Two Great Views

I was recently struck by a comparison and contrast of a couple of mountains. In Matt. 4:8, the Lord Jesus was taken up to an exceedingly high mountain, and was there shown all the cities of men, and the glory of them. In Rev. 21:10, the apostle John was taken up to a great high mountain, and was shown the city of God, and the glory of it. The phrase high mountain is the same in both, and the ramped up effect in Matthew is supplied by the word lian and in Revelation by megas.

In both cases, they were taken to a huge mountain that provided an appropriate vista for glory. In the Lord’s case, the glory was real but transient. In John’s case, the glory was real and everlasting. Jesus refused the former glory for the sake of establishing the latter.

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