The Sure Word :: 2 Peter 1:16-21
And we have a more sure prophetic word to which you do well holding fast to (v 19).
During this Epiphany season, we have been discussing the power of God’s Word. First, we saw how the Word fulfilled all righteousness in baptism and continues to give us his finest feast so that we could seek him (Mt 3:13-17, 2:1-12; Jn 2:1-11). Then we heard how Jesus used his holy Word to cleanse us and to go the distance sight unseen making us whole (Mt 8:1-13). The surety and certainty in every Word we’ve heard and seen has brought peace to a world filled with chaos (Mt 8:23-27). It has truly been a season of great signs and wonders.
Not to be outdone, but today, something even bigger is happening. As if you had any reason to wonder what sort of man this Jesus really is ... today, you should have none. When Peter, James, and John followed Christ up the Holy Mountain of God, there they witnessed the Transfiguration of our Lord. Jesus was changed. He underwent a metamorphosis. He showed himself as he really is: True God. He doesn’t simply have power over the wind and sea, he is the light of the world, overcoming the darkness of sin. His face began shining like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Then behold, a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came forth, declaring, This is my son, the beloved one, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!
1.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, why don’t we listen to him? Why do we treat him like he’s just a man. Jesus isn’t just a good man with a good word about good living ... words that we get to pick and choose from. He has given us his Word and sacraments so that we will have life abundantly in his name. His Word and sacraments aren’t just good advice. Jesus didn’t do all those signs and wonders just so that people would follow him. Jesus isn’t just a wise teacher who can give us applications for Old Testament lessons. Jesus isn’t just one more option among many ways to heaven. Jesus is True God. He is one with the Father and the Father is One with him. He loves the Father, who sent him to die for your sins.
Jesus is the one through whom and in whom all of the promises of God find their yes and their Amen! He is our redeemer. He is our savior. He has lived for us. He has laid down his life for us. He appeased all of God’s wrath on our behalf. He has risen from the dead. And he has promised to do the same for you, giving you eternal life.
JESUS HAS GIVEN US A GLORIOUS AND CERTAIN PROPHETIC WORD TO WHICH WE CAN HOLD FAST.
This is our theme today.
The glory and certainty of the Word of God is incarnate, and it is centered in the power and coming of our Lord Jesus. The glory and certainty of the Word was written with purpose (vv. 16-18), and we will do well to hold fast to it.
2.
Today as we hold fast to the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus, Saint Peter is reminding us of all these truths as we await his second coming.
To be sure, Peter was writing to a particular group of people two thousand years ago, but his message is just as relevant for you today. There not only have been many false teachers in the past, but there are many more still today. They preach the Law apart from the Gospel. They preach the Gospel apart from the Law. They deny how God uses the sacraments to deliver the forgiveness of your sins. They teach that your dedication to God determines your salvation. They will have you believe you can live by faith alone ... that you don’t need baptism or the Lord’s supper. They have created sophisticated myths that Jesus will give you your heart’s desire. They teach that faith is nothing more than an acceptance of truths, that faith makes a man righteous and saves him all by itself. They stop preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified, and try to convince you that God’s word is first and foremost a good word for good living.
3.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you have been listening to these cleverly devised myths turn away. Repent and listen to Saint Peter ... When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: We were eyewitnesses of his majesty! For when he received from God the Father honor and glory, the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory: This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice we ourselves heard when it was being carried from heaven because we were with him on the holy mountain.
In scripture, mountains are the place where heaven and earth meet. Mountains are the place where God shows up. Mountains are the place where God reveals Himself to His people. Today is no exception. If someone were to ask Peter, Are you sure Jesus is God? He would certainly say, Absolutely! And if you don’t believe me, ask James and John. We saw him on the holy mountain of God. We heard his Word. He alone is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets.
What Peter is sharing with us is not hearsay, or rumor, or cleverly devised. Because of his witness, we now have a more-sure confidence in the scriptures. All the scriptures are focused on this revelation. God’s action in the world was carried out through Jesus. His word, his life, his miracles, his transfiguration, his sacraments, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost ... all these and so many more confirmed the scriptures for the witnessing disciples and made the Old Testament prophetic word more sure. He told us he was coming, and he has. So listen to him.
4.
We do well when we hold fast to his word. God’s word causes his day to dawn in our hearts, and his light bearer ... our Lord Jesus ... to arise within us. In him we live and move and have our being. He gives us life, a promise given in baptism and nourished in the Lord’s supper. His promise strengthens our faith that he is doing what he said he would do, delivering you from sin and death into righteousness and everlasting life. His word illuminates the murkiness of the world all around us, and keeps us free.
Since God’s word is his gift to us, the interpretation of God’s word must be in keeping with his intention for his word (vv 20-21). To borrow the youngest of the three eyewitnesses on God’s holy mountain ... Saint John ... these things are written so that you will believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and that believing you will have life in his name (Jn 20:31).
The author of our Gospel reading, who witnessed with John the life of Christ, did the same, in no uncertain words. Saint Matthew carefully laid out how all the Law and the Prophets pointed to this moment today (Mt 17:9). He reminds us of the prophets Daniel, Malachi, Ezekiel, and the prophet like Christ, Moses, whose face glowed because he had seen the Divine. And now Peter steps in to make clear the power and parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, it is good that we are here (Mt 17:4)!
If any interpretation of scripture obscures or darkens this central message of Scripture ... that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19) ... then that interpretation has to be set aside. The word of God wasn’t written as a guide to living your life, per se. It was written so that you will recognize your sin and your need for a savior. It was written so that you will see and hear the power and glory of Christ in his word and sacraments.
God’s word does not err. But men’s interpretations sometimes do. Too many of them ignore the plain word of Christ, who urges us to return to our baptism daily, and to hear his absolution and receive his supper whenever we can (1 Cor 11:26). As Luther wrote in our catechism ... too often we act as though we are such strong Christians that we think we have no need to hear God’s Word or to receive his sacraments. Some allow themselves to be hindered and held up by the excuse that we have taught that no one should approach the sacrament except those who feel hunger and thirst, which drive them to it. They pretend that it is enough to believe without it. For the most part, they go so far astray that they become quite brutish and finally despise both God’s Word and Sacraments (LC V 40-41).
5.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have a more sure prophetic word to which you do well to hold fast to (v 19). The sure and certain word of Christ gives us a certain salvation. That is the truth we need to fix firmly in our hearts and minds.
But what a blessed assurance we have in the fullness of his glorious word! Jesus, our heavenly king, was deeply humiliated, despised, and rejected by many people. They dismissed his Word. They refused to listen to him. But he still fulfilled his word, going silently to the cross. He was beaten for you and died for you. And he was raised for your justification, making you right with God. Your sins are forgiven on account of him. You who have faith in him ... a faith given through the word ... are being transformed ... transfigured too, if you will ... into his wholly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ who will share the eternal inheritance.
We will do well to give attention to that Word made more sure that calls us to receive his word and sacraments whenever we can. It is the light that shines into our darkness. The light of the Gospel of Christ alone dispels the murkiness of this world. It points to the bright day of our Lord. He is coming again!