With the Praying Christ

“And while he was praying, the appearance of his face was changed, and his raiment became white and dazzling” (Luke 9:29) When we enter the scene of the Transfiguration, we are confronted with a sacred mystery. All the weight of eternal glory is offered to a man who prays. “And while he was praying, the appearance of his face was changed, and his raiment became white and dazzling.”

The sorrows of earth are due primarily to the disobedience and independence of one man, and the glories of the world to come begin with the obedience and dependence of one man. The glories of heaven to come center and revolve around a praying man on earth. With great joy we gaze upon the praying Lord, and are allowed to see the praying man transformed into the glorified man.

When man became independent of God, he ceased to glorify God, and became a man without honor. Here we see the one who relies on God, and glorifies Him, that he himself has been glorified. Peter reminds us that the glory of man on earth is like the flower of the field that fades, but on the mountain with Peter we see the sight of the glory that never fades. We see His greatness and His glory. But on the mountain other blessed scenes are revealed, for they tell us not only that we shall see His glory, but that we shall share in it.

We shall not only be delighted by what we shall see, but we shall have the privilege of sharing in it. Thus we read, “And behold, two men talked with Him.” A heart overwhelmed with deep longings is not satisfied by the mere sight of the indescribable glory, nor is it satisfied by a mere partial sharing in the glory of Christ absent from us.

Therefore, the grace that leads to glory is that which causes us to behold the glory, and even to partake of it, and to share it with Him. Moreover, the mountain tells us of another blessed truth, that we shall not only be with Him, but we shall also become like Him.

So we read not only that Moses and Elijah appeared with Him, but that they “appeared in glory.” We see the glory, and we share in it, and we shall be worthy of the glory. It has not yet been shown to us on earth what we shall be, but on the mountain we see a glimpse of what we shall be when He appears. We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).

By Hamilton Smith