Title: Eyewitnesses of His majesty transfigured!
Text: 2 Peter1:16-21
16b but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
On June 4, 1783 at the market square of a French village of Annonay, not far from Paris, a smoky bonfire on a raised platform was fed by wet straw and old wool rages. Tethered above, straining its lines, was a huge taffeta bag 33 feet in diameter. In the presence of "a respectable assembly and a great many other people," and accompanied by great cheering, the balloon was cut from its moorings and set free to rise majestically into the noon sky. Six thousand feet into the air it went -- the first public ascent of a balloon, the first step in the history of human flight. It came to earth several miles away in a field, where it was promptly attacked by pitchfork-waving peasants and torn to pieces as an instrument of evil!
Today in the Word, July 15, 1993.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
There is much to be considered here but also much that is said. The idea for many in our day and at the time of the apostles is that somehow these stories and accounts of Jesus were made up, didn’t happen, or were greatly exaggerated. Peter says a mouthful when he says,
but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Today we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord or as our bulletin put it:
“…not shining brightly on Him, as with a spotlight, but shining from him the one who is truly light of light and very God of very God.”
17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
Not a story told like one that might be about Big Foot or extraterrestrials or something that you read in the paper or see on TV or the internet. But Jesus … Transfigured … and Peter saw it with the others, and heard the very voice of God from heaven.
Old Testament lesson Exodus 24:16-17 KJV
16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Here the convergence of the Old and New Testaments come together. Moses and the book of the Law and Elijah along with Jesus who is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets … come together … and Peter is an eyewitness … an eyewitness.
Eyewitnesses of His majesty transfigured!
To say that we have our work ahead of us is quite another thing. Doubt in the word, in the world is significant. Just in Bible Study last weekend it was brought up how many of our own brothers and sisters who have been made members of God’s family by His choosing, choose not to attend church and fall away, some even to unbelief. The reason, “I don’t need to be in church and worship or have a relationship to God!” That seems to be a common theme for many. I just do the things I like to do and keep my faith … if there is really any faith at all - to myself - and all is well with me and God. And God becomes nothing more than an idol where we place our trust – be it family, work, bank account, sports, friends …
As we continued the discussion the question of where IS God came up. He is surly in the world. We know of the omnipresence and omnipotence of God … that He is everywhere and that He is all powerful but God is everywhere only as it pertains to His Law. It is written on the hearts of his creatures and evident in His creation but by the Law we come to know sin and how far we fall short. Only by God, His Holy Spirit and through His means of word and sacrament can we know God and His saving love for you and for me. Only in church where His gifts are given can we receive the blessed forgiveness and know the Good News that you are I have the favor of God on account of Christ by faith in Him.
C.S. Lewis makes a wonderful point when he wrote:
Ill.
Believing things 'on authority' only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine percent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there is such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. The ordinary person believes in the solar system, atoms, and the circulation of the blood on authority--because the scientists say so. Every historical statement is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Spanish Armada. But we believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them; in fact, on authority. A person who balked at authority in other things, as some people do in religion, would have to be content to know nothing all his life.
C.S. Lewis.
Eyewitnesses of His majesty transfigured!
19 And we 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,
Peter brings to his hearers and us what God’s means is … his holy and prophetic word. Do you believe it? Do you trust it? He then tells us that this word was not something made up but that it was given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
20 knowing this first of all that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.
I had a visit from a member with this very question as I was working on my sermon. Did the arc of the covenant have special powers and was Jesus married and did he have children? These things he had been told in conversation with others who were atheists and unbelievers and they are so farfetched that I had to look the questions up online just to see where some of it comes from. Trust me though when I tell you that the arc of the covenant had nothing to do with:
Ill.
Several advanced races of extraterrestrials collectively … made an agreement to aid planet Earth and its race of humans by providing an adoptive soul matrix secured within the Arc after the fall of man caused fragmentation of consciousness from its collective state (this is a concept virtually beyond human imagination and won't be pursued here).
The technology of the Arc of the Covenant was installed into our planetary system and time matrix to counter, repair and rehabilitate imbalances and distortions - including in the Divine blueprint - created by negative interference.
And Jesus and Mary Magdelane is more interesting because:
Jesheua’s parents weren’t Joseph and Mary, as depicted in the Biblical version. Another priest by the similar sounding name ’Jeshewua’ but slightly different spelling, was born to Joseph and Mary, and furthermore this spiritual leader married Mary Magdeline, hence the rumor that it was Jesus.
Jeshewua-9 was of the Hyksos Illuminati lineage and was on a bio-regenesis rehabilitation contract under the supervision of the Guardians.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/huntley/esp_huntley_4.htm http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/huntley/esp_huntley_15.htm
Did you get that? Now which requires more faith … that story or … God by His prophetic word that simply says:
19 And we have the prophetic word …
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.
God’s word says Jesus was transfigured before them in the Gospel reading for today.
God’s voice says:
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Friends,
God wants you to see no one but Jesus. If you harbor doubt … let God lead you into His light by His word. Trust the prophetic words of the eyewitnesses. Do not live in unbelief anymore … but believe.
The word became flesh and dwelt among us. Do not attack it like pitchfork-waving peasants did to that first balloon tearing to pieces as an instrument of evil! Joy in the truth that your sins are forgiven by the one who was and is and is to come.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
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