Verse 26
Lose his own soul - Or, lose his life, την ψυχην αυτου. On what authority many have translated the word ψυχη, in the 25th verse, life, and in this verse, soul, I know not, but am certain it means life in both places. If a man should gain the whole world, its riches, honors, and pleasures, and lose his life, what would all these profit him, seeing they can only be enjoyed during life? But if the words be applied to the soul, they show the difficulty - the necessity - and importance of salvation. The world, the devil, and a man's own heart are opposed to his salvation; therefore it is difficult. The soul was made for God, and can never be united to him, nor be happy, till saved from sin: therefore it is necessary. He who is saved from his sin, and united to God, possesses the utmost felicity that the human soul can enjoy, either in this or the coming world: therefore, this salvation is important. See also the note on [Luk 9:25] (note).
Verse 27
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father - This seems to refer to [Dan 7:13], [Dan 7:14]. "Behold, one like the Son of man came - to the ancient of Days - and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and languages should serve him." This was the glorious Mediatorial kingdom which Jesus Christ was now about to set up, by the destruction of the Jewish nation and polity, and the diffusion of his Gospel through the whole world. If the words be taken in this sense, the angels or messengers may signify the apostles and their successors in the sacred ministry, preaching the Gospel in the power of the Holy Ghost. It is very likely that the words do not apply to the final judgment, to which they are generally referred; but to the wonderful display of God's grace and power after the day of pentecost.
Verse 28
There be some - which shall not taste of death - This verse seems to confirm the above explanation, as our Lord evidently speaks of the establishment of the Christian Church after the day of pentecost, and its final triumph after the destruction of the Jewish polity; as if he had said, "Some of you, my disciples, shall continue to live until these things take place." The destruction of Jerusalem, and the Jewish economy, which our Lord here predicts, took place about forty-three years after this: and some of the persons now with him doubtless survived that period, and witnessed the extension of the Messiah's kingdom; and our Lord told them these things before, that when they came to pass they might be confirmed in the faith, and expect an exact fulfillment of all the other promises and prophecies which concerned the extension and support of the kingdom of Christ.
To his kingdom, or in his kingdom. Instead of βασιλεια, kingdom, four MSS., later Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Saxon, and one copy of the Itala, with several of the primitive fathers, read δοξη, glory: and to this is added, του πατρος αυτου, of his Father, by three MSS. and the versions mentioned before. This makes the passage a little more conformable to the passage already quoted from Daniel; and it must appear, very clearly, that the whole passage speaks not of a future judgment, but of the destruction of the Jewish polity, and the glorious spread of Christianity in the earth, by the preaching of Christ crucified by the apostles and their immediate successors in the Christian Church.
1. The disciples, by being constantly with their Master, were not only guarded against error, but were taught the whole truth: we should neglect no opportunity of waiting upon God; while Jesus continues to teach, our ear and heart should be open to receive his instructions. That what we have already received may be effectual, we must continue to hear and pray on. Let us beware of the error of the Pharisees! They minded only external performances, and those things by which they might acquire esteem and reputation among men; thus, humility and love, the very soul of religion, were neglected by them: they had their reward - the approbation of those who were as destitute of vital religion as themselves. Let us beware also of the error of the Sadducees, who, believing no other felicity but what depended on the good things of this world, became the flatterers and slaves of those who could bestow them, and so, like the Pharisees, had their portion only in this life. All false religions and false principles conduct to the same end, however contrary they appear to each other. No two sects could be more opposed to each other than the Sadducees and Pharisees, yet their doctrines lead to the same end - they are both wedded to this world, and separated from God in the next.
