THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY (2/18/07)
Sir, we would see JESUS! 
Emmanuel, Asheville, NC 
Luke 9: 28-36
IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

?¨A Glimpse of Jesus?? Eternal Glory?Æ

Dearly beloved, please pray with me: Lord Jesus Christ, our glorious Savior and Redeemer, You have revealed so clearly in Your holy Word that once You came to earth You are not only a real human being, but also truly and completely our glorious God come to rescue us. As You hold this truth before us again this day, fill us with Your Spirit and guide us with Your truth, so that with increased faith we trust that You did indeed enter our world to do everything necessary for our eternal salvation. This we ask in Your holy name. Amen.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Epiphany King and glorious Redeemer, precious children of God:

Jesus?? appearing in His eternal heavenly glory at His Transfiguration is what we might call one of those ?¨WOW!?Æ moments in the Bible. Wouldn??t you have loved to have been there? I surely would have. Fortunately for us this almost indescribable event is reported by Matthew, Mark and Luke in their Gospels. Let??s take a closer look!

The disciples had not asked for this miraculous sign. Bit by bit they had come to believe that Jesus was the Savior promised by God. About eight days before this Peter had boldly confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, ?¨the Christ of God.?Æ By His Transfiguration the Lord gave Peter, James and John visible proof that Peter was absolutely correct in that profession of faith. For they saw their Master transformed in all His divine splendor and heard the awesome voice of their heavenly Father reinforcing that Jesus is truly His own chosen, beloved Son. A ?¨WOW!?Æ moment indeed! An awesome event the disciples never forgot!

These three disciples never forgot these moments on the mountain. About sixty years later John wrote of Jesus in his Gospel, ?¨We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.?Æ [John 1: 14b] Some years before that Peter wrote in his Second Epistle, ?¨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. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ?´This is My Son whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.?? We ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.?Æ [2 Peter 1: 16-18] The vision of our Savior??s glorious Transfiguration was printed indelibly in their minds. 

Luke records that all this took place as Jesus was praying on that high mountain. Christ??s appearance was changed, and His clothing became as brilliant as a flash of lightning. Then on the mountain Christ??s heavenly Father sent Him two great former heroes of faith, who had already departed this life trusting Jesus?? future saving death and ultimate victory. They came to talk with Him precisely about His impending battle against all evil. These valiant servants of God already had a share in heaven of the victory Jesus would win. They talked with our Savior about ?¨His departure (or exodus) which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.?Æ [9: 31] What a strange way to talk about death! We can only suffer death. Jesus, however, would ?¨bring to fulfillment His death!?Æ Because He was truly God, no man could take His life from Him. He had to surrender Himself into death. Our Savior accomplished what He set out to do ?± His greatest work, to die for our sins. It was this tremendous, saving purpose that Moses and Elijah held before our Savior??s eyes. Jesus came down from the mountain ready for the battle, heading purposely toward Gethsemane, the judgment halls, and finally to Calvary??s holy mountain, the place of His crucifixion to cry out in final victory over all our spiritual enemies, ?¨It is finished!?Æ [John 19:30] That glorious Transfiguration of our dear Savior did not happen by mere chance. It took place for the sake of Jesus, for those disciples, and also for us. 

These were days when Jesus?? popularity was waning. More importantly all through His life Jesus clearly foresaw before Him His suffering and death. He was now entering those last weeks just before He was to accomplish His death at Jerusalem with all its horrors. Those agonies included much more than His physical pain and suffering as intense as that would be. He would also take upon Himself the sin and guilt of the whole world ?± that of everyone who ever lives. Upon the cross He suffered the punishment that should have come to us all. Christ would receive the full force of His heavenly Father??s wrath. He would be forsaken by His Father as He hung in torment suspended between heaven and earth there on the cross. Since from His birth Jesus was not only God but at the same time completely a human being as God intended us all to be, the Transfiguration took place to strengthen Jesus?? humanity.

The Transfiguration of Jesus took place for us, too, or it would not have been incorporated in the Bible by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We, too, have heard the thundering voice of our heavenly Father, ?¨This is My Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to Him.?Æ At first those words should well strike terror in our hearts, for in all honesty we must confess that we have too often not put our Savior??s words into practice. We have heard Him say, ?¨Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.?Æ [Matthew 6: 33] But have we always done so? Sad as it is to say, No way! Did you always give God first place this week, or did TV come first? Did you spend more time in reading that fascinating novel, at your computer or another special interest than in God??s Word? Our gracious Savior has assured us, ?¨Lo, I am with you always even until the end of the world.?Æ [[Matthew 28: 20b] Yet how often have fears and worries crept into our hearts and minds. All we have to do to see our own sin and failings is to take any of the revelations of God??s Law, His Commandments, God??s holy will for our lives, and we will quickly see that time after time we have gotten caught in the quicksand of our own rebellion against our holy God. Even with our good deeds we bring along our corrupt, sinful nature, so that Scripture reveals that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. [Cf. Isaiah 64:6] Tragically each day we sin often against the Lord. 

Our Savior knows we live in a fallen world. Our merciful God knows that as earthly pilgrims we travel down the river of life where we shall encounter rapids and waterfalls. Times of peril and great pain sooner or later come to most of us. Such trials greatly strain our faith and patience. Unless the Day of Judgment comes first, sooner or later we all face death. To prepare us for such times, the Lord in His loving care for us takes us up the mountain of His Word to see His glory so that we have His assurance that we also by faith will ultimately share His victory. Our blessed Savior will not walk away from us in the darkest hour. Jesus will always be our shield and sure defense at such times. He will not only lead us to the sunshine on the other side, but the day will come when through His faithful grace we shall behold Him in all His glory in heaven. We will then experience that blessed bliss of eternal life in our Triune God??s glorious presence and the warmth of His unfailing love. 

Most importantly, under the guidance of the Spirit this morning we have caught a glimpse of our Savior in His resplendent glory for an even more important reason. In those very moments when He reassumed for a short time His magnificent splendor as our almighty and holy God, what is the content of His conversation with Moses and Elijah? He??s talking about the depth of His love for you and me, about His saving death on the cross, how He would lay down His life willingly in our place and shed His holy, precious blood to drown all our sin and rebellion in the bottomless sea of God??s perfect love and grace. Listen carefully and take to heart, dear friends, as our loving Redeemer speaks these words anew to us today, ?¨God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.?Æ [John 3: 16] In amazing grace Christ shed His holy precious blood that even now we might walk in His love and have full assurance that God is on our side, that none can be against us. By faith in the Son of God we already have the gift of eternal life. Dear Lord Jesus, keep us in this faith! Take not your Holy Spirit from us! Amen. 
To GOD alone be the glory!

© The Reverend Frederick A. Stiemke, DD, Vacancy Pastor