Eyewitnesses of His Majesty

To the average person, the ice skating, bobsledding, and downhill skiing in the Winter Olympics looks the same. You might be able to notice an athlete going a little faster or performing a little better. But there really isn't much difference in what you're seeing.

If you witnessed the Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics, you noticed something quite different. Even if you didn't understand the symbolism, you knew and felt that something was off.

The two athletes used the torch to light the cauldron. The cauldron lit up with a pentagram. The star is an ancient symbol of Christianity - like the star of David or the star the Magi followed. The inverted or upside-down star is a pentagram. This is an equally ancient symbol of paganism and the occult. The Devil always takes what is good and godly and inverts it, twists it, and perverts it for his evil purposes.

There is always a lot of symbolism in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. What we witnessed was not accidental. The organizers knew what they were portraying. Remember, the Olympics were originally created as games to celebrate their pagan Greek gods. The first ancient games were held in 776 BC as part of a religious festival dedicated to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. So, it isn't surprising that people today will use ancient pagan and occult symbolism to celebrate their false gods while at the same time mocking the one true God. Remember, nothing in this world is neutral. It is either a celebration of the true God and Creator or it's a celebration of false gods - demons - and creation.

While humanity will consistently attempt to remove glory from the true God, St. Peter writes about the glory of God he personally witnessed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter declares that he, James, and John were eyewitnesses of Christ's majesty.

Peter writes, "To be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). Peter is referring to Christ's transfiguration Matthew that wrote about in our Gospel. Apparently, some people thought Peter, James, and John made this story up.

I recently learned that it's been 25 years since the first of "The Lord of the Rings" movies were released in theaters. I'm rewatching the extended versions of the movies, listening to the books, and watching the extras on the DVDs. Peter Jackson, the director of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy mentioned in the extras that J.R.R. Tolkien had so much information in his books that it seemed like this really happened, that it was really part of England's history - and not a made-up story.

You know something can be fake when a person is keeping the details vague and blurry. I'm confident Peter could give sharp, specific details of everything that happened that day on the mountain. This was no make-believe story. The glory of the Lord must have been burned into his retinas and memory.

This mountain-top experience led Peter to realize that Jesus was who he said he was - the glorious Son of God humbly wrapped in human skin. Peter witnessed Jesus' face shining like the sun and his clothing becoming as white as light (Matthew 17:21). Peter also heard the divine voice of God the Father calling from the bright cloud that enveloped them. Peter writes, "For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain" (2 Peter 1:17-18).

Everything came full circle. At the beginning of his ministry, the Father says at his Son's Baptism, "This is my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with him" (Matthew 3:17). Now at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, the Father gives the same heavenly testimony. This is what Peter's persecuted readers needed to hear. They worshiped the genuine article.

Jesus, Peter, James, and John, Moses and Elijah were enveloped by a bright cloud (Matthew 17:5). This reminds us of the Glory of the Lord - a combination of fire and smoke - which appears throughout the Old Testament. God appeared as the Glory of the Lord in the burning bush when the Angel of the Lord first spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:2). God appeared as a pillar of cloud and fire that led the Israelites through their wilderness wandering (Exodus 14:19). Moses wrote in our Old Testament lesson, "Moses went up onto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The Glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. The appearance of the Glory of the Lord looked like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel" (Exodus 24:15-17).

The enemies of Christ always oppose this Glory of the Lord. That's why you'll see ceremonies like in the Olympics, rioters disrupting Christian church services, or Christians arrested while praying outside of abortion clinics. People would never mock Buddhism with their ceremonies or bust into a Jewish synagogue or arrest Muslims while their praying. That's because all these pagan religions are different forces within the same spiritual army. They are all soldiers of Satan. Their gods - Buddha, Allah, Jehovah without Jesus - are all demonic. They may not get along ... I can't imagine demons like each other. But they all unite in opposing Christ and Christ's followers. They give glory to their pagan gods. We give glory to the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Those pagan religions have their own "scriptures" - their "holy" writings. We are blessed as Christians to have God's Scriptures - his holy writings, the Bible, a completely reliable prophetic word (2 Peter 1:19).

Peter states that the origin of the Bible is not "the will of man [man's ideas], but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). God is the source of Scripture. The Bible is God's Word.

God's prophets, evangelists, and apostles were divinely inspired by the Spirit so that the thoughts and words they wrote were the exact words and thoughts that God wanted them to record. The Holy Spirit also used each man's unique style, experiences, and audience to shape the words they wrote. The men did not choose what to write on their own, but the Holy Spirit guided their words, so they were God's words.

