This,  he  thought,  was  much  better  for  his
JMastcr,  than  to  be  put  to  death  at  Jerusalem,
concerning  which  Jesus  had  been  talking  with
the  messengers  from  heaven,  and  the  design  of
which  Peter  could  not  comprehend.
But  while  he  yet  spake,  behold,  a  bright  cloud
overshadowed  them;  and  behold,  a  voice  out  of  the
cloud,  which  said,  This  is  my  beloved  So7i,  in  whom
lam  ivell pleased ;  hear  ye  him.    Matt.  xvii.  5.
When  the  three  disciples  heard  the  voice,
which,  like  the  roaring  thunder,  burst  from  the
cloud,  and  was  such  as  mortals  were  unaccus-
tomed to  hear,  they  fell  on  their  faces,  and  coa
tinued  in  that  posture  till  Jesus  approached,  raised
diem  up,  and  dispelled  their  fears,  saying  unto
them,  Arise,  and  be  not  afraid.  And  ivhen  they
had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  vian,  save
Jesus  only.    Matt.  xvii.  7,  8.
Jesus  having  continued  all  night  with  fils
three  disciples  on  the  mountain,  returned  to  the
plain  early  in  the  morning,  charging  them  to  con-
ceal what  they  had  seen  nil  after  he  was  risen
from  the  dead.  He  well  knew  that  the  world,
and  even  his  own  disciples,  were  not  yet  able  to
comprehend  the  design  of  his  transfiguration;
and  that  if  it  had  been  published  before  his  resur-
rection, it  might  have  appeared  incredible ;  be-
cause nothing  but  afflictions  and  persecutions^
had  hitherto  attended  him.  He  was  truly  a  man
of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief.
But  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  to  which
the  transfiguration  possibly  alluded,  was  what
the  disciples  w  ere  utterly  unable  to  understand.
