Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

August 26– Evening

by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“When the people saw [Jesus], they were greatly amazed; they ran to him and greeted him.”

—Mark 9:15

How great the difference between Moses and Jesus! When Moses had been forty days upon the mountain, he underwent a kind of transfiguration; his countenance shone with so much brightness that he had to put a veil over his face because the people couldn’t stand to look upon his glory. Not so with Jesus, our Savior. He had been transfigured with a greater glory than that of Moses, and yet the people were not blinded by the blaze of his countenance but, rather, they were amazed, ran to him and him, and greeted him.

The glory of the law repels, but the greater glory of Jesus attracts. Though Jesus is holy and just, grace was blended with his purity; there is so much of truth and grace that sinners run to him amazed at his goodness and fascinated by his love. They greet him, become his disciples, and take him to be their Lord and Master.

Dear reader, it may be that you are blinded by the dazzling brightness of God’s Law. You feel its claims on your conscience, but you cannot keep it in your life. It’s not that you find fault with the Law; on the contrary, it commands your highest esteem. And yet you are not drawn by it to God; you are hardened in heart and on the verge of despair.

Ah, poor heart! Turn your eye from Moses, with all his repelling splendor, and look to Jesus who is resplendent with gracious glory. He is the Son of God and, therefore, greater than Moses; but he is the Lord of love and, therefore, more tender than the lawgiver. He bore the wrath of God; his death revealed more of God’s justice than Sinai on fire. But that justice is now satisfied, and from now on it is the guardian of believers in Jesus. Look, sinner, to the bleeding Savior and feel the attraction of his love. Fly to his arms, and you will be saved. [M&E]