The Unveiling of Jesus

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

For some reason, things that are covered up attract attention. Perhaps you’ve been to or seen pictures or videos from a car show, where they put a sheet over the new model for the year, and then when they announce the vehicle, they pull the sheet off and everyone “oohs” and “ahs”. Or maybe you’ve had a waiter bring a meal to your table and pull away the cloche covering your meal. Sure, it’s there to keep warm food warm - but it also adds to the intrigue. What’s for dinner? This is! (gesture) Things that are covered up attract attention and build intrigue. Not being able to fully see what’s covered up makes you want to know what you can’t see, and you have no other choice but to wait with anticipation.

Superhero movies have figured this out. Lots of superheroes wear masks. One of the old guard of masked heroes is Batman, the “caped crusader.” Batman wore his mask and cape to cover his identity - rich Bruce Wayne wanted to protect his identity while he was rescuing Gotham City. Yet, there was a constant intrigue over Batman’s identity. Apparently, that sells movies.

For the record, the Lord Jesus didn’t wear a mask. From His birth in a manger, He wasn’t hiding. After all, it’s hard to hide your identity when your birth is announced by an army of angels. Nonetheless, 1 Corinthians 1:5–7 says “in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there’s a phrase! The original Greek word for revealing is a word you know - apocalypse. Usually, when you hear the word “apocalypse” you think about the end of the world, because the book of Revelation begins with the words “The revelation (or “apocalypse”) of God to John.” But when the word “apocalypse” is used here in 1 Corinthians, it’s about the revelation or the unveiling of Jesus. That revelation will happen when Jesus returns, and we will see Him face of face, with no masks or veils or coverings when He comes again in glory.

So, how should we feel about seeing Jesus when He comes again? Will that be a good day, full of expectation and comfort and fulfilled promises? Or will that be a day of judgement and condemnation and worry? It’s like when the black-hatted villian of the spaghetti westerns growls “Prepare to meet your maker” - is that a promise or a threat?

Preparing to meet your maker is a promise, and a sweet one at that! The Lord Jesus has come. John the Baptist clearly pointed Him out as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus entered creation that had fallen into sinfulness, and Jesus came to restore all of it. The enemies of God, cultures that hated and rejected the Creator of all things, civilizations who made up their own gods to worship instead of the Lord of all things. More personally, Jesus Christ came to forgive your sins. Those sins that John the Baptist warned people in his day and people in our day about are the sins that Jesus came to forgive. Pride, self-centeredness, faithlessness in God, misusing God’s name, dishonoring authorities, violence and murder and hatred, lust and adultery, theft and laziness, gossip and manipulation and jealousy and discontentment are all sins against God, sins for which you should be condemned, sins that rightly make you afraid, guilty, and ashamed. But Jesus has not come to guilt or shame or condemn you. Instead, He has come to be revealed. He was revealed by John the Baptist who pointed at Him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away your sin!” John points out that Jesus is your Savior. There, along the Jordan River, Jesus is unmasked as the One you should follow. Jesus invited His first disciples to “come and see” His work and to “come and see” who Jesus is.

People of God, come and see Jesus. Come and see His grace as He comes to you. He doesn’t invite you to follow Him alongside the Jordan River, but He does invite you to come and see His work as you are continually dripping in the water of Holy Baptism. He invites you to come and see His grace which is new every morning. The Lord Jesus, who is powerful enough to make the lame walk and to make the blind see and to let the deaf hear is powerful enough to cure you. He is also kind and gracious enough to hear your prayers, to comfort you when you worry and grieve, and to give you peace at all times. The Lamb of God has come to give Himself as the sacrifice for you. Come and see the grace of God on the cross where He purchased and won you from the power of the devil. Come and see the power of God, unveiled when He rose from the dead. Come and see the holiness that God has given to you when He forgave all your sins. Come and see the peace of God which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Come and see that Jesus sustains you to the end. Are you tired, weary, or worn out? Has the news cycle overwhelmed you with bad news? Do you find the tragedies of conflicts, politics, violence, fires, and sickness to get you down? Is your calendar flipping faster than you can handle? Is your body fighting against you? Come and see how God will sustain you. Are you guilty and ashamed of your sinfulness and exhausted by your imperfection? Come and see how Jesus makes you guiltless. Do you struggle to trust and believe because you’ve been betrayed and hurt in the past? Come and see that God is faithful. Are you lonely or cut off? Come and see that you have fellowship with Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away your sin. He wants you to see Him as He is, unmasked, unveiled, revealed to be your Savior. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away your sin and who you will fully see in His glory! Amen.