Video of the Divine Service is here. The sermon begins around the 29:50 mark.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is important to know where you are in the story. Are you at the beginning of the story, where you don’t really have your bearings yet, and you’re not really quite sure what’s happening yet? Are you in the middle of the story, where you have some of the pieces, and you’re trying to put them together, but you don’t know quite how they’re all going to fit together? Are you at the end of the story, where you’ve been given the most important pieces, which tell you what it all means and how it all fits? It’s important to know where you are in the story.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that the Israelites were mistaken about where they were in the story. They thought they were at the end, that they could see how it was all going to turn out. They had been rescued from slavery in Egypt, now they were at Sinai, and they were going to enter into the land God had promised their fathers. It seemed like they were at the end of the story. And it was glorious. When Moses came down from the mountain, bringing the law and the instruction of God, his face was bright with the glory of God. And when he’d go into the tent of meeting to speak with God, he’d come out and His face would be shining. So he would give the people the words of God, and then he’d put a veil over his face because of the brightness of the glory. They thought they were at the end of the story, that this would be the completion of the promise of God. But they were only somewhere in the middle. This was not the end of the story; it was only a means to the end.

This was all only partial, and when the permanent and perfect comes, the partial passes away. This was all being brought to its end, and its end was Christ. The glory that was coming was so much more glorious, that this glory wouldn’t seem like glory at all. Paul says that for the people to hear Moses as if Moses were the end; to hear the law as if the law was the end; is not to hear God at all, not to see God at all. These are the letters of the law, of death, written on stone. To hear them apart from Jesus is like having a veil covering your face. The true face and glory of God is obscured. Only in Jesus is the veil removed, and the true glory of God seen. That’s what was to come, but they were not there yet.

Peter, James, and John, though, on a different mountain are seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus. But they, too, made a mistake about where they were in the story. Peter saw that divine glory of Jesus on the mountain, and he saw Moses and Elijah speaking with Him there, confirming the promises of God, and Peter thought that would be a good place to end the story. He knew it wasn’t the end, because Jesus had already told him that they were on their way to Jerusalem where the Son of Man would suffer, be crucified, die, and on the third day be raised. This was not the end, but Peter thought it would be a good place to end. Let’s build three tents of meeting, instead of just one. It can be like it was on Sinai. Maybe Peter thought that he and James and John were going to be like Moses, meeting with these three on the mountain, and then going down to tell the people what God was saying. But they were terrified, and Peter did not know what he was really saying. This is not the end; the story does not end on this mountain, any more than it ended on the mountain of Sinai. This story would require another mountain, Calvary, Golgotha, the mountain of the cross.

They had to go down from the mountain, because this glory is not what people will see in this creation. The other nine disciples did not see it, let alone have we seen it. God surrounds Peter, James, and John with the cloud of Sinai, of His presence, and He speaks to them: This is My beloved Son; listen to Him. And then, no more voice, no more cloud, no more Moses, no more Elijah, no more bright, shining Jesus. Only His words; only, listen to Him. They looked around and there was no one except Jesus only. Listen to Him.

We are not yet in the presence of the full glory of Jesus. We are still down in the valley. The only glory we will see is the glory of God in the face of Jesus. That face is crowned with thorns, and His body is marked by nails and spear. The only glory we will see in this creation of sin and death is the back of God’s glory, like Moses saw when he was hidden in the rock. It is the glory of the letters of death brought to their end. There, on the cross, we see the letters of the law written large and bold, in blood and death. There, the condemnation that the law brings is nailed to the cross, crucified in Jesus’ body, so that they can no longer be used against you. There, the law that you must keep or die is buried in Jesus’ flesh, who alone kept it. And now you see the glory of God’s salvation in the face of the crucified Jesus. He is risen from the dead, but we do not yet see that glory. Even so, this is the word Paul brought and it is the glory we can see by hearing Jesus. It is the creative word of the God who said “Let there be light, let light shine out of darkness.” He says, “This is My Son, the crucified one, listen to His Words.” Forgive them, He says. You are forgiven. There is no condemnation for you, who are in Christ Jesus.

Paul says that as long as you hear His Word, you are looking at His clear and true face. And so we are all like Moses, hearing from God, reflecting His glory. As we stand before Him, hearing Him, we are being transformed from glory to glory, from the glory of the cross now to the glory of the resurrection then. We are not, of course, there yet. That’s why we’re going to start Lent this week. It is a reminder to us of where we are in the story. We know how it all holds together. We know how this story goes, because we’ve already seen it in Jesus. Do not tell anyone what you’ve seen until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. Well, if we have those words written down and spoken to us, that means that the Son of Man is risen from the dead! So we know how the story goes. But we are not yet to the last page. We’re still on this side of our resurrection, so we’re on this side of the glory. But the crucified glory of Jesus is the same glory as the resurrection glory, because it’s the same Jesus. The crucified one is the risen one; the risen one is the crucified one. For now, we remain with the hidden glory of God in the flesh of Jesus, in water with the words, in the bread and the wine where we eat the body and the blood. Our life is hidden, just as the glory of God is hidden. But our life is hidden in the same place, with God in Christ. And when Christ, your life, appears, then you will appear with Him in glory. God, bring us to that day!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV). Amen.

– Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 2/9/24