The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 46: He Was Transfigured
This chapter is based on Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8;
Luke 9:28-36.
Evening is drawing on as Jesus calls to His side three of
His disciples, Peter, James, and John, and leads them across the fields, and
far up a rugged path, to a lonely mountainside. The Saviour and His disciples
have spent the day in traveling and teaching, and the mountain climb adds to
their weariness. Christ has lifted burdens from mind and body of many
sufferers; He has sent the thrill of life through their enfeebled frames; but
He also is compassed with humanity, and with His disciples He is wearied with
the ascent. {DA 419.1}
The light of the setting sun still lingers on the mountain
top, and gilds with its fading glory the path they are traveling. But soon the
light dies out from hill as well as valley, the sun disappears behind the
western horizon, and the solitary travelers are wrapped in the darkness of
night. The gloom of their surroundings seems in harmony with their sorrowful
lives, around which the clouds are gathering and thickening. {DA 419.2}
The disciples do not venture to ask Christ whither He is
going, or for what purpose. He has often spent entire nights in the mountains
in prayer. He whose hand formed mountain and valley is at home with nature, and
enjoys its quietude. The disciples follow where Christ leads the way; yet they
wonder why their Master should lead them up this toilsome ascent when they are
weary, and when He too is in need of rest. {DA 419.3}
Presently Christ tells them that they are now to go no
farther. Stepping a little aside from them, the Man of Sorrows pours out His [420]
supplications with strong crying and tears. He prays for strength to endure the
test in behalf of humanity. He must Himself gain a fresh hold on Omnipotence,
for only thus can He contemplate the future. And He pours out His heart
longings for His disciples, that in the hour of the power of darkness their
faith may not fail. The dew is heavy upon His bowed form, but He heeds it not.
The shadows of night gather thickly about Him, but He regards not their gloom.
So the hours pass slowly by. At first the disciples unite their prayers with
His in sincere devotion; but after a time they are overcome with weariness,
and, even while trying to retain their interest in the scene, they fall asleep.
Jesus has told them of His sufferings; He has taken them with Him that they
might unite with Him in prayer; even now He is praying for them. The Saviour
has seen the gloom of His disciples, and has longed to lighten their grief by
an assurance that their faith has not been in vain. Not all, even of the
twelve, can receive the revelation He desires to give. Only the three who are
to witness His anguish in Gethsemane have been chosen to be with Him on the
mount. Now the burden of His prayer is that they may be given a manifestation [421]
of the glory He had with the Father before the world was, that His kingdom may
be revealed to human eyes, and that His disciples may be strengthened to behold
it. He pleads that they may witness a manifestation of His divinity that will
comfort them in the hour of His supreme agony with the knowledge that He is of
a surety the Son of God and that His shameful death is a part of the plan of
redemption. {DA 419.4}
His prayer is heard. While He is bowed in lowliness upon the
stony ground, suddenly the heavens open, the golden gates of the city of God
are thrown wide, and holy radiance descends upon the mount, enshrouding the
Saviour's form. Divinity from within flashes through humanity, and meets the
glory coming from above. Arising from His prostrate position, Christ stands in
godlike majesty. The soul agony is gone. His countenance now shines "as
the sun," and His garments are "white as the light." {DA 421.1}
The disciples, awaking, behold the flood of glory that
illuminates the mount. In fear and amazement they gaze upon the radiant form of
their Master. As they become able to endure the wondrous light, they see that
Jesus is not alone. Beside Him are two heavenly beings, in close converse with
Him. They are Moses, who upon Sinai had talked with God; and Elijah, to whom
the high privilege was given—granted to but one other of the sons of
Adam—never to come under the power of death. {DA 421.2}
Upon Mount Pisgah fifteen centuries before, Moses had stood
gazing upon the Land of Promise. But because of his sin at Meribah, it was not
for him to enter there. Not for him was the joy of leading the host of Israel
into the inheritance of their fathers. His agonized entreaty, "I pray
Thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly
mountain, and Lebanon" (Deuteronomy 3:25), was refused. The hope that for
forty years had lighted up the darkness of the desert wanderings must be
denied. A wilderness grave was the goal of those years of toil and heart-burdening
care. But He who is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask
or think" (Ephesians 3:20), had in this measure answered His servant's
prayer. Moses passed under the dominion of death, but he was not to remain in
the tomb. Christ Himself called him forth to life. Satan the tempter had
claimed the body of Moses because of his sin; but Christ the Saviour brought
him forth from the grave. Jude 9. {DA 421.3}
