You have direction in the darkness in Jesus the perfect light!

Typically, there are two scenarios when putting together a puzzle. First, you buy a new puzzle from the store with all the pieces and a clear picture on the front of the box. Second, you find the old half empty taped together puzzle box from the attic or buried in the bottom of the toy bin. You want the first option when you decide to put together a puzzle as it provides you a calm therapeutic experience. If life were like a puzzle, then it would be like the second, an old half empty taped together puzzle box with a faded incomplete picture.

There are two scenarios in Scripture when a man’s face shined. First, Moses’ face shined with the reflected light of God’s glory after speaking with him on Mount Sinai. Second, Jesus’ face shined with his own glory as the Son of God on the Mount of Transfiguration. The reaction of the people to Moses’ shining face is recorded in our Old Testament reading from Exodus 34,

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

On a surface level, the people were afraid of Moses because his face was radiant with the reflected light of God’s glory. But on a much deeper and important level, the people were afraid of Moses when his face was radiant from standing in the presence of God because they were reminded of their sins. Their sins were exposed by the Old Covenant given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. This covenant was an agreement between God and the physical nation of Israel governing their diets, worship and other aspects of life. If they kept these laws, God would remain with and bless them. And if they turned from them, God would abandon and punish them. Again, the people were afraid because none of them could claim to have kept the covenant nor would any of them going forward.

The Old Covenant shined a light on sin bringing fear, but the New Covenant shined with the joyous light of our Savior. The second time a man’s face shined is recorded in our Gospel reading from Luke 9,

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.

Jesus took his closest three disciples up the mountain to confirm the words he had spoken with his disciples a week earlier, which are recorded a few verses earlier in Luke 9,

20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” 21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Peter was right about Jesus’ identity, and then Jesus revealed his purpose as the Messiah to them for the first time. It was an epiphany moment. Jesus was now being very clear that about his work as the Messiah to die and be raised to life. He told the disciples not to reveal this to others but continue to preach repentance for the kingdom of God has come near. The people were not ready to hear clearly Jesus’ identity because they had a false picture of the Messiah as an earthly ruler who would drive out the Roman Empire to reestablish the earthly nation of Israel. Even Peter did not fully understand what he was seeing on the Mount of Transfiguration as Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus as we read in Luke 9,

33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

Like Peter and the people, we cannot trust what our eyes see, or heart tells us. Only Jesus’ words have the power to cut through the darkness and enlighten us.

The Epiphany season ends today focused on Jesus’ transfiguration. The transfiguration proved Jesus’ authority and claims about himself crowning all the signs, miracles, healings and authoritative preaching and teaching with his glorious light as the Son of God. Yet, Jesus did not set up his kingdom on that mountain. The epiphany of his glory as the Messiah was seen three of the twelve disciples on an empty unnamed mountain. Then, Jesus came down the mountain so that he could be crowned with thorns. His direction was clear to him, but still clouded and mysterious to even those closest to him.

Even for us who know and trust in the path he walked to save us there are clouded days and seasons. We do not keep our eyes on the cross and empty tomb that guarantee eternal life in heaven. Instead, we grumble about life. We think God has turned away from us because the pictures we have in our mind for our lives, our friend’s lives, our family member’s lives, even stranger’s lives do not come together. We talk as if God has no power or love for us and the world. We live as if we need to carve out our future by spending every waking moment working, filling our work, social and recreational schedules to the brim to the exclusion of listening to Jesus. We go in all directions while simultaneously going in one direction, away from Jesus. Perhaps one way to look at it is how often we have given up spending five minutes with Jesus in his word to spend it in the lavatory solving crossword puzzles or puzzling over random social media posts.

Jesus gave up his life to spend it with you forever. On the Mount of Transfiguration, God shined with the radiancy of his glory. Jesus shined with the gracious glory of the New Covenant. The New Covenant is God’s promise to forgive all our sins guaranteed by Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. The terms of this new covenant were all dependent on God and its benefits are a gracious gift to us. Rather than watch us suffer through a half the pieces missing unclear picture of the future, God fit us into the perfect, eternal heavenly picture through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus would soon suffer and die, but he saw the glory that was his and would be his after finishing his Father’s will as prophesied by Moses and Elijah who appeared to speak to Jesus about his departure to be fulfilled at Jerusalem. Jesus was encouraged by his Father in heaven in the words from our Gospel reading from Luke 9,

35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”

Jesus had a clear direction to achieve perfection for us. And three of his disciples saw his glory and heard the Father give them directions. You have heard the same words, and we have this great assurance and comfort that our faith does not come from seeing but hearing the message. You will join the chosen Son in glory forever, listen to him.

This life is a broken puzzle, but Jesus did not come to make this world perfect. Jesus was not sent to put the pieces of a world sized puzzle back together. It is not possible to do so because pieces are gone, and pieces are broken. People have died; they cannot be put back into this world. And our broken lives do not fit together, rather there is conflict and conceit. This life will not be perfect, and we can live with that and accept that not because it is acceptable to have a broken life, but because this life is temporary. Jesus has achieved perfection for us, he has forgiven us and given us his righteousness, as we read in our New Testament reading from 2 Corinthians 3,

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!  

We are not chasing perfection in this life. Instead, we have direction. We direct our eyes to Jesus. In Jesus we have grace, the New Covenant, the ministry that brings righteousness and eternal glory. In Jesus we have purpose, the ministry that brings righteousness in Jesus. We get to bring life when all someone sees is death. We get to bring healing to shame filled hearts. We get to bring grace to the guilty. We bring those caught in the transitory and temporary into an eternal kingdom. We give direction to those stressed by striving for personal perfection to see Jesus whose perfection is theirs by grace. The missing piece for all of us is Jesus. We listen to him for life, and we pray others listen as we us share his words with them.

We want a perfect life like a puzzle with all its pieces put together, but instead life is a half empty broken incomplete shadow of what we hoped for. Rather than watch us suffer, God fit us into the perfect picture of the future through Jesus. Our old sinful self was crucified with Christ, and we have been given new life in him. Jesus’ perfect righteousness is ours by grace and guarantees our eternal home in heaven. As Jesus shined on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father directed his three disciples to listen to him, and the Father’s words remain true for us. Listen to Jesus. Listen to the bright shining Son, and you will have direction in the darkness in Jesus the perfect light. Amen.