1 And
after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth
them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with him. (Matt 17:1-3)
Every year in our Church Calendar, we address the glorious Transfiguration of
the Lord Jesus Christ on the Mount. This event is of singular importance to the
believer in setting forth "the Way, the
Truth, and the Life" that is made available in Christ Jesus
to us. Not only shall we take up and bear our cross daily for Him, as He did
once-and-for-all for us, but we shall follow Him in every glorious avenue of
His walk in this life - and straight forward and upward (Excelsior - ever
upward!) beyond the veil of tears and into the glistering radiance of Heaven
itself.
Christ was transfigured before the eyes of His trusted disciples - Peter,
James, and John. But also appearing there in glorious apparition were Elijah
(Elias) and Moses. If Elijah and Moses can aspire to such glory in Christ, so
can the believer who remains among us in this life!
We read the account of Elijah's being taken by fiery escort directly to Heaven
without suffering the physical death to which all mortals are heir. 11 And it
came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a
chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah
went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And
Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and
the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own
clothes, and rent them in two pieces. (2 Kings 2:11-12) Thus
was Elijah removed from the living of earth and joined to that of Heaven with
pains of death. So Elijah, like many believers who remain at Christ's return,
was taken up without experiencing the first death.
Moses did not depart this life under the same terms as Elijah. After forty
years of hard wandering and leading of a rebellious people, God allowed Moses
to view the Promised Land across Jordan Banks from atop Mount Nebo (Pisgah)
without being privileged to cross over. It turned out to be a disappointment
with joyful results, for Moses went to a far better Mount of Promise as we see
in the Gospel account of the Transfiguration.
1 And
Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of
Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of
Gilead, unto Dan, 2 And
all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah,
unto the utmost sea, 3 And
the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto
Zoar. 4 And
the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac,
and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see
it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. 5 So
Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the
word of the LORD. 6 And he
buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man
knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. (Deut 34:1-6)
There are two salient points of interest to us given account here:
1.
Moses died on Mount Pisgah in Moab and
God buried in a lonely valley of Moab;
2.
No man knows the place of Moses grave.
What is important about this? Elijah had no grave, Moses had
a hidden grave which he truly did not occupy, and Jesus Christ, too, had only a
"borrowed tomb!" This is true of all who follow Christ in the "Way, the Truth, and the Life" through
His walks along the Galilean Shore, to Jordan River, to the Temple, to Bethany,
to Pilate's Court, to the cross, to the tomb, and, finally, to the Resurrection
and Transfiguration!
Do we trust our Lord Jesus Christ when He speaks the Truth in frank wonder? 47 Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat
thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which
came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever:
and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of
the world. (John
6:47-51) Do you see the sacramental importance of the Bread that is
represented in the Service of Holy Communion? Moreover, if Jesus is the Bread
of Life - and the Word that came down from Heaven - we consume that Bread symbolically
and truly in the Supper of the Lord, and also in the Communion of His Word
which we consume and digest through hearing and reading. Have we believed
truly?
Do we believe the next profound statement of Christ? 25 Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the
life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this? (John
11:25-26) Well, do you believe this? If so, why the crocodile tears
at the parting of a loved one[1].
I will quote the simple phrase of
John Donne: "Send not, therefore, to know for whom the bell tolls - it
tolls for thee." We weep and mourn for ourselves, truly, and not the
dear one in Christ departed. They are in fine fettle with the Lord while we
continue to endure a life of struggle and disappointment alone and without
their comforting presence.
The Scriptures are replete with the coming joy of the Christian who dies
believing the Promise made to Abraham and consummated in the sacrificial Death,
Burial, Resurrection . . . . . AND Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why are
our ears so open to hear of the tribulations we face in this world, and so
stopped of hearing of the glory to come?
There is no passage of time without the occurrence of events. In the depth of
dark and extreme galactic space, there is no time that transpires between
heavenly bodies because there is no event schedule by which we measure time.
The same may be true of death, and may be confirmed in the words of the Apostle
Paul. 51 Behold,
I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality. 54 So
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall
have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56
The
sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1
Cor 15:51-57)
If any Christian or clergy tells me that he understands fully this last
mystery, I will doubt him. But I will not doubt the veracity of the Promise
itself. We need not understand all that is made available to us in Heaven of
its grandeur and glory; but it will be enough for us to know that where Christ
is, there is joy and bliss to heal and satisfy the sin-sick soul. Truly, there
is a Balm in Gilead, and I have laid hold of it. I love to read the words of
John Jasper, an old black preacher of the Third Baptist Church in Richmond,
before, during, and following the War Between the States. A friend asked him
what he wanted to received first when he reached the far shores of Jordan - the
crown of gold, the golden slippers, etc - to which Jasper replied, "Natu'ally,
I wants my crown of glory and dem golden slippers, and all of those other
ben'fits that acru' to me, but not Fust! Fust, I wants to see the face of my
Savior who bled and died for me." John Jasper died describing the
measureless beauty of heaven in a sermon while standing in his pulpit at age 89
years. Jasper was illiterate in the writings of men, but he certainly had a
commanding hold on the vocabulary of Heaven.
The transfiguration of Christ serves to inform us that we, too, shall be
transformed with a glorious new body that is no longer subject to pain,
suffering, or death. "Believest thou this?"
[1]
The answer for the
Christian is a simple one, the tears we shed are selfish. We shed our tears and tear our heart at
the temporary separation from one we love who has gone before us, leaving the Shadowlands
for the real and bright world of Heaven.
We know we will miss them and not see them again until we join them in
those Undying Lands of reality.
