XVII. (1) AFTER SIX DAYS. — St. Luke’s “about eight days” (Luke 9:28) may be noted as an example of the mode of reckoning which spoke of the interval between our Lord’s death and resurrection, about six-and-thirty hours, as three days. PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN. — The three retain their position, as... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WAS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM. — Elsewhere in the New Testament (with the exception of the parallel, Mark 9:2) the word is used only in its spiritual sense, and is there rendered “transformed.” St. Luke does not use the word, but describes the change which it implies, “the fashion of His countena... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES AND ELIAS. — The identification of the forms which the disciples saw was, we may well believe, intuitive. If we accept the narrative as a whole, it is legitimate to assume that, in the state of consciousness to which they had been raised, they were capable of a spiritual illumination which wou... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE. — For “Lord” St. Luke has “Master;” St. Mark (giving. probably, as elsewhere, the very word uttered) “Rabbi.” It is not easy to trace the thoughts that passed rapidly through the soul of the disciple in that moment of amazement. Afterwards — if we may judge from S... [ Continue Reading ]
A BRIGHT CLOUD OVERSHADOWED THEM — _i.e._, our Lord, Moses, and Elias. To the disciples this would, we cannot doubt, recall the “cloudy pillar” which had descended on the first tabernacle (Exodus 33:9), the “cloud that filled the house of the Lord on the dedication of the Temple” (1 Kings 8:10). It... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE DISCIPLES HEARD IT. — At this point St. Matthew’s narrative is the fullest. The three disciples shrink in fear, like that of the Israelites at the brightness of Moses’ face (Exodus 34:30), like that of the priests in the Temple who could not stand to minister because of the cloud (1 Kings 8... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS CAME AND TOUCHED THEM. — Act and words were both expressive of an almost brotherly tenderness. The touch of the hand they had so often grasped — as, _e.g.,_ in Matthew 14:31 — the familiar words that had brought courage to their fainting hearts in. the hour of danger (Matthew 14:27), these rec... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SAW NO MAN, SAVE JESUS ONLY. — The words, following as they do upon the “Be not afraid,” imply a marked contrast to Peter’s rash utterance. It was _not_ “good” for frail men such as they were to tarry long in the immediate glory of the Presence. It was a relief to see “Jesus only” with them, as... [ Continue Reading ]
TELL THE VISION TO NO MAN. — The command obviously included even the rest of the Apostles within the range of its prohibition. For them in their lower stage of spiritual growth, the report of the vision at second hand would either have led them to distrust it or to pervert its meaning. Whatever reas... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS DISCIPLES ASKED HIM. — The context clearly implies that the question came not from the disciples at large, but from the three who had seen the vision, and were brooding over the appearance, and yet more, perhaps, the disappearance, of Elijah, as connected with the tradition of the scribes. If El... [ Continue Reading ]
ELIAS TRULY SHALL FIRST COME. — Better, _cometh_ Our Lord’s words are obviously enigmatic in their form, and, as such, admit of two very different interpretations. Taken literally, as they have been by very many both in earlier and later times, they seem to say that Elijah shall come in person befor... [ Continue Reading ]
ELIAS IS COME ALREADY. — These words, the emphatic repetition of what had been said before in Matthew 11:14 (see Note there), ought, it is believed, to be decisive as to the issue raised in the preceding verse. So far as the prophecy of Malachi required the coming of Elijah, that prophecy had been f... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE DISCIPLES UNDERSTOOD. — The words are suggestive both as indicating the conclusion in which they ultimately rested, and the frankness with which they owned how slowly they had passed from the literalism of the scribes to a true apprehension of the spiritual meaning of the prophecy in questi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO THE MULTITUDE. — St. Luke states that it was on the next day, the night having apparently been spent on the Mount of Transfiguration. The magic power of the art of Raffaelle has brought into vivid juxtaposition the contrast between the scene of glory above and that of trou... [ Continue Reading ]
LUNATICK. — See Note on Matthew 4:24. The other Gospels add some further touches. The boy had a “dumb spirit.” When the spirit seized him it “tore him,” and he foamed at the mouth, and gnashed with his teeth. Slowly, and as with difficulty, the paroxysm passed off, and the sufferer was wasting away... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY COULD NOT CURE HIM. — This, then, would seem to have been the subject-matter of debate. The scribes were taunting the disciples, who had probably trusted to their use of the wonted formula of their Master’s name, and were now wrangling in their own defence. Neither scribes nor disciples had tho... [ Continue Reading ]
O FAITHLESS AND PERVERSE GENERATION. — The words were obviously addressed both to the scribes and the disciples. Both had shown their want of the faith which utters itself in prayer to the Father; both were alike “perverse,” in finding in the misery brought before them only an occasion of wrangling... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS REBUKED THE DEVIL. — Better, _demon,_ as elsewhere in these cases of possession. THE CHILD WAS CURED. — Better, the _boy._ Mark 9:21 implies, as indeed the Greek does here, that the sufferer had passed beyond the age of childhood. St. Mark gives the words of the rebuke, “Thou dumb and deaf spi... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? — The question came obviously from the disciples who had been left below when our Lord went apart with Peter, James, and John, to the Mount of the Transfiguration. They did not even now see the reason of their failure. They had dealt with this case as they had dealt wi... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE OF YOUR UNBELIEF. — The various reading, “Because of your little faith,” found in many, but not the most authoritative MSS., is interesting as an example of a tendency to tone down the apparent severity of our Lord’s words. They show conclusively that the disciples themselves came under the... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS KIND GOETH NOT OUT BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING. — The words imply degrees in the intensity of the forms of evil ascribed to demons amounting to a generic difference. Some might yield before the energy of a human will, and the power of the divine Name, and the prayers even of a weak faith. Some, l... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE THEY ABODE IN GALILEE. — Better, _as they went to and fro._ The journeyings were apparently, like that to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21), unconnected with the work of His ministry. Our Lord was still, as before, taking His disciples apart by themselves, and training them by fulle... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WERE EXCEEDING SORRY. — St. Mark (Mark 9:32) and St. Luke (Luke 9:45) add that “they understood not the saying; it was hid from them, that they should not perceive it;” and that “they were afraid to ask Him.” Their sorrow was vague and dim, and they shrank from that which might make it more def... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT RECEIVED TRIBUTE MONEY. — The word for tribute here is _didrachma,_ and differs from that of Matthew 17:25; Matthew 22:17. The latter is the _census,_ or Roman poll-tax; the former was the Temple-rate, paid by every male Israelite above the age of twenty (Exodus 30:13; 2 Chronicles 24:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAITH, YES. — Peter’s answer was ready enough. There was no need for him to inquire further. His Master would pay it now as He had paid it before (this is clearly implied), as every devout Israelite would pay. Both the application and the answer suggest the thought that our Lord was looked upon a... [ Continue Reading ]
OF STRANGERS. — The answer must be looked at from the Eastern rather than the European theory of taxation. To the Jews, as to other Eastern nations, direct taxation was hateful as a sign of subjugation. It had roused them to revolt under Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:4), and they had stoned the officer who w... [ Continue Reading ]
LEST WE SHOULD OFFEND THEM. — Those who note the finer shades of language, can scarcely fail to trace in these words the tone of what we should describe in a human teacher as a half-playful, half-serious irony. When they were last at Capernaum, the disciples, Peter probably their spokesman (Matthew... [ Continue Reading ]