IIL Tux wirness BORNE TO CHRIST BY HIS FRIENDS AND APOSTLES. 1. It may be asked—Why was it appointed that the Transfiguration should be witnessed by so small and select a group, and in so secluded a spot? Why were not multitudes per- mitted to behold a spectacle so amazing in itself, and so fitted to bring conviction to the minds of all beholders? Surely, it might be urged, no unbeliever, no caviller, could have withstood the evidence of our Lord’s authority which such a scene afforded | It is recorded that the leaders of the Jews, the Pharisees, asked from Jesus a sign _ from heaven, This he refused them. But he allowed three favoured friends to behuld his glory, when the customary veil was in some measure withdrawn. What is the explanation of this? It may be replied that it was not in harmony with the plans of our Lord Jesus to overpower the senses of the people with some irresistible display of supernatural power and glory. This would not have been to secure a moral result by moral means, Jesus would not have valued the admiration which was withheld from his moral character and his benevolent life, but which was accorded to the effulgence of celestial glory, striking all eyes with amazement. But there was another reason for the limitation of the witnesses of our Lord’s transfiguration. The highest revelations of God’s wisdom and holiness and love are for those only who are prepared to receive them. You may walk round the outside of a vast domain, a splendid _ palace; you may make the circuit of the walls, you may see the tree-tops shaken by the wind, you may catch glimpses of the lofty roofs and towers of the lordly edifice. But how little do you know of the imposing palace and its enchanting environments |! If, however, you are permitted to enter the gates, to tread the stately gardens, to explore the mansion, to look through the library, to admire the sculptures and paint- ings, and, above all, to spend hours and days in converse with the choice spirits who make the abode their home,—then you can form a judgment, and cherish an apprecia- tion which, so long as you were on the outside, you would never have been able to do. So with the knowledge of every high and pure and noble soul. Such a one is only to be known by those who have sympathy with him, and opportunities of fellowship with him. It cannot be otherwise than that the ignorant, the vulgar, the selfish, should misunderstand him. In like manner, but in the highest degree, it needed some sympathy with the Lord Christ in order to judge aright of him. It seems likely that when Jesus took with him only his three most intimate and congenial friends to behold his glory upon the holy mount, he did so because none others were sufficiently advanced in spiritual knowledge and appreciation to be capable of partaking and profiting by the privilege. Even the bulk of his own twelve disciples would have been, at that time, out of place upon the Mount of Transfiguration. As for the scribes and Pharisees, and all the vulgar formalists who desired a sign, they had no spiritual eyes with which to see the vision which was then and there vouchsafed to three lowly fishermen, whose hearts the Lord had touched, and whose sight the Lord had cleansed and quickened. 2. The emotions with which the favoured three were affected, when they beheld Christ’s glory, deserve attention. There was awe: and this was honour- able to them, that they experienced the feeling of trembling reverence in a presence 80 august, and before evidence so majestic and convincing. There was delight: hence the exclamation and the proposal of Peter. They felt it “good” to be in such @ scene gad in such society, and they would fain have prolonged the precious opportunity, and dwelt for a season upon the mount. 3. The convictions which they formed may be known from the languave of Peter in his Second Epistle, from which it is apparent that the Transfiguration produced upon the minds of the witnesses a profound and inefface- able impression concerning their Master’s dignity and authority.
IV. ‘THe witness BorNE TO CHRIST BY THE FaTHeR HIMSFLF. In the voice which came from the Father we observe: 1. A declaration to be believed: “ This is my beloved Son.” Jesus was beloved: (1) For the relation he sustained to the Father; for he was “the only begotten,” and was by nature what no other human being can be affirmed to have been. (2) For his congenial character; for he pleased the Father alway; his character embodied every moral excellence. (3) For his willing obedience; for, as he had undertaken his mission in the spirit of the prophetic language, “ Lo, i come... to do thy will, O my God,” so he acted throughout his ministry in a manner conformable to the just and holy will of God the Father. (4) For his perfect submiasion; for he “learned obedience by the things which he suffered,” and shrank
12 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [ou. rx. 1—60,
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not from any sufferings appointed, and refused not the cup which the Father gave. As God’s beloved Son, he was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” 2. An appeal to be obeyed: “Hear ye him!” As in the former clause the address is to the intelligent nature, so in this clause it is to the practical nature, of men. It is a Divine imperative. The appeal is to the sense of human obligation. Hear his teach- ings as your Master! Hear his promises as your Friend and Saviour! Hear his com- mands as your Leader and Lord! Hear to rejoice, to respond, to obey !
AppLicATion. 1. Receive this witness concerning Christ. It is the witness of the most trustworthy of men, the most competent of observers; it is the witness of the Eternal Father, of him who cannot lie. 2. Repeat this witness concerning Christ. It is the vocation of the disciple to give testimony to the master. The Church is Christ’s witness to the world. It is ours to tell who Jesus is and what he has done; it is ours to invite the faith, to require the allegiance of all mankind to him who is the Son of God.