Transfiguration Series

The Transfiguration of Our Lord Feb. 18

Counted Worthy!

Deut. 34:1-12

Heb. 3:1-6

† IN Jesus Name †

If the walls of the church could talk….

They would tell of Christ’s work, and worthiness

They can!! They Should!!

Grace, mercy and peace are to be yours, from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ!

Over the years, they have seen new life truly begin, as in faith people have been baptized. They have heard people’s lives, and concerns poured out before God in prayer, and have witnessed the testimony, as those prayers have resulted in God’s peace, and indeed in miracles. They have seen children grow up, and struggle with the faith, and yet, still be assured that God does love them. They have observed the celebration of the lives of those whom we love, as we have entrusted them to God’s hands, knowing that though they have departed this life, they know the blessing of being in God’s presence. How many times have they heard the gospel, how many times have they witnessed the people of God celebrate the Lord’s Supper?

If only these walls could talk, they would proclaim without hesitation, the incredible glory of God, the glory of Jesus Christ, the glory which is so far beyond that of any other man.

The glory seen first by the three apostles on a mountaintop, when Jesus was seen, changed, transfigured, revealed in all His glory, surrounded by two incredible prophets, Moses, and Elijah. Though incredible prophets, they only pointed to the one who is the fulfillment of what God told them to promise the people of God.

In Hebrews 3, the author is going to discuss that very concept – the worthiness, the glory of Jesus, and how He is more worthy, and because of that, Jesus is the recipient of our praise, and how we confess and even boast about His worthiness, and His love…

For my friends, the walls of this church do talk… and can proclaim the glory of God!

Moses work and Worthiness

Nursing the house

Servant of the House

But he was just a servant, and a sinner

The book of Hebrews has a specific purpose, to show the Jewish people of the day, and all since, that Jesus was the Son of God, and because of that, is more valuable to them, than the prophet Moses, indeed, more than all of the prophets of the Old Covenant. That the sacrifice of Jesus, on the cross, was more important than all the sacrifices of the Old Testament. That people needed to place their faith, not in the religion handed down from Moses, but in their Creator and sustainer, Jesus.

In comparing Moses to Jesus, the writer who penned Hebrews used two analogies, one, comparing the servant of a house to the son of the owner, and in comparing the worth of a house, to the worth of the one who planned, prepared and built a building

The first analogy is worth looking at. In greek, there are several words for servant. The first is the most common – deacon – and pictures a menial servant who has a specific duty and follows directions. While often a person who has proved trustworthy, the deacon/servant is still one for whom the path and duty is well defined. There is another kind of servant, the therapon. The therapon is the one whom is entrusted with doing that which they know will heal, make well and/or improve the state of the person or place who’s care they have been entrusted.

Moses is a therapon – he has been entrusted to care for Israel, to do that which will restore them, to assist them in gaining back the faith that was so minimalized and trivialized while they stayed in Egypt. He was a very faithful servant of God Almighty, as he worked, in God’s power, to free the people, so that they could go worship God. For over 40 years, he faithfully strove to see God’s people grow in faith – indeed, not just the generation God rescued from Egypt, but a new younger group – that realized that the promises of God were meant for them.

He struggled with their sin, and with his own. Moses put in place, by obeying God’s word, the sacrificial system that would temporarily serve the people of Israel, and point to the Messiah, whose sacrifice would be once, and for all.

He worked as a servant…. He served to free the people of Israel, to bring them healing for their sin, and faithfully, he delivered them to a earthly promised land, where they would become known as the people of God. And when he delivered them there, among his last words to the people of God, were these,

15 "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ’Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ Deuteronomy 18:15-16 (ESV)