2. From the circumstance mentioned in the conclusion of this chapter, we may easily see the nature of the kingdom and reign of Christ: it is truly spiritual and Divine; having for its object the present holiness and future happiness of mankind. Worldly pomp, as well as worldly maxims, were to be excluded from it. Christianity forbids all worldly expectations, and promises blessedness to those alone who bear the cross, leading a life of mortification and self-denial. Jesus Christ has left us an example that we should follow his steps. How did he live? - What views did he entertain? - In what light did he view worldly pomp and splendor? These are questions which the most superficial reader may, without difficulty, answer to his immediate conviction. And has not Christ said that the disciple is not Above the Master? If He humbled himself, how can he look upon those who, professing faith in his name, are conformed to the world and mind earthly things? These disciples affect to be above their Lord; and as they neither bear his cross, nor follow him in the regeneration, they must look for another heaven than that in which he sits at the right hand of God. This is an awful subject; but how few of those called Christians lay it to heart!
3. The term Church in Greek εκκλησια, occurs for the first time in [Mat 16:18]. The word simply means an assembly or congregation, the nature of which is to be understood from connecting circumstances; for the word εκκλησια, as well as the terms congregation and assembly, may be applied to any concourse of people, good or bad; gathered together for lawful or unlawful purposes. Hence, it is used, [Act 19:32], for the mob, or confused rabble, gathered together against Paul, εκκλησια συγκεχυμενη, which the town-clerk distinguished, [Act 19:39], from a lawful assembly, εννομω εκκλεσια. The Greek word εκκλησια seems to be derived from εκκαλεω, to call out of, or from, i.e. an assembly gathered out of a multitude; and must have some other word joined to it, to determine its nature: viz. the Church of God; the congregation collected by God, and devoted to his service. The Church of Christ: the whole company of Christians wheresoever found; because, by the preaching of the Gospel, they are called out of the spirit and maxims of the world, to live according to the precepts of the Christian religion. This is sometimes called the Catholic or universal Church, because constituted of all the professors of Christianity in the world, to whatever sects or parties they may belong: and hence the absurdity of applying the term Catholic, which signifies universal, to that very small portion of it, the Church of Rome. In primitive times, before Christians had any stated buildings, they worshipped in private houses; the people that had been converted to God meeting together in some one dwelling-house of a fellow-convert, more convenient and capacious than the rest; hence the Church that was in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, [Rom 16:3], [Rom 16:5], and [1Cor 16:19], and the Church that was in the house of Nymphas, [Col 4:15]. Now, as these houses were dedicated to the worship of God, each was termed κυριου οικος kuriou oikos, the house of the Lord; which word, in process of time, became contracted into κυριοικ kurioik, and κυριακη, kuriake; and hence the kirk of our northern neighbors, and kirik of our Saxon ancestors, from which, by corruption, changing the hard Saxon c into ch, we have made the word church. This term, though it be generally used to signify the people worshipping in a particular place, yet by a metonymy, the container being put for the contained, we apply it, as it was originally, to the building which contains the worshipping people.
In the proper use of this word there can be no such thing as The church, exclusively; there may be A church, and the Churches, signifying a particular congregation, or the different assemblies of religious people: and hence, the Church of Rome, by applying it exclusively to itself, abuses the term, and acts as ridiculously as it does absurdly. Church is very properly defined in the 19th article of the Church of England, to be "a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments duly administered, according to Christ's ordinance."
Introduction
The transfiguration of Christ, [Mat 17:1-8]. Christ's discourse with his disciples on the subject, [Mat 17:9-13]. He heals a lunatic, [Mat 17:14-18]. His discourse with his disciples on this subject also, [Mat 17:19-21]. He foretells his own sufferings and death, [Mat 17:22], [Mat 17:23]. He is required to pay tribute at Capernaum, [Mat 17:24-26]; and provides the money by a miracle, [Mat 17:27].
Verse 1
After six days - [Mar 9:2], has the same number; but Luke says, [Luk 9:28], after eight days. The reason of this difference seems to be the following: Matthew and Mark reckon the days from that mentioned in the preceding chapter, to that mentioned in this; Luke includes both days, as well as the six intermediate: hence, the one makes eight, the other six, without any contradiction.
Peter, James, and John - He chose those that they might be witnesses of his transfiguration: two or three witnesses being required by the Scripture to substantiate any fact. Eminent communications of the Divine favor prepare for, and entitle to, great services and great conflicts. The same three were made witnesses of his agony in the garden, [Mat 26:37].
