Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text on which this morning's message is based comes from our Epistle lesson (2 Peter 1: 16-21) read earlier.
Have you ever served in a jury before or served as a witness at a trial. Even if you haven't you've probably seen a trial, either in real life or on TV or in the movies. In a trial, lawyers and judges run the show. The judge is there to make sure the trial is run fairly, impartially, according to the law. The lawyers are there to present their side of the case, prosecution or defense. The jury is there to decide the case, guilty or not guilty, truth or fiction. Each person in the trial is critical in importance, but ultimately a trial comes down to the witnesses, especially the eyewitnesses in the case of a criminal trial. Whether or not the eyewitnesses saw the actual event, whether or not the eyewitnesses appear credible, believable to the jury, that will decide whether the case is decided one way or the other.
Three men went to the top of the mountain with Jesus. They were all three witnesses to this spectacular event of the Transfiguration. They saw Jesus, not just in his regular human form, but in a portion of his transcendent heavenly splendor. His face shined like the sun. His clothes became white like lightning. Moses and Elijah, each gone from this world for 1200 and 800 years respectively, appear with him. A bright cloud, reminiscent of the cloud of God's presence at Moses' time, envelopes them and the voice of God the Father speaks from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" Peter, James and John saw and heard and felt all this. They were eyewitnesses, they were 'ear' witnesses to the majesty revealed in their Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't leave behind cleverly invented stories or fables about what men imagine God might be like. No, Peter, James and John saw his majesty directly. They saw how He received honor and glory from God the Father. They were simply reporting what they saw, reporting what they heard. But what they saw was life-changing, even history changing. They witnessed Jesus in his heavenly splendor.
Peter, James and John were partially prepared for what they saw, but only partially. They knew the prophecies of the Scriptures, the prophecies "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (v. 21)" They knew that the Christ was to come, and Peter had already confessed his belief that Jesus was the Christ. They somehow knew that Moses was Moses and Elijah was Elijah. They were partially prepared for recognizing what was occurring; they weren't completely surprised. God's Word does that. It prepares us for what is to come. It prepares us to recognize Jesus. It prepares us to see his heavenly glory. Their eyewitness experience made the word of the prophets even more certain. God had been working through his people for centuries, planning for this important event of the transfiguration. The presence of these two Old Testament prophets pointed to the fulfillment that was occurring in Jesus. Peter, James, and John knew the Word of God, and they were prepared, partially for what they had witnessed.
Peter, James and John also witnessed Jesus in his suffering. They were witnesses to the cross. This they were not so prepared for. They should have known. Jesus had been telling them (Matthew 16: 21): "From that time on (after Peter's confession) Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." They were witnesses to their own shortcomings, of abandoning Him at the hour He needed them the most. They were witnesses to their own need for God's salvation. They were witnesses that God had provided that salvation through Jesus.
They were also witnesses to his resurrection. John and Peter were the first to arrive at the tomb after the women brought their eyewitness report of the angels. John outran Peter, but Peter, the ever bold one ran in first. Peter was the first to burst into the tomb and discover the missing body of Jesus. Peter, James and John were eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection, but they were not alone in their eyewitness testimony. Jesus appeared to over 500 of his disciples before He ascended back to heaven (1 Corinthians 15: 6).
Over 500 people were witnesses to the glory of his resurrection. But only three of Jesus disciples were witnesses to his Transfiguration, Peter, James and John. But only two of them survived into old age. James, the brother of John was the first Apostle martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ. In Acts 12 we learn that King Herod Agrippa imprisoned James and Peter, and had James killed by the sword only about a dozen years after Christ's resurrection. But God protected Peter and John from that particular time of persecution, and they both lived for decades telling people of the story of Jesus, certainly telling what they had seen about the Transfiguration after Jesus had been raised from the dead.
They were eyewitnesses, and they left for us their eyewitness accounts about Jesus. Peter tells us about the voice from heaven in his epistle here today. Matthew tells us about the voice from heaven, even though Matthew was not a direct eyewitness of that scene. He had heard about it from Peter, James and/or John. Because of the writings from Peter and John and Matthew and Mark and Luke and Paul, we know of Jesus. We know that the voice from heaven said "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him." Because of their witness, we are still able to hear and listen to the loving words of Jesus, the words that tell us of his suffering and death for us, the words that tells us of his resurrection and ascension for us. Because of these witnesses, the words of the prophets are made more certain for us. Because of these witnesses, we can know of Jesus' majesty on earth and in heaven (as in John's witness in the book of Revelation). They have left us with living and powerful transcripts of eyewitness evidence.
Peter, James and John have all gone to be with their Lord in heaven now. But God's witnesses are not yet gone. Granted, the eyewitnesses of the 1st century are all gone, but God has left us as continuing witnesses to the words that they left us, to the words of Jesus that we can continue to listen to for our lifetime. God has left us as witnesses, and we saw vivid evidence of it this past week. Gale and Elainea Cynova flew to California last weekend to see her dying brother Chuck. They had told him that our congregation had been praying for him, and that brought tears to his eyes. They told him about his Savior Jesus who had suffered and died and rose again for Chuck. He listened to Jesus words of salvation and began to trust in Him. He asked to be baptized into the name of the triune God, the words Jesus left us with at the end of the book of Matthew. And Chuck was baptized by Jesus through the hands of Deacon Gale under the auspices of our congregation, our assembly of witnesses here. Chuck called his mother and told her that he was now at peace with his impending death.
The doctors had told the family to expect Chuck would live another 4-6 weeks. Instead, his Lord Christ called him heavenward less than 4 days after his baptism. We can be confident that through the witness of Gale and Elainea, Chuck now stands before Jesus, seeing Jesus' transfigured glory there above. And Chuck's is not the only story like that among us recently. Just last fall, 91 year-old Thelma Rider, Marlene Insley's mother, was baptized, and two months later our Lord called her to be at his side in heaven.
God has left us as witnesses and we see vivid evidence of that in Chuck's story this week and Thelma's last fall. But God has left us to witness about Jesus under more normal circumstances as well. Peter, James and John didn't stay on the mountain throughout their lives. They came down and did normal, everyday witnessing about Jesus too. You witness to your faith in Jesus when your neighbors see you drive out your driveway on Sunday mornings and when they witness you living peaceful and holy lives throughout the week. You witness to your faith when you say the Lord's Prayer at home with your child or grandchild, and teach them what those words of Jesus mean from the Catechism. You witness to your faith when you invite others to join us in worship and Bible Study and Sunday School and service. You witness to your faith when you stay up all or most of the night at a youth lock-in, praising God in song and learning of his love for you. You witness to your faith when you share a meaningful Bible verse with a fellow believer when they are struggling.
At the beginning of the sermon I had said that trials have lawyers and judges and juries and witnesses. God doesn't call us to be lawyers and judges in our spiritual lives. He doesn't need us to argue his case for him. He doesn't need us to make sure he is treated fairly. He simply calls us to be witnesses, credible, believable witnesses to those who have questions about Jesus. May we always be witnesses to his majesty and glory, his love and grace.
Let us pray. Lord, we praise your name that you have revealed your saving words, the words of and about Jesus through the Holy Scriptures. We praise you for bringing us to faith so that we can live at peace in this world until we go to be with you. We thank you for the opportunity you give us to witness to that faith to people like Chuck and Thelma, our neighbors and families. Help us to grow in faith. Help us always to listen to the words of your son Jesus. Amen.