Luke 9:28-3628And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. 29And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. 30And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: 31Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. 32But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 33And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. 34While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. 36And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. (Luke 9:28‑36)
When we look at the transfiguration as given in Luke 9:28-3628And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. 29And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. 30And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: 31Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. 32But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 33And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. 34While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. 36And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. (Luke 9:28‑36), we see what our joy in the glory will consist of. We have the warrant of 2 Peter 1:16 for saying that the scene represents to us the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this is what we wait for. Our souls are not in a healthy state unless we are waiting for God’s Son from heaven. The church is not regulated in its hopes by the Word and Spirit of God, unless it is looking for Him as Saviour from heaven (Phil. 3:20-2120For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21)). And this passage (Luke 9) specially discloses to us what will be our portion when He comes; it is important to us in this respect. There are many other things in the passage, such as the mutual relations of the earthly and the heavenly people in the kingdom. These it may be very instructive to consider, but this is not our present purpose. Rather, we want to consider what light is here afforded on the nature of that joy which we shall inherit from the Lord at His coming. Other scriptures, such as the promises to those who overcome, in Revelation 2-3, and the description of the heavenly city, in Revelation 21-22, give us instructions on the same subject, but let us now particularly look at the scene on the holy mount.
The Holy Mount
“It came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering.” It was when Jesus was in the acknowledgment of dependence — ”as He prayed” — that this change took place. This then is the first thing we have here: A change will occur on the living saints when Jesus comes.
“And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias.” They were with Him. And this will be our joy; we shall be with Jesus. In 1 Thessalonians 4, after stating the order in which the resurrection of the sleeping and the change of the living saints will take place and that we shall both be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, all that the Apostle says as to what will ensue is, “So shall we ever be with the Lord.”
But in this passage in Luke 9, there is not only the being with Christ; there is also familiar conversation with Him. “There talked with Him two men.” It is not that He talked with them, though this was no doubt true, but this might have been, even were they at a distance. But when we read that they talked with Him, we get the idea of the most free and familiar conversation. Peter and the others knew what it was to have such fellowship with Jesus in humiliation, and what joy it must have been to have the proof that such fellowship with Him would be enjoyed in glory!
The Glory
And then it is said by Luke that they “appeared in glory.” But this is secondary to what we have been considering. We are told that they were with Him, and then that they appeared in glory. They share in the same glory as that in which He was manifested. And so as to us. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:44When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)). “The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me” (John 17:22-2322And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:22‑23)).
But there is still another thing. We are not only told that they were with Him, that they talked with Him and appeared in glory with Him, but we are also privileged to know the subject of their conversation. They “spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.” It was the cross which was the theme of their conversation in the glory — the sufferings of Christ which He had to accomplish at Jerusalem. And surely this will be our joy throughout eternity, when in glory with Christ — to dwell upon this theme.
The Excellent Glory
We next read that Peter and they that were with Him were heavy with sleep. It shows us what the flesh is in the presence of the glory of God. Peter made a great mistake in speaking, but let us notice what he said later in his Epistle. “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him.” Peter tells us that this voice came from the excellent glory. “He received from God the Father honor 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” (2 Peter 1:17). We are admitted by God the Father to partake of His satisfaction in His beloved Son.
“And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone.” The vision all gone — the cloud, the voice, the glory, Moses and Elias — but Jesus was left; they were left to go on their way with Jesus, knowing Him now in the light of those scenes of glory which they had beheld. And this is the use to us of those vivid apprehensions of spiritual things which we may sometimes realize. It is not that we can be always enjoying them and nothing else. But when for the season they have passed away, like this vision on the holy mount, they leave us alone with Jesus, to pursue the path of our pilgrimage with Him in spirit now, and with Him in the light and power of that deepened acquaintance with Him, and fellowship of the Father’s joy in Him, that we have got on the mount, and then to wait for the moment of His return, when all this, and more than our hearts can think of, shall be fulfilled to us forever.
Adapted from J. N. Darby