Divine inspiration is extremely important for us as Christians. If human writers wrote the Bible, then there will be mistakes, arguments, and contentions. The world is always changing and becoming more confusing. We live in a culture that can't define what a woman is; has little concept of borders; questions laws; mistrusts the media; mistrusts politicians even more; and wants to figure out how to artificially have babies in space while killing babies here on earth.

We need something constant and unchanging and clear. That's the Bible. It is the divinely inspired, inerrant words of the almighty God. It tells us that God made man and woman. It defines how to treat citizens and foreigners. It reminds us that laws, leaders, and governments come and go. It celebrates children and gives us the command to be fruitful and multiply after marriage. The eternal Word of God is the only constant we have in an ever-changing world.

For a brief moment on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus gave a glimpse of his glory. For a short time, we witness Jesus' heavenly glory in earthly time. For an instant, we see Jesus' glory in the midst of his humiliation of God becoming man. Jesus revealed the glory that was always his as the Son of God. But in his state of humiliation, he did not make full and constant use of his divine glory and power.

How did this transfiguration strengthen Jesus' disciples? The disciples remembered this event later and knew they were in the presence of God. How did the transfiguration strengthen Jesus? Jesus, who was in the middle of his humiliation and would soon suffer and die, saw the glory that was his and that would be given him after he completed his Father's will. The author to the Hebrews tells us what to do with our eyes that have witnessed Jesus' glory. "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God's throne" (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus and his disciples also heard the Father put his divine stamp of approval on his Son's work.

The disciples would need to remember this vision of Jesus' full glory because shortly after they walked down the mountain, they would be walking into Jerusalem. They would be eyewitnesses of Jesus' deep humiliation. They would see their Master arrested, tried, beaten, spat upon, mocked, scourged, crucified, and dead. The disciples would be told that the corpse of their Messiah was laid in the dark tomb. In this time of their Messiah's humiliation, it would be the responsibility of Peter, James, and John to remind the rest of the disciples about the shining glory they witnessed upon the mountain top.

We will continue to see the world worship their false gods and denigrate the true God. That's nothing new. It's been happening since the Fall into sin. The Devil will continue to invert, twist, and pervert what is good and godly. What should you do? Return repeatedly to the Scriptures. St. Peter advises, "You do well to pay attention to [the Scriptures], as to a lamp shining in a dark place" (2 Peter 1:19) What does that light do? It guides us through the darkness of life. It cheers us up when the darkness threatens to envelop us. It illumines our hearts by enabling us to understand God's forgiving love. It makes sense of an inverted, twisted, and perverted world.

The Transfiguration indicates that, although Jesus was a man, he was also far more than a man. In him dwells the fullness of the deity in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). He is the only begotten Son of the Father from eternity. Jesus is both God and man in one person (Romans 9:5).

The Transfiguration was a reminder of the full glory that awaited Jesus after his suffering and death. It was as if Jesus lifted the veil and gave humanity a peek of who he truly is. He does this to encourage us when we need it most, for he would go on to face the cross and tomb. He does this to encourage us, for we are called upon to take up our cross and follow Christ unto death.

On this last Sunday in the season of Epiphany, Christ gives us one more epiphany of who he really is. Jesus is the God who makes his humble majesty visible in lowliness and servitude. He is the God who is so poor that he must borrow a donkey to ride into Jerusalem. He is the God who slaves away at washing his disciples' dirty feet. He is the God who gives his cheek to the betraying lips of Judas, to the slapping hand of the high priest, and to the spit of the Sanhedrin. He is the God who gives his head to the thorns, his feet to the spikes, and his side to the spear. He is the Christ whose Majestic Glory is hidden upon the bloody cross and buried deep within the tomb. He is the glorious Lord who revealed his glory once again on the third day as he rose from the dead and then forty days later ascended to his rightful place at God's the Father's glorious right hand.

On that Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples were eyewitnesses of Jesus' glory. They needed this vision of glory to make sense of Christ's humiliation they would witness in a few weeks. They also needed to be eyewitnesses of this majesty during their years of persecution.

We are heading into Lent in a few days with our Ash Wednesday service. Here, our worship will be muted, somber, and repentant. Out there, we will continue to endure persecution and mockery for our Christian faith. This may come publicly for all the world to see. This may also come privately that very few will see. As we enter Lent and endure mockery, humiliation, and persecution, it's important to remember Jesus' humiliation in the manger, in the desert, and on the cross. But we also remember his glory revealed on the mountain, out of the grave, and upon his heavenly throne. For we are eyewitnesses of his majesty. Amen.