THE Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up "into an high mountain apart" (17:1) and was there transfigured before them. It goes on to say that after they saw Jesus talking to Moses and Elias, Peter proposed making three tabernacles, one for his Master, one for Moses, and one for Elias. At that moment "a bright cloud overshadowed them," and a voice out of the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."
The disciples had witnessed a demonstration that transcended all known human experience. In that spiritualized state of consciousness in which Jesus talked to Moses and Elias, there was no dividing line. Both Moses and Elias recognized Jesus as the Saviour, who was about to vanquish death. There was no hint of time, no sense of centuries having intervened between them.
What comfort to some sorrowing heart lies in this great experience of Jesus! As the element of time was wiped out for Jesus, Moses, and Elias, may we not expect that it will be eliminated for us and for our loved ones who seem to have gone before us? Sometimes those of us whose dear ones have passed beyond the veil ask whether when we meet them we shall recognize them or be recognized by them, or whether they will have gone far beyond us in the understanding of God. Paul in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians gives this comforting message: "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not." And he goes on to say, "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain . . . shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (4:13, 15, 17).
