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The Desire of Ages
pass slowly by. At first the disciples unite their prayers with His in
sincere devotion; but after a time they are overcome with weariness,
and, even while trying to retain their interest in the scene, they fall
asleep. Jesus has told them of His sufferings; He has taken them with
Him that they might unite with Him in prayer; even now He is praying
for them. The Saviour has seen the gloom of His disciples, and has
longed to lighten their grief by an assurance that their faith has not
been in vain. Not all, even of the twelve, can receive the revelation
He desires to give. Only the three who are to witness His anguish in
Gethsemane have been chosen to be with Him on the mount. Now the
burden of His prayer is that they may be given a manifestation
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of the glory He had with the Father before the world was, that His
kingdom may be revealed to human eyes, and that His disciples may
be strengthened to behold it. He pleads that they may witness a man-
ifestation of His divinity that will comfort them in the hour of His
supreme agony with the knowledge that He is of a surety the Son of
God and that His shameful death is a part of the plan of redemption.
His prayer is heard. While He is bowed in lowliness upon the stony
ground, suddenly the heavens open, the golden gates of the city of
God are thrown wide, and holy radiance descends upon the mount,
enshrouding the Saviour’s form. Divinity from within flashes through
humanity, and meets the glory coming from above. Arising from His
prostrate position, Christ stands in godlike majesty. The soul agony is
gone. His countenance now shines “as the sun,” and His garments are
“white as the light.”
The disciples, awaking, behold the flood of glory that illuminates
the mount. In fear and amazement they gaze upon the radiant form of
their Master. As they become able to endure the wondrous light, they
see that Jesus is not alone. Beside Him are two heavenly beings, in
close converse with Him. They are Moses, who upon Sinai had talked
with God; and Elijah, to whom the high privilege was given—granted
to but one other of the sons of Adam—never to come under the power
of death.
Upon Mount Pisgah fifteen centuries before, Moses had stood
gazing upon the Land of Promise. But because of his sin at Meribah,
it was not for him to enter there. Not for him was the joy of leading
the host of Israel into the inheritance of their fathers. His agonized
entreaty, “I pray Thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is