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… And doubtless one reason for the preservation of our identity is for mutual recognition — that we may know hereafter those whom we have known in the flesh. It puts before us a powerful incentive to make friends on earth with whom we may spend not only the life here, but the eternal life in heaven. Again, the scene opens up a further field of thought, when we recall the fact that St. Peter was able to recognize Moses and Elijah, though he had never seen them in the flesh. Shall we, then, recognize the great saints in the world to come, whom we have learnt by the study of their lives and work to know as though we had seen them face to face? There was clearly something — it, may have been some lingerings of the splendour which illumined his face after communing with God, which painters have tried to express by the familiar "horns of light" — we cannot tell what it was, but it satisfied the apostle that the form was none other than that of Moses. Will there be nothing by which, in like manner, we shall recognize the Baptist, or the Beloved Disciple, or the Blessed Virgin, or Mary of Magdala? Will the student of theology, who has read the mind of St. , or pictured the fiery Athanase, with his feeble frame but lion heart, confronting the world for the great mystery of the Blessed Trinity, find no means of identifying them when they meet hereafter? Will there be nothing to mark painters like or , or poets such as Dante, or Tasso, or Milton? It must surely be that marks of recognition, in all who have witnessed for God and moulded the minds of men by their words or works, will not be wanting. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.) 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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