From 13:53 to 17:8 the record of the Gospel of Matthew portrays the way to follow the heavenly King, from His rejection to the entering in of the manifestation of the kingdom. His followers not only shared His rejection by the Jews (Matt. 13:53-58), but were also persecuted and even martyred by Gentile politics (Matt. 14:1-12). Therefore, they were in the desert with Him in a situation of poverty, yet they were richly cared for by Him (Matt. 14:13-21). When they were on the stormy sea under the contrary wind, He walked on the sea, calmed the storm, and brought them through (Matt. 14:22-34). At that point, many sick ones were healed by touching Him (Matt. 14:35-36), but the hypocritical worshippers of God came to accuse Him because His followers transgressed their tradition (Matt. 15:1-20). Then His disciples followed Him through Gentile country, where a demon-possessed Gentile was healed (Matt. 15:21-28). After this, they followed Him along the sea of Galilee and up the mountain, where those with all kinds of sicknesses were healed and the need of His followers in the crowd was again richly provided for in a barren desert (Matt. 15:29-39). Following this, both the fundamentalists and modernists of that day came to tempt Him, and He indicated that He would die to be a unique sign to them (Matt. 16:1-4). Then He charged His followers to beware of the leaven of both the fundamentalists and modernists (Matt. 16:5-12). After all this, He brought His followers to the border of the holy land, close to Gentile country, that they might have a revelation of Him, of the church, and of the cross as the way for them to enter into the kingdom (Matt. 16:13-28). Finally, He brought them into glory in the manifestation of the kingdom (Matt. 17:1-8). In this message we shall see that the Lord’s transfiguration was a miniature of the kingdom (1Matt. 6:28; 17:1-13).
If we compare all the things mentioned above with our experience, we shall see that our way today is exactly the same as that revealed in 13:53—17:8. On the pathway to glory we face rejection, the storm, and the accusations. We experience the eating, we beware of leaven, and we have a revelation of Christ and the church. Furthermore, we take the way of the cross and deny the self and the soul-life. These are the steps along the pathway to glory.
Matthew 13:53—17:8 is a marvelous doctrinal section. Thirty-four years ago, I gave a message on this portion of the Word in Shanghai. I had just arrived there as a newcomer in the work with Brother Nee. I was asked to give the message one Sunday morning. Then I received the burden to minister on the subject of the pathway to glory. I asked the congregation to read more than three chapters of Matthew, from the end of chapter thirteen to the first part of chapter seventeen. Then I gave a long message on these chapters. Nearly all the points in that message were the same as those covered in these messages on the pathway to glory. Although I had not yet seen the matter of eating, the structure of the message was the same as that of these messages. How wonderful it is to be on the pathway to glory! I can testify that during the past forty-four years I have taken every step of this pathway. I have experienced rejection, the lack of material necessities, the storms, and the accusations. Moreover, I have seen the revelation concerning Christ and the church. Because I have been walking this pathway for such a long time, in a sense I have already entered into glory. Others of us are either in the glory or are very close to it. Although some of us may be in the glory, we are still on the pathway to a greater degree of glory. We all need to keep walking on this pathway until the Lord comes back.
Matthew 16:28 says, “Truly I say to you, There are some of those standing here who shall by no means taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” This was fulfilled by the Lord’s transfiguration on the mountain (17:1-2). His transfiguration was His coming in His kingdom, which was seen by three of His disciples, Peter, James, and John.
Matthew 17:1 says, “And after six days Jesus takes with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brings them up into a high mountain apart.” Since the Lord’s transfiguration transpired six days after the revelations concerning Christ and the church in chapter sixteen (given at the very foot of Mount Hermon), the high mountain here must be Mount Hermon. To receive the revelation concerning Christ and the church we must be far away from the religious environment; but to see the vision of the transfigured Christ we need to be on a high mountain, far above the earthly level.
Verse 2 says, “And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light.” Not many Christians realize that Christ’s transfiguration was His coming in His kingdom. In the past we pointed out that the Lord’s coming will not take place suddenly; rather, it will come gradually. In a sense, the Lord will come back from heaven; but in another sense, He will come out of us. When He fully lives Himself out of us, that will be the time of His coming. According to Matthew 17:1 with 16:28, His coming was His transfiguration, and His transfiguration was His glorification. When He was transfigured, He was glorified.
Now we must see what it means to be glorified. When Christ, who is God, became a man, His divinity was incarnated in His humanity. He was a unique person, one possessing both divinity and humanity. His divinity was concealed within His humanity. Outwardly, He was a man, but inwardly He was the very God. God was hidden, contained, concealed, within this man. Glory is God manifested, God expressed. It is nothing other than God Himself manifested and seen by man. The God hidden within the humanity of Jesus was the very glory. Thus, the glorious divine element was concealed within the human element of Jesus. As He walked on earth, no one could see His glorious divinity. Many saw the miracles and realized that He was someone extraordinary, but prior to His transfiguration no one had ever seen the glory concealed within Him. Then one day He brought three of His most intimate disciples to a high mountain, and was there transfigured before them. For the Lord Jesus to be transfigured meant that His humanity was saturated and permeated with His divinity. We may say that His humanity was soaked with divinity. This transfiguration, which was His glorification, was equal to His coming in His kingdom. This indicates that Christ’s coming in His kingdom is linked with His transfiguration. Where His transfiguration is, there the coming of the kingdom is also. The coming of the kingdom is the Lord’s glorification, His transfiguration; and His glorification is the saturation of His humanity by His divinity. This is the meaning of transfiguration. Because the Lord has been transfigured, He is now in glory.
