“JESUS HIMSELF ALONE” Matthew 17:1-8
Transfiguration
A wonderful scene is set before us in our Gospel and our text this morning, the story of the Transfiguration of our Lord. But at the end of the description there’s a remark that at first glance might sound a little disappointing. When the glory had passed and the Heavenly friends of Christ had withdrawn and the voice from Heaven was silent, the Disciples seem to revive abruptly and come back to reality, and, “They saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.”Back to reality; gone the celestial glory! Drab reality is around them again, with ordinary scenes and people that appear commonplace, and not at all exciting! It sounds almost like they were a little disappointed, “They saw no one except Jesus Himself alone,” and Him they had seen many times before, every day for several years.We, too, sometimes have experiences that seem to leave us feeling the same way. We may have had feelings of spiritual joy; we may have been filled with jubilance at the glory of our God. And then we’re somewhat rudely revived and pushed back into reality and everyday circumstances with nothing new, nothing exciting or glamorous.But if we look closely, we see this is the crown of the glory and the most significant and splendid part of the divine revelation at the Transfiguration of Jesus. The Disciples in the end “Saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.” They saw nothing but Jesus! What a blessed experience, to see nothing but Jesus! What a wonderful experience that would be for each one of us, even now! Let’s to that end, fix our attention on these words of the text, “They saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.” May the Holy Spirit bless our study.The story in our text is no doubt a familiar one. Six days after Jesus had asked His Disciples, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And Peter had given the splendid testimony, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” and Jesus had accepted that testimony as the truth, then came the Transfiguration of Christ.He chose three Disciples, Peter, James and John, and took them up onto a high mountain. There they saw, before their very eyes, how the Lord Jesus was transfigured and glorified. He assumed a glorious, Heavenly appearance, with His countenance shining in supernatural light as the sun and His clothing white as the light. There, two Heavenly companions whom they somehow recognized as Moses and Elijah flanked him, and then there was a voice from Heaven declaring, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” The Disciples, carried away on feelings of awe and an overpowering glow of joy, said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” They would be able to build three tabernacles there, one for Jesus, and one for Moses and one for Elijah. This way they could hold onto the glory and splendor of that Heavenly appearance and keep the light and supernatural radiance of the celestial Transfiguration of their Master. And then, they could continue to share its reflected light and glory for themselves.And then the scene changed. The Heavenly glory seemed to fade away. Those spectacular manifestations of men out of the Heavenly world and the voice from Heaven vanished. Things returned to normal, to a somewhat drab, everyday life and they see, “No one except Jesus Himself alone.” They had known Him for some time and now, again, there seemed to be nothing very remarkable or glamorous.But they saw Jesus, and they saw only Him! Now, there was nothing there to distract their attention. Now, they could focus their eyes and attention on Him alone, like a spotlight centered on one actor on a stage, or the light of the eye doctor concentrated on one point with everything else dark. And they no doubt saw Him now with an added appreciation of His greatness, with a deeper grasp of His personality, with a more awesome look of adoration and with a firmer faith.Seeing “No one except Jesus Himself alone,” is wonderful. To see Him as He really is, the Son of God and the Son of Man, God and Man in one person, carrying out the will of God the Father, so the Father “Is well pleased” with Him, bringing to all the message of salvation, so the Father declares that everyone should “Listen to Him,” that is a most satisfying experience.To see Him like this with the eyes of faith, when there seems to be nothing outwardly overwhelming about Him, when there’s no other support for our faith in Him that we see Him and believe what the Bible says about Him, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him,” that is most amazing indeed! There’s trust in no other and builds its expectation of Heaven upon nothing else “Except Jesus Himself alone.” That is saving faith, faith that sees, “Jesus Himself alone.”There’s no one else and there’s nothing else that can save us! There’s nothing in us, nothing we can do, no merit we can build upon. If we are to be saved, then it’s this; we see “No one except Jesus Himself alone.” For we are saved by grace, through faith, without the deeds of the Law, through the blood and righteousness of Christ, “Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”When we first think of the fact we must see Jesus alone, we’re almost disappointed. Our old flesh would like something with more glamour, something difficult or something costly for us to do or suffer or sacrifice. It’s almost with a feeling of disappointment that the old Adam tears itself away from the striving man to simply gaze upon Jesus, “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed.”So we, too, must see, “No one except Jesus Himself alone.” We see Him in His Word. To see Jesus alone we have to be ready to see Him in the only way we can properly see Him, in His Word. Human speculation will not let us see, “No one except Jesus Himself alone.” Nature and science can’t show Him in such a way that we see nothing, “Except Jesus Himself alone.” In all the efforts to see Jesus through human speculation or the deductions of science and the observation of nature, there will never be a clear and unobstructed view of, “Jesus Himself alone.”But you will see other things. You’ll see the human factor: the will of self, the pride of self-righteousness, the stubborn refusal to accept the truth Jesus alone can save us and has indeed worked out an eternal salvation for us. But in the Word of God you do see Jesus in this way. For the simple, humble believer the Word of God removes all distractions and lets the believer see no man, but, “Jesus Himself alone.”Let’s be clear on this point, if people are to see Jesus alone they must see Him in the light of Scripture and in relation to Law and Gospel. To appreciate the sight of Jesus alone we need to know from the Law we are poor, lost sinners who need Jesus. We need to see him in the penetrating light of the Gospel, to see that, “God so loved the world,” that He gave His Son for those same poor, lost sinners.The Disciples hardly knew what they were saying, but it was true nevertheless, “It is good for us to be here.” Likewise we find it good to be with Jesus, to look up to Him with eyes of faith. What a grand thing it is to build and go to these meeting places, so that through the Word of God, Jesus is set before us and we see Him, and Him alone, “So faith come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.”Let’s, then, also see further results of seeing Jesus, “Himself alone.” For one thing, seeing Jesus removes fear. At the Transfiguration of Christ the Disciples at first were quite fearful, “They fell face down…and were terrified.” A natural result of such an overwhelming sight of supernatural glory shows us our own unworthiness and guilt. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid. And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.”Left to our own devises and faced with the majesty and holiness of God we would be overwhelmed with fear. If we had to look to ourselves, or other human beings, we would be sorrowful. But if we look away from every prop and fix our eyes of faith on Jesus; if we believe we’re saved by grace, through faith, then fear and despair drop away. Faith truly casts out fear, and so you have this marvelous result of seeing, “No one except Jesus Himself alone,” and living without fear. This then, is the greatest blessing that results from seeing Jesus alone; whereby we have salvation. There is salvation in no one else but “Jesus Himself alone.” He’s made peace through the blood of His Cross, “Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” If we study or hear the Word of God and from it see, “No one except Jesus Himself alone,” we have salvation. Finally we come to the Heavenly home. It’s there where what was seen briefly at the Transfiguration will be the constant sight. This is where we shall see Jesus in all His divine majesty as the Lord God eternal on His Throne and all those who in faith looked to Jesus alone stand before His Throne and sing his praises, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.”God grant that we, now and all through our life, see, “No one except Jesus Himself alone.” And then, we shall behold Him for all eternity in His Heavenly splendor, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” Amen.