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Light in the Darkness
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
As we observe the Transfiguration, we are standing at the mid-point between the wonders of Christmas and Epiphany on the one hand, and the glories of Lent and Easter on the other. Both reveal wonderful truths. A baby in a manger is God revealed in human flesh, the God-Man who is the Savior of all. He gives His life for the world and then comes forth from the grave, victorious over sin, death, and the devil. He ascends into heaven, to the everlasting throne of power. Finally, He will come again to judge the living and the dead. These are wonderful things. We believe them; we put our confidence in them; we rest our eternal hope on them. But could they not be mere fables? Or are they truth, the foundation of faith, the revelation of the mind and heart of God?
In every time and place and culture, men have thought and spoken about God. The earliest monuments of ancient lands were usually those which marked a society as religious in character. Ancient civilizations, uncovered by archaeologists, have revealed what those people thought about what they conceived of as God. And often, the things found contained some elements of truth. These show that, even without divine revelation, man has some knowledge of God. At the same time, however, much of what has been found speaks of speculation and just pure fiction. Often “the gods” were no more than glorified men, with all the failings and vices known to mankind. After all, man’s natural religion rests on that very shaky foundation of the fallible human mind.
Sadly, the faith of many today rests on no better foundation. Even much of what passes for the Christian faith these days is built largely on human opinion or speculation. Because Holy Scripture has been picked apart and ravaged by its godless critics, for many there is no longer a definitive authority to determine what is true and what is not. True Christian faith, however, rests not on fallible human speculation, but on the testimony of trustworthy eye and ear witnesses. And that is the standard Peter meets. He said: “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.” Peter goes right to the heart of matter. The heart of the Christian faith is the living Lord Jesus. We do not deal with legends, but with a Person whom history knows.
When the apostles spoke or wrote, they told of actual events, things they had witnessed. Another of the eyewitness of the Transfiguration, St. John, wrote in his First Epistle, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life...that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you...” In our text, Peter identifies all of this as being “eyewitnesses of His majesty.” Together with James and John, Peter had been on that holy mountain where Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light. With their own eyes they were witnesses to His glory. And with their own ears they heard the voice of the Father out of heaven: “This is My beloved Son.” These events, which they had witnessed, and to which they gave testimony, are the foundation of faith. The Apostles and Evangelists wrote the truth, even when the truth would seem to be to their disadvantage. Just think of Peter and all of the unflattering things Scripture tells us about him, such as his denial of Jesus. Even when it was unpleasant, the truth was told.
“Know this first,” Peter said, “that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 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.” No prophet of old had given his own interpretation of what God had given him to speak, but simply offered just what the Holy Spirit had given him. Indeed, the prophets told of much more than they ever fully understood, and that was possible because the Holy Spirit moved them to write and inspired what they wrote.
The faith stands on the foundation of the Word of God, the light that shines in a dark place. The darkness that needs to be overcome in all of us is spiritual ignorance caused by sin. The light brought to bear on it is the wisdom and knowledge of God. Peter says that if we pay attention to this Word, this light will grow until it becomes in our hearts like the light of day. If faith is built on the solid foundation of the Word and its witness to Jesus Christ, these things will become as real to us as they were to those who saw them first-hand, for Jesus Christ, the Sun of righteousness, has risen in our hearts to cast out the darkness of doubt and despair.
In all of this, we are offered the boundless riches of God’s grace; we are given a life that can be lived out in true joy and thanksgiving to God; we are granted a peace of heart that surpasses all understanding. May God grant to you this sure foundation of faith, so that you may walk in the light of the Lord. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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