2 Peter 1:16-21 - The Transfiguration Teaches About the Bible - February 19, 2023

If you ignored my advice and ended up watching the halftime show of the Superbowl last week, then, from the reviews I read and clips I’ve seen, you witnessed a performance the likes of which had never been seen before; a show which at times seemed to defy reality. The main artist (using the term “artist” very loosely) called Rihanna, appeared to float in the air over the field. Dozens, maybe hundreds of dancers flailed their arms and gyrated their hips in remarkable harmony. Lights and fireworks and sound effects combined to overwhelm your senses. If you didn’t see the halftime show last Sunday, you might be a little skeptical, you might think I’m just making it all up – because what I just described seems too unbelievable to be true. Sadly, that is exactly the way many people approach the Bible. They think it’s a nice book of stories, but that it is too incredible, too unbelievable to be true. Today, the apostle Peter makes a somewhat unexpected but extremely important connection between his experience of our Lord’s Transfiguration and our reading of the Bible.

Sowing doubt in God’s Word is the oldest play in the devil’s playbook. He planted that lie right away in the Garden of Eden with his question to Eve “Did God really say?” Skepticism about the truth and validity of Scripture was widespread in Peter’s day and it is still widespread in ours. Peter takes these skeptics head-on: to be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Speaking on behalf of all the writers of the New Testament, Peter defends their work, first by establishing that every word in the Bible points to Jesus and that the good news about Jesus is not a myth. It is not a book of morals like Aesop’s fables. It is not just one of the many religions invented by men to help people deal with the problems in their lives. The Bible is about Jesus and Peter and the other apostles were eyewitnesses of his power and divine majesty. They had eaten the food he miraculously provided for the 5000 (John 6:1-14). They sat in the boat as Jesus walked on water and calmed stormy seas with just a word (John 6:15-21). They talked with and even touched Jesus after he had risen from the grave (John 20:19-29). Both courts of law and common sense tell us that the most trustworthy accounts of an event come from eye-witnesses. The Bible is the work of eyewitnesses. It is historical fact not fiction.

So what’s the problem? Why do so many doubt the Bible? Why do we sometimes doubt the Bible? The problem is that many people like the idea of Jesus, but they don’t really like the parts of the Bible that contradict culturally accepted truths about science and history and morality. They may accept the Jesus who was portrayed in commercials last Sunday – as a Jesus who is relevant because he “gets us” [1] – but they also want the right to pick and choose the parts of the Bible they will keep and which they can do without. For many, this means cutting out the miracle accounts. Peter puts an end to this kind of thinking when he describes the Transfiguration: For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.    

Peter witnessed Jesus’ miraculous transfiguration with his own eyes. He saw Jesus clothed in heavenly glory from head to toe – a sight more incredible than anything seen last Sunday at the Superbowl. He saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. He listened as the heavens were ripped open and God identified Jesus as his Son and approved of both the work he had done and was about to do when he left that mountain. And Peter wasn’t alone. James and John were with him. Peter could not have gotten away with telling this story if it wasn’t true. The same goes for the miracle that serves as the foundation of our faith: Jesus’ bodily resurrection from death. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that Jesus appeared to no fewer than six different groups or individuals after he returned to life. Jesus walked and talked with his disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), he ate fish and let them touch his resurrected body (Luke 24:36-49), and he appeared in a blinding vision to Paul himself on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). None of that is myth – it is undeniable, historical fact – a fact that even the Jews who killed Jesus couldn’t dispute – but could only try to cover up (Matthew 28:11-15). Despite what other religions teach, despite what the critics of the Bible say, Peter uses the Transfiguration to remind us that the Bible, including every single miracle, is the eyewitness account of true, historical events.

That fact alone would be enough to make the Bible worthy of serious consideration and serious study. But Peter goes on: we also have the completely reliable prophetic word. If eyewitness testimony doesn’t do it for you, Peter says, then do your homework: go back to the Old Testament, search the Scriptures and you will find that nearly every major event contained in the Gospels was foretold hundreds of years before it ever took place. Everyone who knows their Old Testament could verify that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), he would preach in Galilee (Isaiah 49:6), he would be betrayed for precisely 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13), and he would be hung on a cursed tree (Deuteronomy 21:23) – and that only Jesus fulfills all these prophecies. The New Testament is the result of eyewitness testimony, and this testimony in every case agrees with God’s Old Testament prophecies.

