"KISSING THE SON"
The Transfiguration of Our Lord
February 26, 2017
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 2:12 (ESV)
A number of years ago, when I took issue with our district president on a particular matter, several of my fellow pastors warned me that if I wasn't careful, I might soon be receiving a call to Moose Lick, Saskatchewan. It's amazing how our words and behavior can change when we interact with people in authority--especially people who are in authority over us. I'm not talking here about simply showing respect toward those in authority. That ought to be a given, since it's common courtesy and especially since it's our obligation under the Fourth Commandment. No, I'm talking about the fear and trepidation that some people feel when they are in the presence of their superiors. It's somewhat humorous, although it's also sad, to see them dancing around, trying to say and do all of the right things and by all means trying to avoid saying or doing anything that might offend the superior or displease him in any way.
If we are that concerned about how we speak and act in the presence of our earthly superiors, how much more concerned we should be in the presence of the Son of God who is always among us. While it is true that He humbled Himself and submitted to human life in this sinful world in order to redeem us from sin and death, He is still our Lord and God. I'm afraid that some Christians, in their attempt to feel close to their Savior, have made the mistake of regarding Him as almost their Equal. Nothing could be further from the truth. The transfiguration of our Lord reminds us that the Christ who lived and walked and talked among us as One of us is nevertheless our God, radiant with divine glory. Him alone we are to worship, and at His name alone we are to bow. As we meditate on these words of the second psalm, let's also meditate on our Lord and Savior, considering what He is capable of and what He desires for us.
When we consider the matter of what the Son of God is capable of, we do so in order that we don't take Him or His gentleness for granted. He who is our humble and gentle Savior and Shepherd is also our perfectly just King and Judge. That's the teaching of the Scriptures and therefore that's what we confess in the Nicene Creed when we say that "He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead" (Nicene Creed, Article II). That's why the psalmist says that we should be on our guard "lest He be angry . . . for His wrath is quickly kindled." It is a false assumption to think that Jesus never becomes angry. On the contrary, because He is the perfect and holy One, He is intensely angered by sin. To find evidence of this, we need look no further than the Gospel accounts of the Lord cleansing the temple (Matthew 21:12, 13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45; John 2:14-16). When we consider the gracious things that Jesus has done for us, we need to bear in mind that it was His anger over sin as well as His love for sinners that moved Him to deal with our sin once and for all. He is a forgiving Savior who loves sinners, but if our repentance is genuine we will not dare to take His forgiveness or His love for granted. Instead we will bow humbly before our Judge, even as the disciples who were present at the transfiguration were in awe of the Divine Majesty that they beheld.
There is another thing for us to remember as we consider what our Lord is capable of: We are told in the passage before us to be careful in our dealings with the Son of God "lest . . . [we] perish in the way." The Son of God who is capable of anger is also capable of destroying those with whom He is angry. His rejection by His own people, the abuse and ridicule that He endured, His suffering and death at the hands of sinful men--these things did not happen to Him because He was powerless to stop them. They happened because He allowed them to happen. His crucifixion on the tree of shame is in fact His coronation and the revelation of His power, because it was in His suffering and death that He overcame and destroyed the power of sin and death. This was confirmed by His resurrection from the dead. As we pray during the Easter season, "By His death He has destroyed death and by His rising to life again He has restored to us everlasting life" (Lutheran Service Book-Altar Book, page 152), Remembering that He is able to destroy, let us especially remember with thanksgiving the fact that in love He has chosen to destroy our sin rather than destroying us "in the way"--that is, "in the way" of our sin and hopelessness.
The great and terrible things that our Lord and Savior is capable of are tempered for us by our knowledge of what He desires for us. He desires great blessings for us. That's why those who cling to Him in faith are described in our text as "blessed." The Lord who through His Law roots out our sin with such bluntness and threatens us with the punishment that we deserve does so in order that we might repent, give up our foolish and futile attempts to justify ourselves before the perfect Judge, and take comfort in His saving Gospel. All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the Gospel of Christ in Word and Sacrament. Blessedness is to be found not in any of the things that we do or even attempt to do; it is to be found only in the One who alone "has done all things well" (Mark 7:37).
Which is why the "blessed" ones are the ones "who take refuge in Him." He alone is the safe Refuge from His own judgment. Because He is the One who took upon Himself the responsibility for human sin and endured its just penalty, He is the One who is able to protect sinners from the condemnation that they fear the most--the One who is able to pronounce pardon and absolution upon the guilty. We "take refuge in Him" when we rely on His merits alone, to the exclusion of everything else, as we face the Judge of the living and the dead. Taking refuge in Him means that we stand before God's judgment with nothing but Christ's righteousness and Christ's sacrifice, knowing that these are sufficient to justify us before God and to win for us the blessing of everlasting life and glory in the presence of our heavenly Father. There is no other refuge. "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" Acts 4:12).
We can find a far better reason for loving the Son of God than our awareness of what He is capable of doing if we only take a look at what He desires for us and brings about for us. The disciples who went with their Lord to the Mount of Transfiguration had no reason to be terrified, since their Lord of power and might is also their Lord of mercy and grace. We approach Him in the same way: with reverent awe, to be sure, but also with confidence because we know that the Father who is well pleased with His perfect Son is also well pleased with those who through Baptism are united with that perfect Son in His death and resurrection. That is our joy and comfort in this life, as we prepare to enter the penitential season of Lent, and especially as we prepare to meet the Lord when He returns in glory.
Amen.
May the God who caused light to shine out of darkness cause you to increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all people, as His love abounds for us; and may the glory of His Son be manifested to you and in you, that you may be witnesses to all nations now and until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.