Moses upon the mount of transfiguration was a witness to
Christ's victory over sin and death. He represented those who shall come forth [422]
from the grave at the resurrection of the just. Elijah, who had been translated
to heaven without seeing death, represented those who will be living upon the
earth at Christ's second coming, and who will be "changed, in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;" when "this mortal must
put on immortality," and "this corruptible must put on
incorruption." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. Jesus was clothed with the light of
heaven, as He will appear when He shall come "the second time without sin
unto salvation." For He will come "in the glory of His Father with
the holy angels." Hebrews 9:28; Mark 8:38. The Saviour's promise to the
disciples was now fulfilled. Upon the mount the future kingdom of glory was
represented in miniature,—Christ the King, Moses a representative of
the risen saints, and Elijah of the translated ones. {DA 421.4}
The disciples do not yet comprehend the scene; but they
rejoice that the patient Teacher, the meek and lowly One, who has wandered to
and fro a helpless stranger, is honored by the favored ones of heaven. They
believe that Elijah has come to announce the Messiah's reign, and that the
kingdom of Christ is about to be set up on the earth. The memory of their fear and
disappointment they would banish forever. Here, where the glory of God is
revealed, they long to tarry. Peter exclaims, "Master, it is good for us
to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses,
and one for Elias." The disciples are confident that Moses and Elijah have
been sent to protect their Master, and to establish His authority as king. {DA 422.1}
But before the crown must come the cross. Not the
inauguration of Christ as king, but the decease to be accomplished at Jerusalem,
is the subject of their conference with Jesus. Bearing the weakness of
humanity, and burdened with its sorrow and sin, Jesus walked alone in the midst
of men. As the darkness of the coming trial pressed upon Him, He was in
loneliness of spirit, in a world that knew Him not. Even His loved disciples,
absorbed in their own doubt and sorrow and ambitious hopes, had not
comprehended the mystery of His mission. He had dwelt amid the love and
fellowship of heaven; but in the world that He had created, He was in solitude.
Now heaven had sent its messengers to Jesus; not angels, but men who had
endured suffering and sorrow, and who could sympathize with the Saviour in the
trial of His earthly life. Moses and Elijah had been colaborers with Christ.
They had shared His longing for the salvation of men. Moses had pleaded for
Israel: "Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not,
blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written." Exodus
32:32. Elijah [425] had known loneliness of spirit,
as for three years and a half of famine he had borne the burden of the nation's
hatred and its woe. Alone he had stood for God upon Mount Carmel. Alone he had
fled to the desert in anguish and despair. These men, chosen above every angel
around the throne, had come to commune with Jesus concerning the scenes of His
suffering, and to comfort Him with the assurance of the sympathy of heaven. The
hope of the world, the salvation of every human being, was the burden of their
interview. {DA 422.2}
Through being overcome with sleep, the disciples heard
little of what passed between Christ and the heavenly messengers. Failing to
watch and pray, they had not received that which God desired to give them,—a
knowledge of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. They
lost the blessing that might have been theirs through sharing His
self-sacrifice. Slow of heart to believe were these disciples, little
appreciative of the treasure with which Heaven sought to enrich them. {DA 425.1}
Yet they received great light. They were assured that all
heaven knew of the sin of the Jewish nation in rejecting Christ. They were
given a clearer insight into the work of the Redeemer. They saw with their eyes
and heard with their ears things that were beyond the comprehension of man.
They were "eyewitnesses of His majesty" (2 Peter 1:16), and they
realized that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, to whom patriarchs and prophets had
witnessed, and that He was recognized as such by the heavenly universe. {DA 425.2}
While they were still gazing on the scene upon the mount,
"a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud,
which said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye
Him." As they beheld the cloud of glory, brighter than that which went
before the tribes of Israel in the wilderness; as they heard the voice of God
speak in awful majesty that caused the mountain to tremble, the disciples fell
smitten to the earth. They remained prostrate, their faces hidden, till Jesus
came near, and touched them, dispelling their fears with His well-known voice,
"Arise, and be not afraid." Venturing to lift up their eyes, they saw
that the heavenly glory had passed away, the forms of Moses and Elijah had
disappeared. They were upon the mount, alone with Jesus. {DA 425.3}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"Ministry"
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