Pastor Tim Patoka The Glory of the Lord
Transfiguration February 19, 2023 The Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ 2 Peter 1:16-21 1) Confirmed by Witnesses 2) Preserved in Word
“The Tortoise and the Hare.” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” These are two of Aesop’s famous fables that teach a lesson, how slow and steady wins the race and a liar is not believed, even when they’re telling the truth. Most of Aesop’s fables are impossible since they involve talking animals. Yet, not all fables are like Aesop’s. There’s the close cousin of historical fiction, where it’s difficult to know when true events end and exaggeration begin. And don’t the cunningly devised lie! As any good con man will tell you, you need just a bit of truth to make a lie believable. When we read the account of Jesus’ Transfiguration, how did it strike you? As straight-up fiction like most of Aesop’s fables? As exaggerated, true events like historical fiction? As a bit of truth shrouded in cunningly devised lies? As what happened plain and simple? Though Jesus’ transfiguration can seem like a fable, exaggerated truth, or cunningly devised lie, there’s no reason to see it as so. For when we look at the Transfigured Christ, we truly see a glimpse of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as confirmed by witnesses and preserved in Word. Confirmed by Witnesses People typically saw a mere man when they looked at Jesus. Though God, he did not fully and freely show his glory. That changed on the Mount of Transfiguration. As we heard in our Gospel (Matthew 17:1-9), Peter, James, John, and Jesus climbed a mountain. At the top, Jesus’ glory shone. His face and clothes shined like the sun. He talked with Moses and Elijah, famous believers from the Old Testament. God the Father used a majestic cloud, to show his presence as he customarily did in the Old Testament, and spoke from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (2 Peter 1:17 EHV) And just like that, it all vanished! Leaving just four, regular-looking men at the top of a mountain. If you were to write Jesus’ Transfiguration on a piece of paper with a pencil and then erase all the fable-like details, what would you have? Four men who climbed a mountain, a bunch of eraser smudges, and the four men coming down. You wouldn’t have anything showing the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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