Monday, February 11, 2013

February 10th, 2013

2013Feb10 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

Transfiguration Sunday Luke 9:28-36 Pastor Waldschmidt 2-10-2013 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33As 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.) 34While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." 36When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen. ON THIS MOUNTAIN YOU CAN SEE FOREVER I. You can see the God who was and is and always will be. II. You can see His love which took away sin’s punishment forever. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Amen In the name of Jesus who shows us things as they really are, dear fellow redeemed children of God, As children my brothers and sisters and I often spent weeks at a time at Grandma’s house during summer vacation. Grandma was a widow and so I think she enjoyed the company most of the time. She had gigantic garden and a huge yard and we would help her take care of tending them. The yard had a couple of apple trees in it. The nice thing about those trees was that the branches were low enough for a short kid like me to climb up into the tree. That was fun. Though I’ve seen that tree in recent years and it doesn’t seem so tall, at the time it sure seemed like if you climbed to the top branches of the tree you could see forever. Today in God’s Word, we climb a mountain. God takes us up a mountain where we really can see forever. We can see Jesus-the forever true God. He always was, always is and always will be. As you look down the mountain you can see a path of love where Jesus took the punishment of your sins away forever. On this mountain you can see forever. “About eight days after Jesus said this.” Whenever a Bible reading starts off saying “after Jesus said this,” it is a good idea to ask “What did he say?”- to root around in the verses before and after to see what was happening and what was being talked about. In the verses just before these verses in Luke you see that Jesus was asking his disciples about who people were saying he was. Peter jumped up and made a good confession about Jesus as “the Christ of God.” Jesus went on to talk about his sufferings and death. That all led into Jesus talking about how sorrow and hardship will be a part of the lives of those who take up their cross and follow Jesus. In a few short months the disciples would see Jesus suffer and die. Shortly after Jesus resurrection and ascension into heaven they would be persecuted for continuing to talk about Jesus “the Christ of God” when the temple authorities told them stop. Jesus took Peter James and John away from the crowds for rest and for prayer. He took them up a mountain where they really could see forever. “Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” With that first flash of lightning and rumble of thunder, my dog gets very nervous and looks for a place to hide. Lightning can be a little bit unnerving especially if it strikes near you. Though lightning can be a little unnerving sometimes, to see Jesus as bright as lightning is comforting for us. He was letting his disciples see forever- the forever God. This wasn’t a mask or a costume Jesus put on. Instead Jesus pulled back the veil so that his disciples could see the power that was His as true God who always was there. For that moment the disciples could glimpse the God who was there in the beginning and said, “Let there be light” and light came into existence. They could see what Moses saw there on the mountain. They could see the light Isaiah saw in the presence of the “King.” God allowed them to see a glimpse of the one whose presence showed to the Children of Israel as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. Do you remember Jesus said, “Before Abraham was “I am”? Jesus said that to tie together the fact that the one who made those promises to Abraham was the one standing before them. God ties that thought up in a neat package on the Mount of Transfiguration. “Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” Two of God’s prophets from the Old Testament appeared with the shining Jesus. They were talking with Jesus about His plan which was just about to happen. God’s plan was to rescue sinners by His death. God announced that plan through his Old Testament prophets. As President’s day approaches you might think of President Washington and President Lincoln. Well when the Old Testament prophets were mentioned people would often think of Moses and Elijah. “Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33As 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.)” With all of that power and glory, Peter recognizes that there is no threat of a power outage like they had at the Super Bowl last week. Peter is ready to stay up there on the mountain forever. But his frailty and shortsightedness shine through. He is thinking that they would need some tents to stay in. At this time when people are losing their jobs, their life savings and homes, we might be tempted to doubt whether or not Jesus is really in control of things and our human frailty shows through about what kind of a tent we’re going to live in. In the gleaming light of the transfiguration Jesus shows His power. No matter what forces may threaten us, Jesus is still the king to whom all princes and presidents will someday bow the knee. Storms and earthquakes and tsunamis obey him. You can see forever on the mountain. Jesus is the forever God who made the promises of the Savior- kept the promises of a Savior – and now promises to guard and keep you. If there was any doubt about that God makes it clear- Jesus is the one! “While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." Why would that glimpse of forever be so important for the disciples? Well even though Jesus had been talking about his upcoming suffering and death, judging from their actions when Jesus was arrested those disciples clearly didn’t know what was coming. But Jesus did. God had planned it all out to make the payment for the sin of the world. Jesus let his disciples see the God of whom the Bible says, “I the Lord do not change so you…are not destroyed.” The God who planned out your salvation says, “I know the plans I have for you.” It is interesting the Peter is even up on the mountain at all. He’s the one who thought he knew better than the eternal God and told Jesus not to talk like that when he spoke of the plan God had in mind since the Garden of Eden was ruined. And here is Peter blathering on again about interrupting God’s plan and hanging out on the mountain forever. So many times God could have used his power to blast Peter and send him far away from His presence. So many times God should have used His power to blast you and me and send us far away from His presence. How many times haven’t we spoken too quickly and too foolishly about the things God allows to happen in our lives. We wonder is He has a plan at all. But look again on the mountain. You can see forever. You can see the path of love that paid for our sins forever. “When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.” After all the glory, they saw Jesus alone back to the way they were used to seeing him and his disciples said nothing. Jesus had told them not to say anything. Many people were seeing the glimpses of Jesus’ glory and got the wrong idea about Jesus. They wanted a king who would fill up their bellies. Others only wanted Him because they thought He would get rid of the Romans. Add to this the fact that there were charlatans who took advantage of people. Jesus did not want this incident to add fuel to the fire of people coming to Him for the wrong reason. Peter could later write, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty." I don’t think I ever fell out of Grandma’s apple tree. That would have been a rude awakening. The disciples we’re in for a rude awakening. In the months ahead, the fact that Jesus was true forever God was going to be very easy for the disciples to forget about in the coming days. As Jesus walked the path to take away our sins forever, Jesus’ disciples would see Jesus seized in Gethsemane. They would see His slapped in the face again and again by soldiers. People were going to spit upon Him and insult Him. A crown of thorns would be jammed into his forehead. They would see Jesus stagger under the weight of the cross. Blood would stream out of His nail wounds. The breath of life would even leave Jesus’ body. In advance of all of that, Jesus let his disciples and he lets us see forever. He lets us see Him as the forever God and who walked the path of love to take away our sins forever.

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