“And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus
only.”–Matthew 17:8.
The last words will suffice us for a text, “Jesus only.” When Peter saw
our Lord with Moses and Elias, he exclaimed, “Master, it is good to be
here,” as if he implied that it was better to be with Jesus, and Moses, and
Elias, than to be with Jesus only. Now it was certainly good that for
once in his life he should see Christ transfigured with the representatives
of the law and the prophets; it might be for that particular occasion the
best sight that he could see, but as an ordinary thing an ecstasy so
sublime would not have been good for the disciples; and Peter himself
very soon found this out, for when the luminous cloud overshadowed
him, and the voice was heard out of heaven, we find that he with the rest
became sore afraid. The best thing after all for Peter, was not the
excessive strain of the transfiguration, nor the delectable company of the
two great spirits who appeared with Jesus, but the equally glorious, but
less exciting society of “Jesus only.” Depend on it, brethren, that
ravishing and exciting experiences and transporting enjoyments, though
they may be useful as occasional refreshments, would not be so good for
every day as that quiet but delightful ordinary fellowship with “Jesus
only,” which ought to be the distinguishing mark of all Christian life. As
the disciples ascended the mountain side with Jesus only, and as they
went back again to the multitude with Jesus only, they were in as good
company as when they were on the mountain summit, Moses and Elias
being there also; and although Jesus Christ in his common habiliments
and in his ordinary attire might not so dazzle their eyes as when they
saw his raiment bright as the light, and his face shining as the sun, yet he
really was quite as glorious, and his company quite as beneficial. When
they saw him in his everyday attire, his presence was quite as useful to
them as when he robed himself in splendor. “Jesus only,” is after all
upon the whole a better thing than Jesus, Moses, and Elias. “Jesus only,”
as the common Jesus, the Christ of every day, the man walking among
men, communing in secret with his disciples, is a better thing for a
continuance while we are in this body, than the sight even of Jesus
himself in the excellence of his majesty.
This morning, in trying to dwell upon the simple sight of “Jesus only,”
we shall hold it up as beyond measure important and delightful, and
shall bear our witness that as it was said of Goliath’s sword, “there is
none like it,” so may it be said of fellowship with “Jesus only.” We shall
first notice what might have happened to the disciples after the
transfiguration; we shall then dwell on what did happen; and then,
thirdly, we shall speak on what we anxiously desire may happen to those
who hear us this day.
I. First, then, WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED to the three disciples after they
had seen the transfiguration.
There were four things, either of which might have occurred. As a first
supposition, they might have seen nobody with them on the holy mount;
they might have found all gone but themselves. When the cloud had
overshadowed them, and they were sore afraid, they might have lifted
up their eyes and found the entire vision melted into thin air; no Moses,
no Elias, and no Jesus. In such a case they would have been in a sorry
plight, like those who having begun to taste of a banquet, suddenly find
all the viands swept away; like thirsty men who have tasted the cooling
crystal drops, and then seen the fountain dried up before their eyes.
They would not have gone down the mountain side that day asking
questions and receiving instruction, for they would have had no teacher
left them. They would have descended to face a multitude and to
contend with a demon; not to conquer Satan, but to stand defeated by
him before the crowd; for they would have had no champion to espouse
their cause and drive out the evil spirit. They would have gone down
among Scribes and Pharisees to be baffled with their knotty questions,
and to be defeated by their sophistries, for they would have had no wise
man, who spake as never man spake, to untie the knots and disentangle
the snarls of controversy. They would have been like sheep without a
shepherd, like orphan children left alone in the world. They would
henceforth have reckoned it an unhappy day on which they saw the
transfiguration; because having seen it, having been led to high thoughts
by it, and excited to great expectations, all had disappeared like the foam
upon the waters, and left no solid residuum behind. Alas! For those who
have seen the image of the spirits of just men made perfect, and beheld
the great Lord of all such spirits, and then have found themselves alone,
and all the high companionship forever gone.
My dear brethren and sisters, there are some in this world and we ourselves
have been among them, to whom something like this has actually occurred. You
have been under a sermon, or at a gospel ordinance, or in reading the word
of God, for a while delighted, exhilarated, lifted up to the sublimer
regions, and then afterwards when it has all been over, there has been
nothing left of joy or benefit, nothing left of all that was preached and
for the moment enjoyed, nothing, at any rate, that you could take with you
into the conflicts of every-day life.
The whole has been a splendid vision and nothing more. There has been
neither Moses not Elias, nor Jesus left. You did remember what you saw, but
only with regret, because nothing remained with you. And, indeed, this which
happens sometimes to us, is a general habit of that portion of this ungodly
world which hears the gospel and perceives not its reality; it listens with
respect to gospel histories as to legends of ancient times; it hears with
reverence the stories of the days of miracles; it venerates the far-off ages
and their heroic deeds, but it does not believe that anything is left of all
the vision, any thing for to-day, for common life, and for common men. Moses
it knows, and Elias it knows, and Christ it knows, as shadows that have
passed across the scene and have disappeared, but it knows nothing of any
one of these as abiding in permanent influence over the mind and the spirit
of the present. All come and all gone, all to be reverenced, all to be
respected, but nothing more; there is nothing left, so far as they are
concerned, to influence or bless the present hour. Jesus and his gospel have
come and gone, and we may very properly recollect the fact, but according to
certain sages there is nothing in the New Testament to affect this advanced
age, this enlightened nineteenth century; we have got beyond all that. Ah!
Brethren, let those who can be content to do so, put up with this worship
of moral relics and spiritual phantoms; to us it would be wretchedness
itself. We, on the other hand, say, blessing the name of the Lord that we
can say it, that there abides with us our Lord Jesus. At this day he is with
us, and will be with us even to the end of the world. Christ’s existence is
not a fact confined to antiquity or to remote distance. By his Spirit he is
actually in his church; we have seen him, though not with eyes; we have
heard him, though not with ears; we have grasped him, though not with
hands; and we feed upon his flesh, which is meat indeed, and his blood,
which is drink indeed. We have with us at this very day Jesus our friend,
to whom we make known our secrets, and who beareth all our sorrows.
We have Jesus our interpreting instructor, who still reveals his secrets to
us, and leads us into the mind and name of God. We have Jesus still with
us to supply us with strength, and in his power we still are mighty. We
confess his reigning sovereignty in the church, and we receive his all-
sufficient succors. The church is not decapitated, her Head abides in
vital union with her; Jesus is no myth to us, whatever he may be to
others; he is no departed shade, he is no heroic personification: in very
deed there is a Christ, and though others see him not, and even we with
these eyes see him not, yet in him believing we rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory. Oh, I trust it will never be so with us, that
as we go about our life work our religion shall melt into fiction and
become nothing but mere sentiment, nothing but thought, and dream,
and vision; but may our religion be a matter of fact, a walking with the
living and abiding Saviour. Though Moses may be gone, and Elias may
be gone, yet Jesus Christ abideth with us and in us, and we in him, and
so shall it be evermore.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
