Eyewitness to Majesty

25-26
Feb 2017, Christ Mountain Top, Transfiguration
Psalm
99 (call to worship)
Matthew
17.1-9 (kids)
2
Peter 1.16-21 (message)
Lots
going on in the text
      Defense of Scripture’s authority
            Not simply a human book, but God’s
            “You would do well to pay attention
… as to a lamp in dark”
      Report of Jesus’ transfiguration
            As confirmation of prophecy
            As reported by eyewitnesses
An
undercurrent yet to be developed:
      “as we made known to you the power and
coming of the Lord”
      Coming, Parousia, commonly referred to as 2nd coming, return
            In ancient tradition, was visit to
your town by a god/king
            The town turns out to greet the king
(rapture), brings in
False
teachers deny the Scripture/prophets
      On the grounds that the Parousia has not
occurred
      The delay means we cannot trust the
Scripture
This
is why Peter defends Scripture and confirms it as eyewitness

Eyewitnesses
      NT completed within 1 generation of the
eyewitnesses
      Much by those persons themselves
“Footnotes,”
in Mark (associated with Peter’s preaching)
      Young man fled without his clothes (Mark
14.52)
      Father of Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15.1)
The
Scriptures include all kinds of stories that make no sense, if we are
presenting our best side
      Peter’s denial
      Yet, Jesus loved him
Connection
between transfiguration and parousia
      As a movie preview –
            Guardians of the Galaxy &
Captain Underpants
      A glimpse, a foretaste, a guarantee
What
does this have to do with us?
2
Peter 1:19
 You will do well to
be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns
and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Metaphors
for Jesus’ coming:
      The day (and dawn)
      Morning star
What
are we waiting for?
1
John 3:1-2
 How great is the love
the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And
that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not
know him.  2 Dear friends, now
we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we
know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
      Waiting
for our own transformation
      Waiting
for the day when our bodies work right
      Waiting
for the day in which we are defined not by political party, skin color, ethnic
background, job title, bank account, birth order, first language, gender
      Waiting
for the day when we are no longer dogged by our broken promises, unworthy
thoughts, barely controlled impulse
      But by
our beloved-ness – like Jesus,
God’s kids. “We are children of God … we shall be like Jesus”
Morning
star rises … in our hearts
      As surely as there is a future event in
which Jesus comes in glory
      Also a moment in which Jesus comes to us,
here & now
But
how are we defined by those closest to us?
      Betrayal
      Repeated conflict
      Undermined
      Addicted
      Codependent
By
those closest to us, we are defined by brokenness
By
our culture, defined by labels
By
our own behavior, like Peter, faithless and sinful
But
who we are is God’s beloved!
      As there is a glorification of Jesus – on
the Mount of Transfiguration and in the coming Parousia
      So there is a glorification of all God’s
children
      As Jesus in glory is revealed not by power
or perfection but as “Son”, beloved, pleasing
      So we are revealed not by our weakness or
imperfection but as “sons” and “daughters”, beloved, pleasing
      We are part of God’s family circle
No
wonder
2
Peter 1:19
 You will do well to
be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns
and the morning star rises in your hearts.
May
that day be today.
Resources:

Duane
F. Watson, 2 Peter, in New Interpreter’s
Bible,
Vol XII