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Text “That take, and give unto them for me and
thee” (Matt. 17: 27).
ET me byway of introducing the text,
call attention to some of the facts in
connection with it. Jesus had just
passed through some of the most inter
esting experiences of His wonderful
life. For example, there was His ex
perience on the Mount of Transfigura
tion. You remember that He took with
Him Peter, James and John. These
L
four went up on the mountain top, and you remem
ber what came to pass there. It is said that He
was so transfigured that His face shone like the
sun, and even the garments that He wore became
as shining light.
While these four were standing there, Jesus, the
transfigured One, and His three disciples, ivlio
were doubtless looking on in awe and amazement,
there appeared two others, Moses and Elias. It is
an interesting point to note that there are means
o*f identification of departed spirits even before the
resurrection of the body. Just how it was known
that these two were Moses and Elias is not known,
but perhaps they knew it from the conversation
between them and the Christ. Peter, after he had
recovered from his shock of surprise, said, “Lord,
it is good to be here.” I should have felt like
making the same remark. It is always good to be
in such company.
THE SUPREMACY OF THE GOSPEL.
“It is good for us to be here; if thou wilt, let
us make here three tabernacles: one for thee, one
for Moses, and one for Elias.” Now this was a
very high ambition on the part of Peter, but his
ambition was misdirected, as we find out from Jesus
Himself. Peter knew that Moses represented the
law, Elias the prophets, and Christ the Gospel.
Knowing the importance of each of these three de
partments of the Word, he became possessed with
a desire to build a memorial for each of them.
Peter put each of these departments on an equal
plane. But while he spoke concerning the erection
of these three tabernacles, a shining cloud appeared,
and from it came a Voice saying, 11 This is my be
loved Son, hear ye Him,” showing that the gospel,
represented by Christ, had taken the supremacy over
the other two. “This is my beloved Son; hear ye
Him.” The law had had its day and served its pur
pose. The prophets had had their day, and served
their purpose. Now here is the culmination of
that purpose —“My Son” —He is in your midst,
and since He has now come, “hear ye Him.”
Can there be any stronger endorsement of the di
vinity of Jesus Christ than that?
Upon hearing this voice the disciples fell pros
trate to the ground. No wonder they did, for they
fully realized now that they were in the presence
of God; that they were standing on holy ground.
The presence of Moses and Elias, though they had
long ago died, did not so alarm Peter and James and
John as to cause them to prostrate themselves on
the ground, but when they realized that they were
in the presence of Jehovah, and that He was speak
ing to them, then they fell prostrate in that Pres
ence.
While they were there with faces covered, Jesus
came and touched them, saying, “Arise, be not
afraid,” as if to lovingly remind them that He
was still in their presence. At Ilis touch, and when
they heard His tender voice, they opened their
eyes, and beheld Jesus standing there alone. Moses
had departed, Elias had departed, and Jesus stood
as the culmination of the law and the prophets,
and the representative of this new era, the era
of the Gospel. But as the time had not come for
this to be promulgated, Jesus charged them that
they should not tell any man until after His
death and resurrection.
When they came down from the Mount there
'HEAR YE HIM”
Tabernacle Sermon by Keb. Len G. Broughton, D. D.
Steuographically reported for The Goldea Age. —Copyright applied for
The Golden Age for June 18, 1908.
gathered together a crowd which always thronged
about Him. In that crowd was a man with his
son who was afflicted with epileptic fits. This son
had always given his parents a great deal of trou
ble. He was constantly falling into the fire and into
the water. He had to be watched. The father said,
“I have carried him to the disciples and they could
not heal him.” Jesus turned to His disciples and
said: “Oh, ye of little faith, how long shall Ibe
with you! You will not have me to work miracles
always.” Immediately after He healed the epi
leptic son, the disciples came to Him, saying, “Mas
ter, why could not we cast him out?” Jesus ans
wered, “Because of your unbelief; for verily I say
unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard
seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove
hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible to you.”
As I study this subject, I ask myself this ques
tion, “If the disciples were rebuked because they
did not have faith enough to heal this boy, what
does He think of some of us who have not faith
enough to venture anything unless we see every
step of the way ?- ’ ’ More and more I am alarmed at
the lack of faith of the children of God.
“RENDER UNTO CAESAR.”
After the incident referred to above, they went
on into Capernaum, where they came in contact,
the first thing, with a man at the gate of the city,
who collected tribute. His business was, under the
law, to receive a half shekel from every stranger
who came through that gate. As they came through
the gate, the man, singling out Peter, said, “Doth
not your master pay tribute?” Peter, not knowing
anything else to say, answered, “Yes.” Then Jesus
turned to Peter and said; “Simon, of whom do the
kings of the earth take tribute: of their own chil
dren, or of strangers?” Simon answered, “Os
strangers.” Then Jesus said, “We, being sons,
have not to pay. We are not strangers, but citi
zens of this country. But lest somebody should be
made to stumble because of our refusal to pay, go
down to the sea, take a fishing line and cast it into
the sea. When you catch a fish, open his mouth,
and you will find there the tribute money.”
