LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Place of Christ in the Father's Heart
Matthew 17:1-13.
Six days after the experience at Caesarea Philippi, the Lord takes His disciples to the mountain, and there He is transfigured before them. The glory of the Lord causes them great astonishment. Peter impulsively suggests building a tent for Jesus, for Moses and Elijah, and settling there. However, the Father interrupts him from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him". Hearing that voice, the disciples fall to the ground and are filled with fear. Through this experience, the disciples were to learn at least two things:
(a) That after the cross comes glory. Peter's previous experience -the strong rebuke of the Lord for his emotional intervention- had surely left in him and in the other disciples a hint of sadness. Was the cross what awaited them following Jesus? Such a desolate and dark panorama? Then the Lord took it upon himself to open the sky a little so that they could see what lies beyond the cross. There is not only the tomb and the three days of silence. There is a new dawn, a day of glory, where every little thing leaves its seat, where every tear is wiped away, where everything shines with pure light. What a consolation for the soul momentarily afflicted by the scourging and the nails! The end of the Christian career is bright. After the cross comes the crown.
b) That Christ occupies a privileged place in the heart of God. Although the disciples had seen the wonders of God, and heard the Father's testimony about the Lord Jesus, they still did not understand how important Christ is to God. Here they receive new light on the subject. The Father's affections for his Son date neither yesterday nor today. Before the worlds were made, before he had traced the circle of the earth and life had fluttered in it, the Son of God was the Father's delight, in whom he had perfect contentment.
The disciples could not understand this - nor could we, fully. They were only now peering into spiritual life, to become part of that eternal family, and in their foolishness they put the creature next to the Creator, the slave on a level with his Master. How could God accept this? They did not understand it then, for, coming down from the mountain, they speak to the Lord about Elijah, who was to come. They have already forgotten the Father's lesson. Their thought is not yet the thought of God.
Will something like this happen to us? Do we have other names beside the admirable Name? Are our life and our doctrine something else, and not Christ? Oh, it is so easy to be carried away by the senses and to be dazzled by the Moses and Elijahs of the present time, surrounded by lights and colors! But we, the followers of Jesus Christ, are called to love Him whom we have not seen, and to rejoice in Him with joy unspeakable and glorious (1 Pet. 1:8).