Enlightened by the Word

Text: “19 [W]e have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, 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, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 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” (2 Peter 1:19-21).

Where Do You Hear God?

Today I’d like to invite you to consider where and how God speaks with authority.

Remembering the Transfiguration offers a unique opportunity to do that. This set of readings offers a particularly good opportunity.

We start with past Examples of God Speaking with Authority in our OT Reading. There was no question: a covenant was being established between them and God.

The Children of Israel there at Mount Sinai could look to the mountain and see the glory of the Lord covering the mountain.

They saw God there in the clouds and the fire; they had heard the trumpets and the thunder; they had felt the mountain shaking as He had spoken to them.

As if that weren’t enough, 70 of the elders actually feasted in God’s presence. They saw the God of Israel. They beheld God and ate and drank.

They may not have known what to do with that experience in the moment, but it had to have changed them. Their lives couldn’t be the same after that, could they?

And then there’s the Gospel Reading. On that mountain, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus in all His radiant glory.

They had seen His power and majesty, indirectly, in any number of ways, on any number of occasions, but now they beheld His divine glory.

And, as if that weren’t enough, they saw Him with Moses and Elijah on either side!

And If that still weren’t enough, they heard the voice from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5).

They certainly didn’t know what to do with that experience in the moment or afterward. Peter couldn’t help but speak up because he was just so overwhelmed. Afterward, when Jesus told them not to reveal what they had seen until after His resurrection, this is a rare occasion when they didn’t. In virtually every other case where Jesus told someone not to tell anyone what He had done, they went away practically shouting to everyone about what Jesus had done. Not this time.

Still, it had to change them. Their relationship with Jesus could never be the same. They couldn’t go on living in quite the same way. They surely reacted to events from a much different perspective.

Where do you go to hear God speak with such authority?

Part of what makes this a great opportunity to ask that question is the fact that hearing from God in such miraculous ways didn’t help the Children of Israel or Peter, James, and John.

Seeing God at the top of the mountain, eating and drinking in His presence, didn’t keep the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai from making a golden calf to worship (Ex. 32); it didn’t keep them from shrinking back in fear when they arrived at the Promised Land; it didn’t even keep them from complaining about Moses constantly on the way.

Seeing Jesus transfigured before them; seeing Him speaking with Moses and Elijah; hearing the voice from heaven declaring Jesus to be His beloved Son, with whom He was well pleased didn’t keep Peter from denying Jesus early in the morning on Good Friday; it didn’t keep all of them from abandoning Jesus that day; it didn’t keep them from absolute despair after the crucifixion.

It’s certainly an important question for modern American Christians. What would it take to get you to truly believe? To believe so firmly, with such conviction, that it actually impacts your daily life? That is, “What would it take to convince you that you really are, in fact, forgiven and set free from your sins; that you are, in fact, one of God’s people, part of the New Covenant (not in the blood of bulls, but the blood of Christ); that, in the words of St. Peter, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9)?

Let’s go a step further. What do you need to lead you through the darkest times of your life— the times of abject grief, of daily physical pain, of hopelessness? What do you need to light your way in that moment?

The last time I preached on these particular texts was February 23, 2020. When I asked you that question that day, none of us had any clue what was coming a month later. But think back for a moment. What did you trust in when everything went upside down? There were many who didn’t just put their trust in science, they showed that it was their god when any question about social distancing or masks or any of the other measures that were mandated was treated as the worst sort of heresy. There were many who didn’t just put their trust in the government, they showed that it was their god when any question about their decisions was a grave sin. There were just as many who didn’t just rely upon themselves, they showed that their god was themselves when any scientific findings about the virus that they didn’t like became a conspiracy. When any government mandate that they didn’t like became a personal attack. What did you trust in during those long, difficult months?

Did you trust God’s Word enough to face the virus with an appropriate level of caution? Did you trust God’s Word enough to look honestly at what science said and what it didn’t say? Did you trust God’s Word enough to show proper submission to our elected leaders— not afraid to question and challenge, but doing it with deference to the fact that they exercise authority given to them by God?

Or, coming back to today, would you believe that you truly are forgiven and set free from your sins if you could see the glory of God behind me in clouds and fire; if you heard the trumpet and thunder when His voice spoke to you; if you felt the ground shake as His Words were spoken?

Would you believe that you are, in fact, one of God’s people— part of a holy covenant with God, Himself— if you could feast in the very presence of God? Would you believe it enough to actually strive to live like a child of God?

Would you truly see yourself as having been taken out of this world and gathered into a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, if the great prophets of old suddenly appeared to affirm the truth of what you’re hearing?

What would you need to light your way during the darkest days? Would you need to see Jesus, Himself, in all His radiant glory? Is that what you would need to light your way?

God Speaks

It is my privilege to tell you, this morning, that you have something better than any of those things.

St. Peter was there on the mountain top. He saw Jesus, shining in all His glory, with Moses and Elijah at His side. He heard the voice from heaven, “This is my Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” And yet Peter writes,

[Text:] “19 [W]e have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, 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, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 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” (2 Peter 1:19-21).

At the time, Peter didn’t realize it, of course. He wanted to make three tents so that they could remain on the mountain. What made his statement particularly foolish was his obliviousness to the conversation going on in front of him. Luke, in his gospel, mentions what Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were talking about. They were speaking “31 ... of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31).