A high mountain - This was one of the mountains of Galilee; but whether Mount Tabor or not, is uncertain. Some think it was Mount Hermon. St. Luke says, Christ and his disciples went up into the mountain to pray, [Luk 9:28].
Verse 2
Was transfigured - That fullness of the Godhead, which dwelt bodily in Christ, now shone forth through the human nature, and manifested to his disciples not only that Divinity which Peter had before confessed, [Mat 16:16], but also the glorious resurrection body, in which they should exist in the presence of God to eternity.
White as the light - But the Cod. Bezae, some of the ancient versions, and several of the fathers, read ως χιων, as snow; and this is the reading in [Mar 9:3].
Verse 3
Moses and Elias - Elijah came from heaven in the same body which he had upon earth, for he was translated, and did not see death, [2Kgs 2:11]. And the body of Moses was probably raised again, as a pledge of the resurrection; and as Christ is to come to judge the quick and the dead, for we shall not all die, but all shall be changed, [1Cor 15:51], he probably gave the full representation of this in the person of Moses, who died, and was thus raised to life, (or appeared now as he shall appear when raised from the dead in the last day), and in the person of Elijah, who never tasted death. Both their bodies exhibit the same appearance, to show that the bodies of glorified saints are the same, whether the person had been translated, or whether he had died. It was a constant and prevalent tradition among the Jews, that both Moses and Elijah should appear in the times of the Messiah, and to this very tradition the disciples refer, [Mat 17:10].
We may conceive that the law in the person of Moses, the great Jewish legislator, and the prophets in the person of Elijah, the chief of the prophets, came now to do homage to Jesus Christ, and to render up their authority into his hands; as he was the End of the law, and the grand subject of the predictions of the prophets. This appears more particularly from what St. Luke says, [Luk 9:31], that Moses and Elijah conversed with our Lord on his death, which he was about to accomplish, (πληρουν to fulfill), because in it, all the rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices of the law, as well as the predictions of the prophets, were fulfilled.
Verse 4
Peter said - let us make, etc. - That is, when he saw Moses and Elijah ready to depart from the mount, [Luk 9:33], he wished to detain them, that he might always enjoy their company with that of his Lord and Master, still supposing that Christ would set up a temporal kingdom upon earth.
Verse 5
A bright cloud overshadowed them - Or as six MSS. and Ephraim read it, a cloud of light, νεφελη φωτος; which reading Griesbach has admitted into the text. As a bright cloud, or a cloud of light could not overshadow, or cast any kind of shade, the word επεσκιασεν should be translated, surrounded them. A cloud was frequently the symbol of the Divine presence; but such a cloud had always something very remarkable in its appearance. Ezekiel, [Eze 1:4], represents it as a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself, and a brightness about it, and out of the midst thereof, as the color of amber out of the midst of the fire; and in [Eze 1:28], he tells us that this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. See also [Exo 16:10]; [Exo 40:33], etc.; [Eze 43:2], and [1Chr 5:14]. But it was generally in a thick, dark cloud, that God manifested himself under the law; see [Exo 19:9]; [Exo 20:21]. This might be designed as emblematical of the old covenant, which was but the shadow of the good things which were to come, [Heb 10:1]; and the cloud of light mentioned here, the emblem of that glorious display of God, in his Gospel, by which life and immortality were brought to light, [2Tim 1:10].
This is my beloved Son - Ουτος εϚιν ο υιος μου ο αγαπητος, εν ω ευδοκησα, This is my Son, the beloved one, in who I have delighted, or, been well pleased. God adds his testimony of approbation to what was spoken of the sufferings of Christ by Moses and Elijah; thus showing that the sacrificial economy of the old covenant was in itself of no worth, but as it referred to the grand atonement which Jesus was about to make; therefore he says, In him Have I delighted, (ευδοκησα), intimating that it was in him alone, as typified by those sacrifices, that he Had delighted through the whole course of the legal administration; and that it was only in reference to the death of his Son that he accepted the offerings and oblations made to him under the old covenant. Hear Him. The disciples wished to detain Moses and Elijah that they might hear them: but God shows that the law which had been in force, and the prophets which had prophesied, until now, must all give place to Jesus; and he alone must now be attended to, as the way, the truth, and the life; for no man could now come unto the Father but through him. This voice seems also to refer to that prediction in [Deu 18:15]. The Lord shall raise up a Prophet like unto me: Him Shall Ye Hear. Go no more to the law, nor to the prophets, to seek for a coming Messiah; for behold he Is come! Hear and obey him, and him only.
