Quiet Talks about JesusGordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Religion
Quiet Talks about Jesus
Gordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Jesus Christ -- Person and offices
Jesus was changed _from within_. It was His own glory that these men saw.
He had wrapped Himself up in a bit of human tapestry so He could move
among men without blinding their eyes. Now He looks out through the
strands. They are astonished and awed to find that face they know so well
now shining as the sun, and the garments made transparent as light,
glistening like snow, by reason of the great brilliance of the light
within. Yet Jesus let out only a part of the glory. When Paul saw, on the
Damascus road, the light was _above_ the shining of the sun.
When their eyes get over the first daze, the disciples come to see that
besides Jesus there are two others, two of the old Hebrew leaders. There
is Moses, the great maker of the nation, the greatest leader of all. And
rugged Elijah, who had boldly stood in the breach and saved the day when
the nation's king was proposing to replace the worship of Jehovah with
demon-worship. They are talking earnestly together, these three,
about--what? The great sacrifices Jesus had been enduring? The
disappointment in the kingdom plan? The suffering and shame to be endured?
The bitter obstinacy of the opposition? The chief priests' plotting?
Listen! They are talking about the departure, the exodus, the going out
and up, Jesus is about to _accomplish_. They are absorbed in Jesus. He was
about to execute a master-stroke. He is going to accomplish a great move.
They are wholly absorbed in Him, this Moses, and Elijah, and in this great
move of His for men.
Meanwhile these men lying on the ground are waking up and rubbing their
eyes. The only jarring note is a human note. John and James look with awe,
reverent awe. It is an insight into their character that nothing is said
about them. Their sense of reverence and power of control are to the
front. It is dear, impulsive old Peter who can't keep still, even amid
such a scene. His impulsive heart is just back of his lips, with no
check-valves between. He must offer a few remarks. This great vision must
be duly recognized. What a sensation it would make in Jerusalem to get
these two men to stay and come down and address a meeting! That would turn
the tide surely. Luke graciously explains that he did not know what he
was saying. No, probably not. The tongue seemed to be going mechanically,
rather than by the controlling touch of the will. Peter seems to have a
large posterity, some of whom abide with us to this day.
Then the vision is shut out by the intervening cloud. This human
interference disturbs the atmosphere. For Peter's sake, the glory is
hidden that the impression of it may not be rubbed out even slightly by
his own speech. We blur and lose the impression God would make upon us, by
our speech, sometimes. A bit of _divine_ practical psychology, this
movement of the cloud. Then the quiet voice that thrilled them with the
message of the Jordan, "This is My Son; My Chosen One: hear ye Him." Then
it is all over.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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