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7. The Sun Scatters the Thick Clouds
Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, Christ ascended to God His father and took the rightful glory, which He had laid aside when, for our sakes, He became man.
Shortly before His crucifixion He took three of His disciples aside and climbed the lofty mount Hermon. He wanted to reveal to them the splendor of His eternal glory and show them the majesty of His timeless essence. It was to confirm them in faith and ensure their steadfastness, when the hour of temptation and desertion would come. Therefore, He laid bare His veiled glory so that they would not be distressed or doubt His divinity.
The twelve disciples of Jesus were young men from humble families; six were fishermen. They had publicly confessed their sins before God in the wilderness and had been baptized by John in the Jordan for repentance.
When the disciples heard about Jesus from John, that He was the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world, some of them left their ascetic master at once to follow Him. They began to appreciate the force of His love in the light of His words and deeds. However, the brightness of His glory was veiled from their eyes until He revealed it to His three disciples on the high mountain peak.
Jesus forbade His chosen followers to discuss His transfiguration until after His ascension to His Father, because the understanding of His glory does not come by logic or by philosophy, but is perceived by faith after complete surrender to Him. Study the account of Christ’s transfiguration so that you may realize how Jesus is alive today, and see the glory of the Risen One from the dead and the power of His endless rule.
Jesus’ face shone as the sun, and His original glory showed through. His disciples then realized He was no ordinary person, but indeed the Light of the world in bodily shape: the Son of the most high God. “Light of light, true God of true God, begotten not created, of the same substance with the Father.” When this truth struck them, they dropped to the ground as dead, because their human frame could not endure the glory of God. Then Jesus got them up and commanded them not to fear.
After Jesus died and rose from the tomb and ascended in glory to His Father, hell was angered. The evil one took revenge on the followers of Jesus through the fanatical religious zealot Saul. In the name of God, he started to persecute the believers in Christ. Using the utmost cruelty, he forced them to renounce their faith. Those who held on to their faith were condemned to death. Because of his zeal the Religious Council in Jerusalem granted Saul special powers to confiscate their property and authority to persecute and condemn the Christians in Damascus.
As Saul was approaching Damascus, the Lord Jesus stopped him on the way and showed His glory to the pious fanatic. In an instant He revealed to him that the crucified one, whom he was persecuting, was alive. He had not remained in the grave, and though rejected by His own people He was in truth the Light of the world.
When you look into the apostle Paul’s testimony closely, you will understand how the living Lord, even in our own day, is meeting individuals, purifying, filling and sending them to the nations to spread His light to those living in darkness. This is how Paul (formerly Saul) described the appearance of Christ to him, when he was defending himself before king Agrippa:
This historic event shows us clearly that zeal and fanaticism for one’s religion does not justify a man, but the mercy of Jesus the Redeemer is what saves sinners and sanctifies their hearts alone.
Christ in His majesty did not destroy Saul, the persecutor of His Church. On the contrary, He had pity on him and spoke to him personally. He forgave his sins and set him free by His grace. He made plain to him that Jesus and the members of His church are in complete union forever. For Christ suffers when members of His church are persecuted, as though He suffered personally. His love shines through them and His Spirit possesses their life. This truth, namely the unity of Christ and His church, was the secret, which penetrated the mind of Paul the Apostle. It became the new message in his preaching.
When the number of Christians increased and multiplied, Satan tried to wipe out the church for good. During this wave of persecution John, the beloved disciple, was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. He was left to perish there of hunger and thirst. At the same time many of the believers in Christ were seized, tortured and killed.
The Lord Jesus stood over His servant John while praying alone, revealing Himself to him and assuring him that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church because He was her living Lord. John recorded his unique experience as follows:
Jesus Christ is alive and all power in heaven and earth has been committed into His hands. His face shines as the sun in its glory. The rays of His holiness shine and illuminate the life of all His saints, even the one falling to the ground overwhelmed by a sense of judgment. Christ is love and life and does not desire the death of the sinner, rather that he should repent, and by his prayers, words and deeds carry the heavenly light to other people. Thus, Jesus saved John from death and placed him on his feet to live and to witness the true glory of Jesus.
Dear Reader, if you study the birth of Jesus Christ, and His life, death and resurrection and realize that He is alive in heaven in His eternal majesty, then you will understand the meaning of Jesus’ words: “I am the light of the world.” His infinite greatness is stronger than any worldly authority or majesty, and he who believes in Christ, His death and resurrection will be filled with the peace of God. The living Christ imparts heavenly peace to everyone who believes in Him.