In Christ’s transfiguration, His humanity was glorified; it was brought into God’s glory. Before that time, God was in Him, but His humanity was not in God’s glory. In His transfiguration His humanity was thoroughly saturated with His glorious divinity. In the coming manifestation of the kingdom, Christ will be like this. He will be the very Christ with both divinity and humanity, but His humanity will be soaked with His divinity.
The day is coming when we shall not only see this, but also experience it ourselves. We now have the divine life with the divine nature within us. However, we still have our natural humanity. No matter how spiritual and holy we may be, our humanity is still natural. It has not yet been saturated with the divine glory. But at the time of the manifestation of the kingdom, our humanity will be glorified by the glorious divinity within us.
Perhaps the opposers will label this evolution into God. But this is not evolution into God — it is glorification. The opposers need to read Romans 8:30: “And whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” I would like to ask the opposers what they think it means to be glorified. Do they think that to be glorified is merely to enter the realm of glory? This is a very superficial understanding of glorification. To be glorified is to be saturated with God’s glory. It is to be transfigured, not from without, but from within. One day we shall be a great surprise to the unbelievers. Second Thessalonians 1:10 says, “When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” The unbelievers will be shocked by our glorification. Because in our humanity we are the same as the unbelievers, they can see no difference between us and them. But the day is coming when they will see a glorious difference, for our humanity will be saturated with divinity, and we shall become a glorious people. We shall not just be spiritual, holy, pure, and clean. We shall be glorious. This is the coming of the kingdom. We are waiting for this to take place.
Verse 3 says, “And behold, Moses and Elijah were seen by them, conversing with Him.” Moses and Elijah represent the Old Testament overcomers who will be in the manifestation of the kingdom. They both appeared in the coming of the kingdom, that is, they were present in the manifestation of the kingdom.
In this miniature of the manifestation of the kingdom we have not only the Old Testament overcomers, but also New Testament overcomers, represented by Peter, James, and John. In this manifestation we have a glimpse of the full manifestation of the kingdom in the future.
Moses died, and God hid his body (Deut. 34:5-6); and Elijah was taken by God into heaven (2 Kings 2:11). God purposely did these two things so that Moses and Elijah might appear with Christ on the mount of His transfiguration. They were also preserved by God to be the two witnesses in the great tribulation (Rev. 11:3-4). Moses represents the law, and Elijah, the prophets. The law and the prophets were the constituents of the Old Testament as a full testimony of Christ (John 5:39). Now Moses and Elijah appeared to converse with Christ concerning His death (Luke 9:31) according to the Old Testament (Luke 24:25-27, 44; 1 Cor. 15:3).
We have pointed out that God hid Moses’ body and that Elijah was taken to heaven. However, Elijah was not taken to the third heaven. Acts 2:34 indicates that apart from Christ no one has ascended into heaven. Thus, Elijah was not in the third heaven. God hid Moses’ body and He kept Elijah until the day of Christ’s transfiguration. When Christ was transfigured, these two appeared with Him.
In verse 4 Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” This indicates that Peter recognized Moses and Elijah. Perhaps you are wondering how Peter was able to recognize them. In the Lord’s conversation with Moses and Elijah there must have been some indication of their identity that made it possible for Peter to recognize them. Peter might have said, “This is Moses and this is Elijah! How happy I am to see you! Oh, it is wonderful to be here!”
In his excitement Peter made the absurd proposal that he make three tabernacles, one for the Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. The effect of Peter’s absurd proposal was to put Moses and Elijah on the same level with Christ, which means to make the law and the prophets, represented by Moses and Elijah, equal to Christ. This was absolutely against God’s economy. In God’s economy the law and the prophets were only a testimony to Christ; they should not be put on the same level with Him.
Verse 5 says, “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I delight; hear Him!” This declaration of the Father to vindicate the Son was given firstly after Christ’s rising from baptism, which signified His resurrection from the dead. This is the second time the Father declared the same thing, this time to vindicate the Son in His transfiguration, which prefigures the coming kingdom. In God’s economy, after Christ came, we should hear Him, no longer the law or the prophets, since the law and the prophets were all fulfilled in Christ and by Christ.
When the disciples heard the voice out of the cloud, “they fell on their face and feared exceedingly” (v. 6). After the Lord Jesus came to them, touched them, and told them to arise and not to fear, they lifted up their eyes and “saw no one except Jesus Himself alone” (v. 8). Peter proposed to rank Moses and Elijah, that is, the law and the prophets, with Christ, but God took Moses and Elijah away, leaving no one except Jesus Himself alone. The law and the prophets were shadows and prophecies, not the reality, which is Christ. Now that Christ is here, the shadows and prophecies are no longer needed. No one except Jesus Himself alone should remain in the New Testament. Jesus is today’s Moses, imparting the law of life into His believers. He is also today’s Elijah, speaking for God and speaking forth God within His believers. This is God’s New Testament economy.
