The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1943-04-08
Sunday School
Lesson In Brief
BY REV. B. A. MEEKS

ness Christ's Glory"
Lesson Passages: Mark 9:2-8;
II Peter 1:16-18.
Golden Text: "A voice came
out of the cloud, saying, This is
my beloved Son: hear him..
The TRANSPORTATION was
night scene and probably took
place on Mt, Hermon,x i was not
merely a vision or a trance, but
reality. Christ in His trans
formed glory appeared stimuli
taneously to all three of the dis
ciples. The conversation be-
tween Christ and the two heaven
ly visitors was heard by all three
disciples. Next morning as they
came down the mountain, Christ
charged them to tell no man what
they heard and saw.
The nature of the transfigura-
ton of Jesus is such that the
language of the human race is
inadequate to properly describe
it. The eye witnesses find them
selves cropping for words to ex-
press their thoughts. In Mat
thew's Gospel we read, "His face
did shine as the sun, and his gar
mentS became white as the light.
Mark records these words, "His
garments became clustering, ex-
ceeding white; so as no fuller on
earth can whiten them. In Luke
we read, "The fashion on his
countenance was altered, and his
raiment became white and daz-
cling. Jesus did not lose His
identity in the TRANSPORTATION.
He remains the same Jesus. AS
DR.. Vaughn points out, 1T was
Christ's own form; it was Christ's
own face; the very garments ap-
pear to have been the same; only
all the figure, the countenance,
the dress-became lovely and
lustrous" This sun-like bright
ness was, no doubt, the divine
nature of Jesus, that is; the deity
of Jesus, diffusing a flood of
light so bright that no human
eye could behold it. The trans
figuration was such an altering
of the human body of Jesus as to
let the radiating glory of the di-
vine nature, the holiness, the wis
dom, the love, the purity, the
power of God shine through. To
me the TRANSPORTATION of Jesus
was the giving to these disciples
a glimpse of the glorified Jesus.
The glory which was to be restor-
ed unto Him after His atoning
work on the cross, His resurrec-
ton and His glorious ascention.
In addition to witnessing the
glory of Christ, There was a
cloud that overshadowed them:
and a voice came out of the
cloud, saying, This is my beloved
Son: hear him.. This experience
Immediately following the other
caused Peters spirit to soar to
such lofty heights and filled him
with such terrifying awe that he
was entirely beside himself. Yet;
he found the experience so salts
flying to his very soul that he
wanted to remain under it's spell
permanently.
Not only did these disciples see
the symbolic cloud, but heard
coming from the midst of the
cloud the very voice of God, say
ing, "This is my beloved son, in
whom I am we'll pleased: hear
him.. The gospel writer's make
no attempt to describe this voice.
1 often times wish they had. It
must have been the most must
cal, the most pleasant, the most
convincing voice ever heard by
man; a voice in keeping with the
dignity, the GLORIOUS holiness, and
majesty of the Creator, the Pre-
serer and Governor of all things
1t is no doubt the same voice that
uttered similar words at the bap-
tism of Jesus.
What these disciples needed
was a closer, richer and fuller
understanding of the Messiah and
His mission on earth. Their mis-
conception of the Messianic mis-
sion is what caused such conster-
nation among diciples when Je-
sus, after admitting the truth of
Peters confession that He was
the Christ, told them that He
would have to suffer, be rejected,
and be killed. The experience on
the Mount of TRANSPORTATION was
apparently arranged to clear up
this misunderstanding.