Pay Attention to the Witnesses Until the Lord of Light’s Appearance

Balloons are a sign of celebration. We use them for birthdays and anniversaries, even create house sized balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Balloons also create joy when children play with them, but the joy ends when the balloons inevitably pop. What would keep the celebration and joy going is a balloon that could pop and then inflate itself again.

The Israelites had good reason to celebrate after what God had done for them. Our Old Testament reading today comes from Exodus 24 and picks up with the Israelites after God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Israel was gathered at the base of Mount Sinai and God had given them his commands through Moses. God communicated through Moses that he wanted to make a covenant or agreement between himself and Israel that if they kept his commands, he would bless them as his people. God’s deliverance and promise to make Israel his special people were cause for celebration. To make the covenant official, Moses made a sacrifice and then Israel responded in Exodus 24, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Afterward, Moses and the leaders of Israel went up the mountain, and God called Moses to come all the way up the mountain. We hear what this looked like to the Israelites below in Exodus 24,

“¹⁶ and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. ¹⁷ To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. ¹⁸ Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”

Exodus 24:16-18

The Israelites watching these events needed an explanation of what God was doing for them. With the understanding that the Moses’ sacrifice showed God punishes sin with death, but would punish a substitute to save his people, there would be celebration and joy. Also, with the understanding that God revealed his presence as a consuming fire hidden by a cloud, Israel learned they cannot approach the holy God as sinner, but God allowed Moses to approach him to act as a mediator between God and Israel. The full understanding of a substitute sacrificed for sin and mediator is explained in 1 Timothy 2, ⁵ “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”

Peter was a witness of Jesus. Peter was also with Moses on another mountain where God revealed his shining glory. Today we celebrate Jesus’ transfiguration. In our New Testament reading from 2 Peter 1, we hear Peter’s eyewitness account of Jesus’ transfiguration up on a mountain. His eyewitness account was written to encourage believers of all time that Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior. His witness along with the rest of Scripture has been given to protect believers from the many lies that have been spread about Jesus as we hear in 2 Peter 1, ¹⁶ “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Peter was an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry.

Peter had been called by Jesus to leave his nets as a fisherman and become a fisher for people. He watched Jesus perform miraculous healings and heard his authoritative teaching and preaching of the Scriptures. Peter watched Jesus change on the Mount of Transfiguration revealing his glory as the Son of God, then make his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. While Jesus was on trial, Peter denied witnessing all of this, and was racked with guilt and fear while Jesus lay in the tomb. Peter also witnessed the empty tomb, the risen Jesus and heard his words of forgiveness for his denial. Jesus also let Peter know he would die for his faith. 2 Peter was written by Peter from Rome in the mid 60’s A.D. before he was put to death by the command of the Roman Emperor Nero. His second letter was sent to the believers in the churches located in what is today the nation of Turkey. His eyewitness account was recorded to address the “cleverly devised stories,” which could be translated cleverly devised ‘myths’, since it is the Greek word ‘μύθοις’ from which we get our English word ‘myth.’ The believers of his time and all time needed to understand the truth of Jesus. If they believed the myths, they would be falling into the same trap the devil set for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Myths promise what sounds good but have no power to make good on those promises. When you hear any message about God, Jesus, religious or spiritual things, the afterlife, the Bible, Jesus’ second coming, etc. line it up against the Bible itself. Putting your hope in myths, lies and cleverly devised stories will rob you of faith in the true God and lead you to hell.

God gave us the eyewitness account of Jesus’ appearance to save us. Today, is the Last Sunday after Epiphany, which means to reveal or appearance. Over the last couple of months, we have covered a few of the accounts of Jesus revealing his power to prove himself as the Savior. Today, we focus on his appearance at his transfiguration as described by Peter in 2 Peter 1,

¹⁷ “He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ ¹⁸ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.”

2 Peter 1:17-18

Peter heard the same words that were spoken by God the Father at Jesus’ baptism. Jesus as the Son of Man and Son of God pleased God by keeping all his commands. He is the only one of all humanity who has pleased God and was righteous. Peter shared the significance of Jesus’ righteousness in 1 Peter 3, ¹⁸ “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” Those times you have not fact checked a message against what the Bible actually says, those times you have believed or shared unchecked messages, myths, lies and cleverly devised stories, these and your many other unrighteous thoughts, words, deeds and all sins were put to death on the cross through Jesus and through Jesus you have the righteousness of God. This is the truth that God spoke through Peter and all the other writers of Scripture. This is the truth that saves us and brings us to God.

Peter’s eyewitness account agrees with the rest of Scripture. Both, Peter and Jesus worked with the Old Testament, which was begun by Moses over 1400 years before Jesus’ birth and concluded by the prophet Malachi about 400 years before Jesus’ birth. The Old Testament was then translated from Hebrew to Greek around 250 years before Jesus’ birth and is called the Septuagint. Many criticisms exist about the authenticity of the Bible, but there is a difference between scholastic doubts about the text itself and doubts about the message. There is overwhelming evidence that the text of the Bible we have today is the same as when it was first written. As for doubts about the message, those doubts are only overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter was confident in the true Word of God and he directs us to the Old Testament Scriptures as we continue in our reading from 2 Peter 1, ¹⁹ “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Peter points you to the prophetic message, the promises God made throughout the Old Testament of the Morning Star, which is Jesus who is the Chosen One, Christ, Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man, Lord and Savior. The Epiphany season prepared us for the cross from the Scriptures, the eyewitness accounts and prophetic message. Jesus’ appearance on the Mount of Transfiguration was meant to prepare us for the cross as we hear Jesus himself tell us in our Gospel reading from Matthew 17, ⁹ “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, ‘Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’” Like Israel standing before Mount Sinai watching the cloud of God’s presence glowing red with fire, Peter, James and John needed an explanation to understand what God was revealing to them. Peter showed their need for understanding by his statement in Matthew 17, ⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Peter thought they could stay on the mountain to worship, but that was not the purpose. Instead, we hear, ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Peter, James and John needed to listen to Jesus so that they could be witnesses of the true events and their true purpose, not spread cleverly devised stories or their own interpretations as Peter continued in 2 Peter 1,

²⁰ “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. ²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

2 Peter 1:20-21

Every time the prophets spoke by the Holy Spirit they were handing over a message from God to man. The content of their message was the same as if spoken directly by God. When Peter heard God the Father speak on the Mount of Transfiguration and the Holy Spirit inspired him to write those words down, and you read those words today, you are reading the Word of God. The purpose of Jesus’ appearances as the miraculous healer, teacher and transfigured Lord revealed he would be the substitute to sacrifice himself for the sins of the world and rise three days later to be the mediator who stands in heaven upholding peace between God and people. And the reason the prophecies and eyewitness accounts were recorded is so that you would hear and believe in Jesus as your Savior.

Jesus’ transfiguration prepares us for the cross. The next season after Epiphany is Lent where we focus on Jesus’ suffering and death. It is a season of repentance and sorrow over sin; a time when it feels like the once bright white balloon of celebration and joy has popped forever. During Lent we are confronted with the seriousness of our sin and it tempts us to fear God as the fiery one in the clouds up on a mountain, and tempts us to believe cleverly devised stories rather than repent. Jesus’ transfiguration reminds us that he is the powerful Son of God who rose from the dead, and he will return like the morning star on Judgment Day to bring all believers to live with him in heaven. At the end of his life, God inspired Peter to give his eyewitness account of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Peter faced death for his faith, he put his hope in Jesus. For the forgiveness of your sins, for salvation from death and for eternal life, pay attention to the witnesses until the Lord of Light’s appearance. Amen.