God took Moses and Elijah away because He would not tolerate seeing His children rank anyone on the same level as His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, when the disciples saw the Lord Jesus, they saw no one except Him alone. This was a lesson to them. In the kingdom God will not allow the law or the prophets to be held equal to Christ. Since the kingdom has come, there should be nothing but Christ.
In God’s economy today Christ is the living lawgiver, the One who has imparted Himself into our being as the Giver of the law of life. Thus, Christ is our real Moses, who was a type, a shadow of Christ. The law Moses gave was not the real law; rather, it was the law of dead letters. The real law is the law of life, which only Christ can give us. Because He has given us the law of life, He is the real lawgiver. Furthermore, in God’s economy Christ is the real prophet. Elijah also was a type, a shadow, of Christ, who is the true prophet (Acts 3:22). Christ is within us not only to impart the law of life into our being, but also to speak for God. Christ speaks forth God. Because we have Christ as the real Moses and the real Elijah, we do not need any other Moses or Elijah in God’s New Testament economy.
As we await the coming of the kingdom, we must learn not to rank Moses, Elijah, or anyone else on the same level as Christ. Instead, we need to learn to experience Christ as our Moses and Elijah. He is the One imparting the law of life into us. In other words, as our present, real, subjective Moses He is regulating us from within. Moreover, He is also our present and subjective Elijah, constantly speaking for God and speaking forth God within us. We must listen to Him.
After the Lord had been transfigured before the disciples, Peter might have felt both happy and sorrowful. He might have felt sad about being rebuked. It was a serious matter to be rebuked in such a glorious situation. While everyone was having an enjoyable time, Peter spoke nonsense, and he was rebuked for it. Perhaps James and John said to him, “Peter, you are always doing things like this. Perhaps by now you have learned your lesson. When we were having a good time with the Lord Jesus on the mountain, you spoke nonsense, and you were rebuked. But, Peter, we shared the shock of this with you. We would not have been shocked, if you had not been shocked first. But please don’t do that again.”
Verse 9 says, “And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man is raised from among the dead.” The vision of the transfigured, glorified Jesus cannot be realized by anyone except in the resurrection of Christ. Here we see the principle that the manifestation of the kingdom can be revealed only in resurrection. Anyone who is not in resurrection is not qualified to see it. If we believe in resurrection and live in resurrection, we shall be in glory, even though the manifestation of the kingdom has not yet come. When we live and walk in resurrection, we have the sense that we are in glory and that we can see the glorious manifestation of the kingdom. Thus, the manifestation of the kingdom can be revealed only to those in resurrection. For this reason, the Lord Jesus charged the disciples not to talk about His coming in His kingdom.
In verse 10 the Lord’s disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” The matter of Elijah coming first is according to Malachi 4:5-6. In verse 11 the Lord replied, “Elijah indeed is coming and will restore all things.” This will be fulfilled at the time of the great tribulation, when Elijah will be one of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:3-4), as prophesied in Malachi 4:5-6. In verse 12 the Lord continued, “But I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished; thus also the Son of Man is about to suffer by them.” This refers to John the Baptist (v. 13), who came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:13-17) and was rejected (11:18) and beheaded (14:3-12).
The disciples had a theological problem. They seemed to be saying to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, Your kingdom has come, and we have seen it. But the scribes told us that Elijah would appear before the coming of the kingdom. We saw You coming in Your kingdom, but Elijah has not appeared. How can this be?” The disciples were bothered because they had some knowledge of scriptural doctrines. If I had been one of them, I would have asked the same thing. In contrast to Peter’s nonsensical proposal on the mountain, the disciples’ question was logical. Often when we are in a glorious situation, we do nonsensical things. But after we become clear and sober, we are very logical.
The Lord Jesus told the disciples that Elijah would come and restore all things (v. 11). This word indicates that the coming of the kingdom was not yet in full. In the future there will be a full manifestation of the kingdom. Before this, Elijah will come. On the one hand, Elijah has come; but on the other hand, he has not yet come in full. John the Baptist was Elijah, but he was not Elijah in full. The full coming of Elijah will take place in the future. The Elijah who had already come was rejected and killed. The disciples understood that the Lord was speaking of John the Baptist. Just as the transfiguration of Christ was the coming of the kingdom, but not in full, so the coming of John the Baptist was the coming of Elijah, but not his coming in full. Before the full coming of the kingdom, Elijah will come in full.
In the Bible the fulfillment of prophecy is often like this. First there is a partial fulfillment, then the complete fulfillment. The same is true in principle with our experience of being in glory. During the past years, I have experienced being in glory, but this experience was not in full. At the time of the full manifestation of the kingdom of Christ, we shall all enter fully into glory. But today we see in Christ’s transfiguration a miniature of the coming manifestation of the kingdom. The miniature assures us that the full manifestation will come.
