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)
Christ’s worth comparatively
And so we come to Jesus, the prophet promised, who would speak as God. Much more worthy is He than Moses, for Moses was but a servant, even a very trusted servant, while Jesus is more.
Where Moses rescued the people of God from physical slavery, Jesus would rescue us from a far worse slavery, bondage to sin, satan and feath.
Where Moses would deal year by year, and struggle with the sin of the people, Jesus would, in his death, burial and resurrection, pay for all sin, at once.
Where Moses would lead people, over the course of a generation, to a physical promised land, Jesus becomes the way to an eternal promised land.
Where Moses spoke words for God, Jesus spoke, as the Word of God, indeed, as God.
And where Moses reflected the glory of God, Jesus is the glory that is reflected.
And because of this, Jesus is counted worthy- much more worth glory and praise, than Moses was.
His Building plan
The second analogy, comparing Moses to Jesus, is the notion of comparing that which is built, to the builder. For both Moses and Jesus were involved, in building up the people of God. For it is the people of God that truly make up that which is the church, not the some wood, cement, glass and plaster. And while Moses spoke for God, we see that he is part of that which is created as well.
Jesus is more than a part of the creation, He is the creator, He is the builder. In Greek, we have another great word there, for builder encompasses more than the construction crew. It is the architect, who plans the building, the contractor, who oversees its development and acquires the material and personnel, and the inspector who determines when it is finished. It is that kind of builder that we see in God, as He has planned for this church to be in this community. He has brought us here, together, to be the people of God.
Think about all the work that has taken, to bring together this congregation, never mind the church throughout the world. To take lives, broken by sin, and heal them, and rehabilitate them, for before we had faith in Jesus, that is who we were. To then take us, and call us together into this community. To build His church, here. A small part of the church throughout the world.
He did it in a truly amazing way, taking a road that starts there on the mountain top. Where Moses finally saw the face of God that he sought to see for so many years. You see the path from that mountain top leads to the cross, and the grave, and the empty tomb.
The past we follow, during Lent, which starts this week…
From the glory on the mountain, to the ultimate display of glory, as He dies for those He loves. The transfiguration is not the peak of Christ’s love, though it speaks of His majesty and grace. The peak comes as He dies for us, to establish His people, to Build His church.
In the beginning of this sermon, I made a bold claim – that the walls of the church could speak of the glorious things God has done among His people in this place. It can, not only that, it should, it must. For we are that church, we are the building, the temple, the people of God. We are the church that Christ has built.
And we can proclaim that God has worked in our lives, that He is working even now, and that He will according to Eph. 1 – He has promised to finish the work He has begun in us. And so we hold fast to our confession, and we boast of the work that Gid has done, in building us here.
In building a peaceful temple, a sanctuary of and for His people, those who know that they have been given God’s peace, a peace which guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.
AMEN?
AMEN.
