IN the gospels we are told that on at least two occasions the divine Spirit testified to Jesus' spiritual sonship, the first occasion being at his baptism by John in the Jordan. We are also told that at the transfiguration this again occurred in a way which is most significant. It would seem that Peter, James, and John were advancing spiritually, so that they were able to see for a few brief moments a vision of reality, of eternal being, when Moses and Elias talked with their Master,—when at the midnight hour they were almost dazzled by the light which came not from sun, moon, or stars. We shall be helped to understand this experience better if we ponder these words by our Leader on page 266 of Science and Health: "Man is the idea of Spirit; he reflects the beatific presence, illuming the universe with light. Man is deathless, spiritual. ... He does not cross the barriers of time into the vast forever of Life, but he coexists with God and the universe."
It is self-evident that only one who was "without sin," and who never accepted "the belief that all must die" (Science and Health, p. 75), could have made this vision possible to students whom he was leading in the way of Life. It is little wonder that Peter was emboldened to beg that the experience might remain with them when he proposed that they make "three tabernacles," one for Moses, one for Elias, and one for their Master; but even as he spoke the answer came, and its meaning reaches beyond that hour and speaks to us today. A voice far other than that of mortal said to them: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." Moses had nobly led his people out of Egyptian slavery, and taught them spiritual truths so far as he understood them and so far as they were ready and willing to follow. At a later day, the people rejected Jesus' teachings and were enraged at the healing of a man blind from his birth, saying: "We are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses." They seemed to have forgotten that Moses told them of the healing power of divine Truth, and spoke of their fathers as "a stiff-necked people."
In the case of Elias we have one who according to Scripture triumphed over death and taught others how death should be set aside by the spiritual fact, as in the case of the Shunammite woman's child; but it does not seem that many received the truth at that early day, doubtless for the reason that this great prophet had only a partial view of Truth. His "glorious glimpses" (Science and Health, p. 333) meant much for the human race, however, and helped to make possible a fuller manifestation through the advent of Jesus of Nazareth, also through the coming of Christian Science, the "Comforter" which the Master foretold. With strange inconsistency mortals stone their prophets, and later seek to deify them while disregarding the very things for which they gave their lives. It is quite possible that Peter, James, and John felt the authority of Moses and Elias to be greater than that of their loved Master, but they had to learn that God was speaking to their age through Christ Jesus, who understood as no one had ever done what divine sonship means, and who was therefore best prepared to lift others up to the realization of this spiritual ideal until they could say, in St. John's words, "Now are we the sons of God."
