Mark 9:1-10 And he said to them, Truly I say to you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death… To what may we compare this wonderful change? Suppose you have before you the bulbous root of the lily plant. You look at it carefully, but there is nothing attractive about it. How rough and unsightly it appears! You close your eyes upon it for a brief space. You open them again. But what a change has taken place! That plain, homely-looking bulb has disappeared, and in its place there stands before you the lily plant. It has reached its mature growth. Its flower is fully developed, and blooming in all its matchless beauty! What a marvellous change that would be! And yet it would be but a feeble illustration of the more wonderful change that took place in our Saviour at His transfiguration. Here is another illustration. Suppose we are looking at the western sky, towards the close of day. Great masses of dark clouds are covering all that part of the heavens. They are but common clouds. There is nothing attractive or interesting about them. We do not care to take a second look at them. We turn from them for a little while, and then look at them again. In the meantime the setting sun has thrown his glorious beams upon them. How changed they now appear! All that was common place and unattractive about them is gone. How they glow and sparkle! Gold, and purple, and all the colours of the rainbow are blending, how beautifully, there! Are these the same dull clouds that we looked upon a few moments before? Yes; but they have been transfigured. A wonderful change has come over them. And here we have an illustration of our Lord's Transfiguration. The first wonder about this incident in His life is the wonderful change which took place in His appearance then. (Dr. Newton.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. |
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