THE Transfiguration places us on "the summitlevel" of our Lord's earthly life. Its teaching is of such momentous import for the right understanding of His true Nature, that, no less than the Resurrection, its credibility has been assailed by hostile critics. It has, however, been providentially ordered that, in addition to the triple record of the s. Matt. Evangelists in its proper place of history, it should S. Luke have been further corroborated by independent ix. 28. allusions in the writings of those who were eyewitnesses of the scene. The three selected by our xvii I. VOL. II. A S. John i. 14. 2 S. Pet. i. 17, 18. S. Cyril, Catech. xii. 6. Lord to be with Him were "the chosen out of the chosen," to whom was vouchsafed the honour of the closest companionship in the greatest crises of His life. They were destined, He knew, to be present at the Agony, and in His tender forethought He prepared them for the trial, strengthening their faith by a vision of preternatural glory first, that its remembrance might bear them up when they should see "His face marred more than the sons of men." It made such an indelible impression upon their memories that two of them spoke of it long afterwards, one, in the sublime prologue of his Gospel : "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father;" the other, in the Epistle that he wrote just preceding his death, "He received from God the Father honour 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. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount." What the mountain was we would gladly know for certain ; but its name has not been preserved in the Sacred History, and careful consideration shows that tradition is wholly untrustworthy, notwithstanding its age and unanimity. Even as early as the fourth century it was assumed to be Mount Tabor. Pious |