* sermon on the mount. On a mountain in Galilee he manifested himself after his passion ; and from Olivet he ascended. And now he leads his disciples to that moun- tain apart; and so retirement, it would seem, was one ground of the selection of a mountain on this occasion. 2. The preparation. But more important than the place of transfiguration was the Saviour’s preparation for it. That preparation, we learn, was
yer. In every crisis of his history, and at every great event of his life, we find the viour engaged in prayer. One main feature of his life on earth was prayer. When he was inaugurated by baptism, and when he formally entered on his own ministry, he prayed ; for it is written, “It came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven opened.” Before he set apart his twelve apostles to found his Church and propagate his doctrine, he spent a whole night in prayer. When he wrought his greatest miracle, “he lifted up his eyes in prayer and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always.” During his agony in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed once and again, and a third time, with still- increasing earnestness, When he hung upon the cross he prayed, and prayed even for his murderers. As he ascended to heaven his hands were uplifted in holy prayer and heavenly benediction. And now that he is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high he prays on behalf of his people; for he is our Advocate with the Father, and ever lives to intercede. In like manner, the purpose for which he ascended the Mount of Transfiguration was prayer: “ He took Peter, and James, and John, and went up into & mountain to pray.” 3. Peculiarity of the Saviour’s prayer. We must mark the peculiarity and purport of his prayer. It had this peculiarity, that one element of prayer was wanting—indeed, it must have been wanting. There were thanksgiving and petition, we know, but there could be no confession. He had no sin to confess, no contrition to feel for personal sin, no sorrow on that head to express, and so repent- ance in his case was impossible. Yet in his humanity, sinless though it was, he needed prayer. The purport of such prayer we are at no loss to discover. It included petition for himself and intercession for his people; while this spirit of prayer served as a pattern for all his followers. Not only was he an Expiation, but an Example: for he left us an example, that we should follow in his steps. The character of his inter- cession may be learned from bis prayer for Peter, and his great intercession (John xvii.)
ou. 1x, 1—d0.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 41
for all his followers in all times and in all lands. His petition for the cup to pass away from him had its answer in the power that sustained him in his agony, in the submission of his human will to the Divine, and in the angel strengthening him.