, It ls strange tha\ in times of distress and excitement we both crave to be alone, and crave to have some one trustworthy with us. We have mingled feelings-we wa.nt to be alone; we cannot bear to be alone. In his fellowship with us in this peculiarity we gain a full impression of our Lord's humanity. It comes out even in a more striking way in Gethsema.ne. II. THEIR IIISSION WAS TO RECEIVE IMPRESSIONS FROJII OOB LORD'S PRIVATE LIFE, It would not have been a private scene if all the disciples had been on the mount. Our Lord had a private life quite distinct from that public life which was the common property of disciples. Our Lord had right to that private life undisturbed. And yet some of the best revelations of his " Person " and " mission " came to view in such strictly private experiences as Gethsemane and Transfiguration;' so a selection from the apostolate was permitted to invade his privacy. ill. THEIR Ji1ISSION WAS TO KEEP SECRET FOB A TIHE THEm IHPRESSIONS, The twelve would never have kept such a secret. The three might, especially as they really did not understand the ocene. They had to keep it as a mystery which time would unfold. IV. THEIR HISSION WAS TO REVEAL TBE MYSTERY OF CHRIST'S. PRIVATE LIFE WHEN THAT COULD BE HADE EFFECTIVE. See St. Peter'& use of his experiences (2 Pet. L 16-18).-R. T.
Ver. 3.-.77ie reappearance of Moses and Elias. St. Luke materially adds to our knowledge of this scene when he tells us the subject of the conversation of this mysterious company. They "spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." It may be seeing deeper into the mystery of the scene if we can apprehend that, for the time, Jesus was out of the bodily and within the spiritual sphere to which Moses and Elias belonged. Instead of thinking that they came down to him, it is better to think he wcu with them. That Transfiguration was the temporary freedom of the Son of God from his body limitations; a temporary resumption of heave!Jly conditions in a heavenly sphere; a freedom from the human for the sake of a time of Divine and spiritual commnnion. The scene lay in that region of the super- natural which was the proper, the eternal, sphere of the Son of God. The Transfigura- tion cannot be nnderstood apart from a careful estimate of Christ's circumstances and moods of mind a.t this time. He had been virtually rejected in Galilee. His work there was finished. He retired northward, depressed in spirit, The failure in Galilee seemed a foreshadowing of the great failure. H~ was beginning to tread the pathway at whose end was a cross of shame. But why did Christ anticipate? Why did he not do the duty of the hour, and leave the morrow to take care of the things of itself? Explain that t,he virtue of Christ's death lay in its being a voluntary surrender; no mere accident-a real sacrifice. Then it must be known, distinctly thought about, and accepted beforehand. The glory came when he, in prayer, was wrestling to gain a full acceptance of this will of God that he should suffer. A part of his comforting came from the communion of representative men. L THE LIGHTER VIEW OF THE BEA.l'PEABANCE OF MOSES AND ELIAS, There is a Tiew with which we are so familiar that, maybe, we have never even thought of criticizing it. All the commentaries say, "The representatives of the Law and the prophets," though the reason for choosing Elijah to represent the prophets is never •uggested. These two men are assumed to have given the witness of the Jewish Church to our Lord's death. IL THE DEEPER VIEW oF THE BEAPPE.t.JU.BCJ: OF MoBEB AND ELu ,. " The 11resenoe cm. xvn. 1-27.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 203