n.

CHAPTER 24.

FROM SUNSHINE TO SHADOW.

Our Lord's descent from the holy heights[795] of the Mount of
Transfiguration was more than a physical return from greater to lesser
altitudes; it was a passing from sunshine into shadow, from the
effulgent glory of heaven to the mists of worldly passions and human
unbelief; it was the beginning of His rapid descent into the valley of
humiliation. From lofty converse with divinely-appointed ministers, from
supreme communion with His Father and God, Jesus came down to a scene of
disheartening confusion and a spectacle of demonized dominion before
which even His apostles stood in impotent despair. To His sensitive and
sinless soul the contrast must have brought superhuman anguish; even to
us who read the brief account thereof it is appalling.

HEALING OF YOUTHFUL DEMONIAC.

Jesus and the three apostles returned from the mount on the morrow
following the Transfiguration;[796] this fact suggests the assumption
that the glorious manifestation had occurred during the night. At or
near the base of the mountain the party found the other apostles, and
with them a multitude of people, including some scribes or rabbis.[797]
There was evidence of disputation and disturbance amongst the crowd; and
plainly the apostles were on the defensive. At the unexpected approach
of Jesus many of the people ran to meet Him with respectful salutations.
Of the contentious scribes He asked: "What question ye with them?" thus
assuming the burden of the dispute, whatever it might be, and so
relieving the distressed disciples from further active participation.
The scribes remained silent; their courage had vanished when the Master
appeared. A man, "one of the multitude," gave, though indirectly, the
answer. "Master," said he, kneeling at the feet of Christ, "I have
brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; and wheresoever he
taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth,
and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him
out; and they could not."

The disciples' failure to heal the stricken youth had evidently brought
upon them hostile criticism, taunts and ridicule from the unbelieving
scribes; and their discomfiture must have been intensified by the
thought that through them doubt had been cast upon the authority and
power of their Lord. Pained in spirit at this--another instance of
dearth of faith and consequent lack of power among H