The Scene of the Transfiguration

S. Mark ix. 1–4

The Transfiguration places us on “the summit-level” of our Lord’s earthly life. Its teaching is of such momentous import for the right understanding of His true Nature, that, no less than the Resurrection, its credibility has been assailed by hostile critics. It has, however, been providentially ordered that, in addition to the triple record of the Evangelists in its proper place of history, it should have been further corroborated by independent allusions in the writings of those who were eye-witnesses of the scene. The three selected by our Lord to be with Him were “the chosen out of the chosen,” to whom was vouchsafed the honour of the closest companionship in the greatest crises of His life. They were destined, He knew, to be present at the Agony, and in His tender forethought He prepared them for the trial, strengthening their faith by a vision of preternatural glory first, that its remembrance might bear them up when they should see “His face marred more than the sons of men.” It made such an indelible impression upon their memories that two of them spoke of it long afterwards — one, in the sublime prologue of his Gospel: “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father;” the other, in the Epistle that he wrote just preceding his death, “He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount.” What the mountain was we would gladly know for certain; but its name has not been preserved in. the Sacred History, and careful consideration shows that tradition is wholly untrustworthy, notwithstanding its age and unanimity. Even as early as the fourth century it was assumed to be Mount Tabor. Pious Christians made pilgrimages thither; the devout Helena built a church upon its summit; monasteries were dedicated to Moses and Elias; and all through the Crusades it was fought for with the same devotion as Calvary or Olivet.

There is nothing but the beauty and isolation of the mountain that could have given birth to such a belief. It rises “in isolated grandeur” out of the lovely Plain of Esdraelon, “the most graceful of all the mountains of Palestine,” and the mind, in the absence of other considerations, would be disposed to associate such a scene as this with so beautiful a height.

But there are circumstances which lead us to look elsewhere for the actual locality; for although the position of Tabor might appear to offer a suitable place for retirement “apart by themselves,” its summit at this time was really occupied by a considerable fortress.

And further, only a few days before, Jesus, in company with His disciples, was “in the towns of Caesarea Philippi.” No mention whatever is made of a journey into Galilee, which must have been chronicled by S. Mark if it had ever been taken, for he is always careful to note every change of place in our Lord’s wanderings.

Nowhere else than in the more distant north, on the ridge of Hermon, could He find a place so well fitted to be the scene of such a grand event; l and if the reading which describes His raiment as “shining exceeding white as snow” be genuine, we might well conclude that the simile was suggested by the surrounding circumstances. On Mount Tabor no snow would have been found so late in the year; but on some parts of the range of Libanus it was almost perpetual.

We conclude, then, that this was the mountain which our Lord ascended to pray, and it may be inferred that it was at eventide; for we know that He was wont to set apart the night for prayer, and it is said that the Apostles were weighed down with sleep. It is, moreover, incidentally noticed that the descent took place in the morning. And how much more glorious the scene would be if the splendour, which, no doubt, would have outshone even the noonday sun, burst upon the spectators out of surrounding darkness! “And as He prayed” He was transfigured before them. The veil of flesh which had concealed the glory of the Godhead was, as it were, withdrawn, and the full blaze of ineffable light broke forth from within, while even His garments caught the wondrous rays, and shimmered with the dazzling brightness of sun-smitten snow. As the disciples wondered, “there appeared unto them Moses with Elias.” Reasons are not far to find why these two should be brought back together from the other world to take part in the scene. They were the representatives of the quick and dead. Moses had died; Elijah had ascended alive into heaven. They were types of the two great divisions which shall appear before the same Lord, when He comes in the glory of which that was a glimpse and foretaste, the dead and the living both standing before the judgment- seat of Christ.

Again, it may have been because both had passed from earth in mystery: the first buried by the hand of God in some unfrequented valley apart from his countrymen, “cast away by the breath of the Lord,” and “no man knoweth of his sepulchre until this day;” the other not dying, but vanishing instantaneously in the midst of life, “lost in the flame of steeds and the car that swept him from the earth,” and his resting-place also no man knew. Both had disappeared, no more to be seen by mortal eye till, in far-distant times, the same Hand that had carried them away should bring them back on the Mount of Transfiguration. It suggests the mighty truth, that however we are taken, whether lost to men in the depth of the sea, or consumed by the devouring fire, it matters nothing to the Great Keeper of His people, Who will bring all back again at the last day.

But the chief motive, no doubt, was to unite together the representatives of the three great dispensations of Divine Government, — the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel. The force of this meeting, and of the disappearance of the two former, while the Third was left, will appear when we consider S. Peter’s proposal to “build three tabernacles.”

;Now the Transfiguration gives us a pledge and earnest of our personal identity in the risen state. The disciples knew that it was Jesus, although His Body was glorified, and “when He shall appear we shall be like Him.” And doubtless one reason for the preservation of our identity is for mutual recognition — that we may know hereafter those whom we have known in the flesh. It puts before us a powerful incentive to make friends on earth with whom we may spend not only the life here, but the eternal life in heaven.

Again, the scene opens up a further field of thought, when we recall the fact that S. Peter was able to recognise Moses and Elijah, though he had never seen them in the flesh. Shall we then recognise the great saints in the world to come, whom we have learnt by the study of their lives and works to know as though we had seen them face to face? There was clearly something — it may have been some linger! ngs of the splendour which illumined his face after communing with God, in act in the Transfiguration, e.g. Christ had asked,” Whom do men say that I am?” The Apostles answered, “Some say, Elias; and others, one of the prophets.” Moses and Elias are presented to them on the mount, and a voice from heaven declares Christ to be God’s “Beloved Son.” v. i -4 which painters have tried to express by the familiar “horns of light,” — we cannot tell what it was, but it satisfied the Apostle that the form was none other than that of Moses. Will there be nothing by which, in like manner, we shall recognise the Baptist, or the beloved disciple, or the Blessed Virgin, or Mary of Magdala? Will the student of Theology, who has read the mind of S. Augustine, or pictured the fiery Athanase, with his feeble frame but lion heart, confronting the world for the great Mystery of the Blessed Trinity, find no means of identifying them when they meet hereafter? Will there be nothing to mark painters like Fra Angelico or Raphael, or poets such as Dante, or Tasso, or Milton? It must surely be that marks of recognition, in all who have witnessed for God, and moulded the minds of men by their words or works, will not be wanting. Let us then look forward with prayerful hope to being of the number of those to whom our Lord made such a promise when He said, “Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”

Note: Josephus, Life, 37; Wars, ii. 20, 6. Hos. v. 1, LXX. ‘Iravpiov. Polybius mentions the capture of Atabyrium, the name of the fortified city on the summit, by Antiochus the Great. Josephus also speaks of its being strengthened in his time. It was eventually destroyed in 1263 A. D. by a brother of the famous Saladin. Cf. Morison, S. Matt. xvii. r.

Note: “It is impossible to look up to its towering peaks, and not to be struck with its appropriateness to the scene. High up on its southern slopes there must be many a point where the disciples could be taken ’ apart by themselves. ‘Even the transient comparison of the celestial splendour with the snow, where alone it could be seen in Palestine, should not perhaps be wholly overlooked.” — Stanley, Sin. and Palest. 399-400. Cf. Porter, Handbook, 423-

Note: ups xL&v is omitted in the Sinaitic, Vatican, and Ephraem MSS.

Note: It has been observed that the Transfiguration is linked on by the three Evangelists to a striking conversation, part of which is, as it were, carried on