The fact that the Bible is true and verifiable, means that you do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. This really helps us understand the “why” of Jesus’ Transfiguration. Jesus knew what the future held for him. He knew he would soon be suffering at the hands of his enemies and agonizingly dying on a cross. He knew how this would look to his disciples who still expected him to set up a glorious earthly kingdom. He knew they would see his suffering and death as the ultimate defeat. So he gave Peter, James, and John a glimpse of His heavenly glory. He wanted to reassure them that no one; not Judas, not Caiaphas, not Pilate; not even the devil himself could force him to give up his glory, suffer and die. Rather, he would walk to Calvary of his own free will. He would voluntarily give up his power, his glory and his life in order to redeem the world from the clutches of hell. Jesus was transfigured to strengthen his disciples’ faith – to give them one more proof that he was who he claimed to be: the Son of God.

In many ways, the days we live in feel a lot like the last days of Jesus’ life, when it seems like evil is always gaining strength and it doesn’t seem like Jesus can possibly follow through on his promises to take care of us here and now and then to return and take us home. But even these evil days should not surprise us because they are exactly what the Bible predicted. In this same letter, Peter wrote: First, know this: In the last days scoffers will come with their mocking, following their own lusts. They will say, “Where is this promised coming of his? For from the time that our fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have from the beginning of the creation.” …But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: For the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow to do what he promised…Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:3-4, 8-9).

Does it every feel like sin has the upper hand on you? Does it ever seem like the flame of your faith is growing dim? Do you ever feel impatient for Jesus’ return? Keeping the flame of faith brightly lit, holding firm to the hope that might return at any moment is what the Transfiguration is all about. Jesus knows that the world has a way of dragging us down. He, of all people, knows how Satan works to smother our faith every day. He knows how important it is to keep feeding our faith and building up our hope. The Bible is God’s tool for doing just that. (Listen to him (Matthew 17:5) God the Father said!) But we have to be in it, reading it, hearing it preached and taught, paying attention to it so that its light may brighten our lives and invigorate our faith. The world is a dark place – the Greek here is equivalent to “filthy darkness” – but the Bible is God’s flashlight to lead us through, until that glorious day when Jesus – ‘the morning star’ – returns to light the world with his presence. The Bible is factual, eyewitness testimony, it is God’s light in a dark world – use it, let it strengthen your faith and increase your anticipation for our Lord’s return.

Peter closes with a final debate-ending defense of the eternal truth and inerrancy of the Bible. We know this above all else: No prophecy of Scripture comes about from someone’s own interpretation. In fact, no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit. Peter is describing what we call verbal inspiration. Not only is the Bible based on eyewitness testimony, not only does every OT prophecy find its fulfillment in the NT, but God himself – in the person of the Holy Spirit – moved the authors of Scripture to write what they did. The picture here is nautical – the Holy Spirit moved the writers like the wind moves a sailboat. You can be sure that every word – from Genesis to Revelation – came from God himself. And that’s important, especially today when truth seems to be such an unsettled, subjective, constantly changing thing – based on little more than the opinions and theories of so-called “experts.” As Christians, we can be – and we must be! – absolutely certain that our teachings, our doctrines, our faith, and our lives are not based on polling data or political correctness or “what experts say” – but on God’s own truth which never has and never will change. So whether we are talking about abortion or absolution, church or child-raising, evolution or evangelism, life now or life eternal – when we look to Scripture we are being guided by the holy, unchangeable revelation given by God himself.

I’m not sure how many of you watched the Superbowl halftime show last Sunday; and, in my humble opinion, even all the theatrics couldn’t hide the fact that the main performer is not a very talented singer. But today, as we celebrate our Lord’s Transfiguration, Peter reminds us that this miracle and the rest of Scripture are not just a collection of myths and fairy tales. The Bible is so much more than a nice story or a book of morality. The Bible is the account of eyewitnesses, it deserves our full attention, and every word of it is inspired by God himself. Don’t let critics or scientists or Satan mislead you or shake your faith. Instead, cling to the Bible; it is your only sure guide through this dark world. And as we leave this mountain today to descend into the valley of Lent, keep this vision of glory in the back of your mind, for it assures you that Jesus is the Son of God, he is your willing Savior, and one day he will return to take you and me and all believers to be with him in the glory of heaven. Amen.

[1] https://hegetsus.com/en