This brings us up to a few suggestions that I
want to draw from this text.
The first is that Christ was ever submissive to the
law of the land. So very careful was He about
the law of the land, that the Pharisees could never
entrap Him, though they tried. You remember at
one time they submitted the question as to whether
it were right to pay tribute to Caesar. You remem
ber His answer. When He had called for a piece
of money, and had asked whose image was imprint
ed thereon, and had been answered, “Caesar’s,”
He said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
Jesus meant to declare that God does ik)t in any
sense propose to lift from man his obligation as a
citizen, and that all the laws and requirements of
citizenship are just as important, and more so, be
cause he is a child of God.
If Jesus were here in person today, I believe He
would continue that teaching. I believe if Jesus
were a citizen of the United States, He would be
very careful about obeying the laws. I believe that
if Jesus were a citizen of Georgia, He would
carry out all the laws of the state. I do not be
lieve that He would shirk His due proportion of the
taxes of this state. There are laws in our city
about the Sabbath. If He were a resident of the
city do you suppose He-would in the least partic
ular break those laws? The law of this city says
that “You shall not work on the Sabbath.” Yet
we see many men going to their offices, attending to
their mail, etc., on the Sabbath day. The very fact
that there is a law against it, if for no other reason,
would keep Jesus from going to a soda fount on
Sunday. It is just as much a violation of the
law of this state for you to buy on the Sabbath as
it is for a man to sell. Until the Christians of our
land obey the laws of the country, the religion
of Jesus is going to be discounted. But it ought
not to be so, for it is not according to His teach
ing that they are broken.
Jesus also was afraid that somebody might be in
fluenced to do wrong, or to shirk in some way, by
the exercise of what He really had a right to do.
There was no law compelling the citizens of that
country to pay tribute at the gate; that was for
strangers, but Jesus was very careful all through
his ministry, fearing that He might put a stumbling
block in somebody’s way.
Jesus had a right to pass in through that gate
without paying tribute, but, for the sake of others
who might put a wrong construction upon His act,
He had rather exercise His higher right of surren
dering His right, in order not to seem to shirk,
thereby giving others an excuse to shirk their re
sponsibility. If this principle were adopted today
by Christians in our obligations to our country, how
different things would be!
MASTERY OVER NATURE.
This text also shows Jesus’ mastery over nature.
They did not have any money, and had no natural
way of getting it just then, for they must go on
into the city, but that did not stop Him, for all
nature obeyed His commands. When He started
across the sea, He generally took a boat, for that
was the thing at hand, and He never ignored the
labor of man. But when he started across one time
and there was no boat there, He was not bound
down by the laws of nature. Instead of that, the
laws of nature obeyed Him. When a man needed
healing, He did not scorn the drugs which He had
placed in the world for the use of mankind, bat
it seemed best to Him to heal those cases witln.it
their use.
But the tenderest thing to me in this text is the
partnership which was established between Jeoiis
and His disciples, shown in the phrase, “That take,
and give unto them for me and thee.” Thus
*he established a partnership between these two;
Jesus, the Master, the One who was all-wise and
all-powerful, and Peter, impetuous as lie was, al
ways making mistakes, this humble fisherman, un
taught and unknown.
Jesus knew, and lias shown us, that the eery be<t
way to bring the best out of a man was to bring
Himself and this man into sufficiently intimate re
lationship. with Him to awaken his interest and
make him feel that he was a part of His plan.
That same principle if operated, today will bring
the same results. The housekeeper who would get
the most out of the servant is not the one who rules
with an iron rod, directing and instructing at every
turn, but it is the wise, tactful woman who will
endeavor in every possible way to bring that ser
vant into a realization of the need of performing
her duties properly, helpfully suggesting and direct
ing here and there, but in such away as not to
seem to rule, but to help, so that that servant will
begin to feel that she is a part of the house, and
that her interest is bound up in it.
Business men understand this. That is, the best
business men do. They endeavor to develop in their
employes an interest in the progress of the busi
ness. The employe who means most to his employ
er is the one who realizes that his advancement lies
in the advancement of his employer’s interests, and
he works to that end. The man today who tries
to rule as a czar finds that that mode of proce
dure is not successful in developing the employe’s
most helpful side. Jesus did not operate upon that
principle. He felt the need of the personal, inti
mate relation of His disciples, and He wanted them
to feel it.
This characteristic of our Master is shown in
many instances in His life. Look at Him in the
Garden of Gethsemane. He led them there, know-