This transfiguration must have greatly confirmed the disciples in the belief of a future state, and in the doctrine of the resurrection; they saw Moses and Elijah still Existing, though the former had been gathered to his fathers upwards of 1400 years, and the latter had been translated nearly 900.
Verse 6
Fell on their face - Dismayed by the voice, and dazzled by the glory of the cloud. So Daniel, [Dan 8:17], and Saul of Tarsus, [Act 9:4].
Verse 7
Jesus came and touched them - Exactly parallel to this account is [Dan 8:18], I was in a deep sleep, i.e. (a trance) on my face towards the ground; but he Touched me, and set me upright. From Jesus alone are we to expect Divine communications, and by his power only are we able to bear and improve them. It is very likely that this transfiguration took place in the night, which was a more proper season to show forth its glory than the day time, in which a part of the splendor must necessarily be lost by the presence of the solar light. Besides, St. Luke, [Luk 9:37], expressly says, that it was on the next day after the transfiguration that our Lord came down from the mount.
Verse 9
Tell the vision to no man - See the note on [Mat 16:20]; and farther observe, that as this transfiguration was intended to show forth the final abolition of the whole ceremonial law, it was necessary that a matter which could not fail to irritate the Jewish rulers and people should be kept secret, till Jesus had accomplished vision and prophecy by his death and resurrection.
The whole of this emblematic transaction appears to me to be intended to prove, 1st. The reality of the world of spirits, and the immortality of the soul. 2dly. The resurrection of the body, and the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, see [Mat 16:27]. 3dly. The abolition of the Mosaic institutions, and, the fulfillment of the predictions of the prophets relative to the person, nature, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 4thly. The establishment of the mild, light-bringing, and life-giving Gospel of the Son of God. And 5thly. That as the old Jewish covenant and Mediatorship had ended, Jesus was now to be considered as the sole Teacher, the only availing offering for sin, and the grand Mediator between God and man.
There are many very useful remarks on this transaction, by the late venerable Bp. Porteus.
Verse 10
His disciples - instead of His disciples, some MSS., with the Coptic, Armenian, Vulgate, all the Itala except two, and Origen, read simply, οι μαθηται, The disciples, i.e. those only who had been with him on the mount, Peter, James, and John.
Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? - As the disciples saw that Elijah returned to heaven, knowing the tradition of the elders, and the prophecy on which the tradition was founded, [Mal 4:5], [Mal 4:6], Behold I send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come; and he shall turn the hearts, etc., it was natural enough for them to inquire what the meaning of the tradition, and the intention of the prophecy, were.
Verse 11
Elias - shall first come, and restore all things - Or will reform, αποκαταστησει; this word our Lord quotes from the Septuagint; who render the Hebrew והשוב לב אבות על בנים vehesheb leb aboth al banim, he will cause the heart of the fathers to turn to the children, by, ος αποκαταστησει καρδιαν πατρος προς υιον, who will convert, or restore, the heart of the father to the son. We are not therefore to understand the version of the Septuagint quoted by our Lord in any other sense than the Hebrew will allow. No fanciful restoration of all men, devils and damned spirits, is spoken of as either being done, or begun, by the ministry of John; but merely that he should preach a doctrine tending to universal reformation of manners, and should be greatly successful: see [Mat 3:1-7], and especially [Luk 3:3-15], where we find that a general reformation had taken place,
1. among the common people;
2. among the tax-gatherers; and
3. among the soldiers.