The Life Of Jesus Christ In Its Historical Connexion

Six days [502] after the conversation in which Christ first unfolded to the Apostles the sufferings and the fate that awaited him, he took Peter, James, and John up into a mountain apart, and was transfigured before them.

The Transfiguration may be considered either (1) as an objective fact, a real communication with the world of spirits; or (2) as a subjective psychological phenomenon. The account of Luke bears indubitable marks of originality and historical truth; the attempts that have been made to resolve it into a mythical narrative are absurd But it certainly appears to favour the second view above stated rather than the first.

If we adopt the first view, and assume that the narrative is intended to relate an objective fact, it affords us a partial exhibition of the intercourse of Christ. himself with the world of spirits. It could not have been intended merely for the Apostles to witness; for, during its progress, they were "heavy with sleep," and, therefore, unfit to apprehend it, or to transmit an account of it as matter of fact. We cannot, however, deny the possibility of such an occurrence, and of some unknown object for it, in the connexion of a history which is entirely out of the ordinary course of events. Once admitting the event as such, all that we should have to do would be to confess our ignorance, instead of losing ourselves in arbitrary hypotheses and speculative dreams.

But, on the other hand, by following the indications given in Luke, we may arrive at the following view of the narrative: Jesus retired in the evening with three of his dearest disciples, apart, into a mountain, [503] to pray in their presence. We may readily imagine that his prayer referred to the subjects on which he had spoken so largely with the disciples on the preceding days, viz., the coming developement of his kingdom, and the conflicts he was to enter into at Jerusalem in its behalf. They were deeply impressed by his prayer; his countenance beamed with radiance, and he appeared to them glorified and transfigured with celestial light. At last, worn out with fatigue, they fell asleep; and the impressions of the Saviour's prayer and of their conversation with him were reflected in a vision [504] thus: Beside Him, who was the end of the Law and the Prophets, appeared Moses and Elias in celestial splendour; for the glory that streamed forth from Him was reflected back upon the Law, and the Prophets foretold the fate that awaited him at Jerusalem. In the mean time they awoke, and, in a half-waking condition, [505] saw and heard what followed. Viewed in this light, the most striking feature of the event is the deep impression which Christ's words had made upon them, and the conflict between the new views thus received and their old ideas, showing itself thus while they were in a state of unconsciousness.

Still the difficulty remains, that the phenomena, if simply psychological, should have appeared to all the three Apostles precisely in the same form. It is, perhaps, not improbable, that the account came from the lips of Peter, who is the prominent figure in the narrative. [506]

The disciples did not, at first, dwell upon this phenomenon. The turn of Christ's conversations with them, and the pressure of events, withdrew their attention from it until after the resurrection, when, as the several traits of their later intercourse with Christ were brought to mind, this transfiguration was vividly recalled, and assigned to its proper connexion in the epoch which preceded and prepared the way for the sufferings of the Saviour. [507]