Three of the four gospels describe this moment from Jesus’ life. And none of them see this moment or present it as the pinnacle, as the culmination of why Jesus came. John’s gospel doesn’t include it— perhaps because, by the time that John wrote, it would have been well known— but he actually captures the point of it quite well. The Gospel of John talks quite a bit about Jesus being glorified, about seeing Christ in His glory. When does it finally happen? On the cross.

Peter is saying the same thing. You have something more trustworthy than seeing Jesus in all His glory: God’s Word. Because it is the Word— the message— of the cross. Why were Moses and Elijah there that day? Because they represent all of the authors of the Old Testament books. And all of those authors pointed not only to Jesus Christ, they pointed to the cross. Every book of Scripture written since has the same purpose: to witness to the truth of who Jesus was and what He came to do. They witness to the fact that He would suffer; that He would be crucified; that He would die; and that He would rise three days later. They witness to the fact that all of it was for you.

You know, at one point, theology became about trying to peer into the great and hidden spiritual mysteries of the universe. The stereotype for this kind of theology is the question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? The further they went down that path of speculation, the further they went from the real point that God the Father wants you to hear.

On that mountain top, when Jesus was shining with His divine power, majesty, and authority, talking with Moses and Elijah, what great, hidden truths were they discussing? They were talking about you. They were talking about what Jesus was about to go and do for you.

They were talking about the fact that He was going from that mountain to another mountain— a hill, actually, just outside Jerusalem: Golgotha.

Moses was finding out that the scapegoat which had been part of the Law God gave the people through him had been pointing to what was now about to happen— the sins of the people would be laid upon Jesus as He was driven out of the city.

He was finding out that the passover lamb was pointing to the fact that Jesus, Himself, would be slaughtered on that particular night so that all who are marked with His blood would be saved from death.

Elijah was finding out that his vision of a restored temple was about to be fulfilled as the temple of Jesus’ body was torn down by death only to be rebuilt in His resurrection.

As Peter would one day write, Elijah was finding out that, this time, the temple would be a spiritual house built of living stones (1 Peter 2:5), built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus, Himself, being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:20-21).

Peter, James, and John were allowed to witness all of it so that, after the fact, they would be able to go forward with the assurance that it was no ordinary man who was crucified. It was the very Son of God, which means that His death was for you.

Listen to Him

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, remember the Transfiguration. See, with the eyes of faith, that singular moment in Jesus’ ministry. See Moses and Elijah there, talking with Him. See Peter, James, and John struck almost speechless. See all of it with the eyes of faith, but listen to them.

Listen to Him. Listen to the Scriptures that He caused to be written.

Not only do they clearly testify to what He did, they testify to the ways that what He did benefits you.

The Scriptures testify that, in baptism, you were buried with Him, you were united with Him in His death, so that you were joined to Him in His resurrection.

That water, after all, was not just plain water. It was the water, included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word. His Word was the power at work in the water when you were baptized.

They testify that, in Holy Communion, you eat and drink the very body and blood that were given and shed for you on the cross; you have the prophetic word confirmed for you, personally, in, with, and under these visible means.

They testify that, by that eating and drinking, you receive the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation— that you are given the strength to live as a Child of God.

Without question, it would be much more impressive if Jesus, Himself, in all His glory, were here to deliver this message— or, at least, if Moses and Elijah appeared to confirm it. But it’s true. It’s no less true because of the one delivering the message to you today. As you heard last Sunday, “5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul?”— and we might well add, “What is Schlicker? What is Allen? What is Stolarczyk?”— “Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 [one] planted, [another] watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Corinthians 3:5-8). If that’s not a pretty good antidote to the complaining we’re so often tempted to do in the church, I don’t know what is.

It’s true because God’s Word says it: You are truly forgiven and set free from your sins because Christ has taken them from you.

You are part of a holy covenant with God, Himself, taken out of this world and gathered into a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession. And, especially through your darkest days— when everything you thought you could trust in this world begins to fail you— that Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path. It shines in the darkness with the assurance that your Savior came to be tempted like you; that He came to grieve with you; that He came to suffer with you.

In the times of the worst uncertainty and chaos— when you can’t even trust Walmart to have toilet paper— it gives you the solid foundation of Jesus Christ to stand on as you thoughtfully take in the best that science is able to tell you— free from fear. It gives you the solid foundation of Jesus Christ to stand on as you submit to the governing authorities in the confidence that they exercise authority given to them by God— even while you ask honest questions about their choices.

In the darkness of your suffering, it reveals the truth that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to you— and in you. His Word shines its light on what you can not possibly see right now: that these afflictions are preparing for you a weight of glory beyond all comparison, making the afflictions seem light by comparison— and momentary, as well, since the glory is also eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17).

It enlightens your hearts and minds with the Truth that, you are God’s children now, even though what you will be has not fully appeared. It assures you that, when He appears, you will be like Him, because you will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2-3).

Even— especially— when you walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, it is the light for your path because it is the assurance that your Savior has walked that road before. It no longer has any power over Him. You have no reason to shrink back in fear as you draw near to the Promised Land. He walks that road with you.

If it was good to be there on the mountain top, seeing Jesus in all His glory, how good is it to be here, right now, today? “19 [You] have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place...” (2 Peter 1:19). Listen to it.