Transfiguration
2
Pet 1:16-21
2/9/25
St
Peter knew that his life would end soon. He says immediately before our text: “I
think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of
reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as
our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that
after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.”
We
don’t know how Christ had revealed this to Peter, but the apostle clearly was
very certain about what was going to happen.
Because this was so, Peter wanted to provide a reminder about his
teaching – something that would help the believers to recall it after he was
gone.
Peter has just been speaking in the
beginning of the letter about how Christians are to live because of the
knowledge of Jesus Christ – because of the forgiveness of sins that they have
received. After describing his situation
and desire to remind them about the teaching, Peter turns in our text to
explaining the basis for what he has to say.
He begins our text by stating, “For
we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty.” It is
clear from elsewhere in the letter that when Peter refers to the “power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he is talking about the return of Jesus on
the Last Day. The apostles had declared
that the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord would return in glory.
Peter says that they did not follow
“cleverly devised myths” when they proclaimed the Gospel. It is not only in the
modern period that people have had skepticism about religious accounts. Many in the ancient world did not believe
that every story about the gods was true.
There were Greek writers who treated the accounts about gods like Zeus
in non-literal ways. They did so because they did not believe they were factual
descriptions of what had happened.
Religious myths have no basis in our
time and history. You can’t say when they
had happened. Peter declares that the apostles did not operate on the basis of
myths. Instead, they bore witness to
events for which they had been eyewitnesses. They proclaimed Jesus who had “suffered under
Pontius Pilate.” These were things that had really happened in the Roman
province of Judea during the early 30’s A.D.
They had seen Jesus die on the cross.
He had been buried. And then they
had seen and heard the risen Lord – they had talked with him - as he was with
them in both Judea and Galilee.
Peter and the apostles had
proclaimed that the risen and ascended Lord would return in glory. In our text Peter points to a time when they
had already witnessed Jesus’ divine glory. He writes, “but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the
Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very
voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”
Peter refers to the event that we
are celebrating today – the Transfiguration of Our Lord. As we learn in our Gospel lesson, Jesus took
Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain.
Matthew tells us, “And he was transfigured before them,
and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as
light.”
At Christmas we learned that the
Word – the Son of God – became flesh.
God sent forth his Son into the world as Jesus Christ was conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
Jesus was – and still is – true God and true man. At that moment on the mountain, our Lord
allowed his divine glory to be revealed directly as his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
Peter tells us that Jesus received
honor from God as the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased.” This statement repeated
the same words that the Father had spoken at Jesus’ baptism. They are words that identify Jesus as the
Servant of the Lord prophesied by Isaiah.
Though he had no sin, Jesus
submitted to John’s baptism of repentance.
He identified himself with sinners.
He took our sins as his own, for the Servant in Isaiah is also the suffering
Servant upon whom the Lord placed the iniquity of us all. From the moment of his baptism, Jesus’
ministry was directed toward the cross where he would drink the cup of God’s
wrath in our place.
The death of a mere man could never
accomplish forgiveness before God. In
the transfiguration we see that Jesus is more than just a man. He is the Son of God who carries out the
Father’s saving will for us. Jesus died
on the cross so that we can have peace with God. Peter says in his first letter, “For Christ
also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the
unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”
In the Gospel lesson Jesus says to
the disciples as they descend the mountain, “Tell no one the vision, until the
Son of Man is raised from the dead.” The glory of Jesus’ transfiguration points
forward to what awaits on the other side of the cross. The Lord Jesus suffered and died for us. And then on Easter God raised Jesus from the
dead.
Peter says in his first letter, “Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great
mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” In Jesus’ resurrection, God has
defeated death. Christ is the beginning
of our resurrection, for the risen and ascended Lord will return in glory and
raise us from the dead. In Jesus we have
the living hope. Our life in Christ has
no end, even if we die. And bodily death
is not the end, for the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will mean
that he will raise and transform our bodies so that they can never die again.
In our text, Peter talks about the
experience that he and the other two apostles had at Jesus’
transfiguration. He does so as he makes
the point that the proclamation about Jesus is based on what actually happened. The apostles were eyewitnesses of Jesus’
divine glory at the transfiguration.
They saw Christ die. They were
with the risen Lord.
And then he goes on to say, “And we
have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay
attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the
day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” We have not had the experiences of the
apostles. But Peter says that we have
something more sure. We have God’s
prophetic word that has been fulfilled by Jesus. We have God’s promises in his word – promises
that he has kept in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This word of God is his revelation
to us. Peter says, “For no prophecy
was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were
carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The
apostle tells us that Scripture has been inspired by God. He speaks of the Old
Testament, but the same thing is true of the New Testament as well for the
Spirit of Christ is the One who gave us the apostolic word.
Scripture was written by men. But it
is Holy Scripture because the Spirit used those men as His
instruments. The Holy Spirit guided men
so that what was written is what God wanted to give us. It is God’s
authoritative revelation. In Scripture
God has revealed his ordering and will for life. There he has revealed his love and salvation
that we have through faith in Jesus Christ.
Because this is so, Peter says that
God’s word needs to be our focus. He
says, “you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” We live in a world of darkness. It is a world of sin and death. We know the sin which continues to be present
in our lives. We see the ways that our fallen existence experiences sickness
and suffering, as it leads to the inevitable outcome of death.
Peter says Scripture is like a lamp
shining in this dark place. It is
because through Scripture the Holy Spirit reveals who Jesus Christ is for
us. The Lord Jesus comes to us through
the word of God. His Spirit who has
called us to faith, sustains and strengthens us in faith. Not only this, but the Spirit shows us how we
are to live in faith. In Scripture we
learn how to live in ways that are true to God’s will. As the Psalmist wrote, “You word is a lamp to
my feet and a light to my path.”
This means that you need to make
Holy Scripture a daily part of your life.
It needs to be something that you read and ponder each day. A little bit is good … and more is
better. Consider using the readings that
are present in the Treasury of Daily Prayer – a resource which as Frank
Glaub mentions in this month’s newsletter is also available as an app on your
phone. Start the project of reading
through a book of the Bible. Come to Bible class on Sunday or Wednesday morning
in order to learn more deeply about what God says in his word.
Through daily use of God’s word we
are nourished in faith. The Holy Spirit
does not only provide the comfort of forgiveness and salvation that we have in
Jesus Christ. He also leads the new man
in us to live in ways that show forth faith in Christ. We follow the Spirit’s leading as we walk in
the ways that Scripture makes known.
Just before our text, Peter states
that this needs to be our goal as Christians.
He says, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your
faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with
self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with
godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly
affection with love.” These are the
things that are to characterize our life in relation to God and our
neighbor. As Peter says, “For if these
qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being
ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Today we celebrate the
Transfiguration of Our Lord. Peter
reminds us that our faith is not based on myths. Instead, we rejoice in what God has really
done in our world. Peter and the
apostles were eyewitnesses of what God did in Jesus Christ. The apostle was
with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration as Jesus shone in divine glory and
God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
The Father’s words direct us to
Jesus’ death on the cross by which he has freed us from sin. The Lord Jesus’ glorious appearance leads us to
recognize that death was not the end for Christ. Instead, Jesus is the risen and ascended
Lord. We live in the forgiveness that
Christ has won for us. And we have a
living hope as we eagerly look for the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ on the Last Day.
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