The Pressure of Gethsemane Yields the Oil of Truth - Feb 10, 2008

Grace and Peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If we could stand on the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and look to the east we would see a mountain across the Kidron Valley. The mountain is called the Mount of olives. As the name suggests, there was once an olive grove on this mountain. And there among the olive trees was a garden called Gethsemane.

In Hebrew, Gethsemane means “olive press”. It made sense to process the olives that were grown on the mount right on the mount itself. In Gethsemane, pressure was applied to a harvest of olives to produce olive oil.

In our reading from God’s Word we will hear how the Son of God was placed under unthinkable pressure in the garden of Gethsemane. And just as pressure on an olive produces oil and reveals the quality of that olive, so also the pressure that Jesus felt shows us the quality of our Savior.

In our meditation for today we see how…

“The Pressure of Gethsemane Yields the Oil of Truth”

In Gethsemane we see that Jesus was human like us. We see that Jesus trusted His Father above all. And we see that Jesus alone could save sinners.

May the Holy Spirit teach our minds, strengthen our faith and comfort our souls by our meditation on His Word. We read…

Matthew 26:36-46 (NIV)

³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

⁴³When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Jesus was human like you and me. He had ten fingers and ten toes. He had legs that took Him from place to place. He had a mind with which He thought. He had a mouth with which He spoke. And He also had the full set of emotions that we are equipped with.

We remember the anger that Jesus expressed when He drove the money-changers out of the Temple. They were disturbing the worship of His Father in order to make a dollar, and that made Jesus angry.

We remember the great sadness that Jesus felt outside the tomb of Lazarus. Inside that cold, damp tomb lay Jesus’ friend. Dead. It brought Jesus to tears.

And here in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus felt sorrow and fearful anticipation of the terrible suffering that was soon to come.

Now we must remember that though Jesus had emotions like us, His emotions were never sinful. So often when we are troubled, our concern is laced with a sinful lack of trust in God. This was not the case when Jesus was troubled.

We might think of a mother about to give birth who does not doubt that God will take care of her, come life or death, but she is still troubled by the pain which she knows is near. This is what Jesus felt.

Before coming to Jerusalem for the last time Jesus had taken His disciples aside, more than once, to tell them clearly that He would soon be put to death. Jesus knew what was coming, and He felt the weight of that knowledge heavily.

In fact, Jesus told the three disciples with Him in Gethsemane that His soul was so overwhelmed with sorrow that it was killing Him. He was at the point of death just thinking about all that was yet to come.

Jesus was so troubled that He turned to His closest friends for support. He asked Peter, James and John to remain with Him and to stay alert with Him. This was unusual for Jesus to do. He was usually the one supporting them! He had the answers. He knew God’s Word. He worked miracles of healing and cast out demons. But now, in this hour of need Jesus reached out for the companionship of His friends.

And as Jesus had always done, He also sought the help and support of His Father in heaven. Stepping away from the three, Jesus fell down to pray.

And His prayer is startling to us. He asks God the Father if He might somehow avoid the horrible suffering that looms so near.

Though He was sinless, Jesus was human in every way. His nakedly honest prayer to His Father shows this to be true. His life was not one long play in which He pretended to be human. Don’t think that for a moment. He experienced growing pains. He knew what disappointment felt like. He grew tired. He grew frustrated. He experienced pain and troubles like we have, and more. Much more.

And because Jesus suffered beyond the suffering of any other human being, He is qualified to speak to you and to me concerning anything we might face in our lives. He is overly qualified to counsel us in our sorrows. He wants to be the shoulder we go to cry on.

In the books of Hebrews it is written,

“¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV).

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Jesus went to the Father’s throne in prayer because He trusted His Father above all.

This isn’t the case with sinners. So often sinners run away from the duty that God places on them. Remember how Jonah tried to sail away from God to escape the task that God had given him to do.

When sinners face the pressures of life and responsibility they flee to the bottle or to drugs to escape. Instead of facing the issues at hand sinners seek something that will distract them from their problems, instead of someone who will help them face their problems. But not Jesus. He went to the Father in prayer.

Lest we think that Jesus was wrong to ask so bold a thing, lets keep in mind how He ended each prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. He always closed by saying, “Your will be done, Father.” Even if the way is painful, your will be done. Even if the way is scary, your will be done. Even if the way ends in death, your will be done.

In having His prayers recorded for us, Jesus is teaching us to react to pressure in the same way. Jesus once said that everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice builds on a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24). In our times of trouble the first and best thing that we can do is to go to the Father in prayer like Jesus did. We will receive help from the God who never sleeps.

By bringing all our sorrows and troubles to God in prayer, we are exercising our trust in Him and we are also bringing Him honor. By calling on God we are really making the statement, “God, I trust that You can help. I am confiding in You because I believe You will help me.”

As God declares in Psalm 50,

“…call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15 NIV).

As we wait for God’s answer to our prayer, we should return to His throne often. He is not bothered by our repeated prayer. He sees our continual knocking on His door as an expression of our trust that only He can provide the answers we need.

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The Bible repeatedly tells us that Jesus is the only Savior. Only through Him were our sins taken away, and only through faith in Him will we reach the shores of Heaven.

Each time Jesus returned to the three disciples He saw a reminder of how much sinners really need Him. Here in their friend’s greatest time of need, these men were incapable of even staying awake.

Their failure to stay alert with Jesus reminds us that we also are incapable of doing what Gods asks.

We could wake up each day and tell ourselves, “Today I’m not going to sin. I’ll keep my words and thoughts pure and do all that God asks.” But even if we lived a million years, we’d end each day by saying, “Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get it right.”

And just as sinners are incapable of living even a day without breaking God’s law, we are also incapable to doing anything to erase the record of our past sins.

That’s why the most soothing oil of truth that comes from these events in the Garden of Gethsemane is the truth that Jesus alone could save sinners.

Jesus asked if there was some other way. The Father’s response was, “No, Son, You’re the only Way. Only You can do what is necessary.”

Jesus prayed the same basic prayer to the Father three times, but altered His words slightly. In the alteration of His prayer we can see the Savior hearing the Father’s answer.

In His first prayer Jesus asks, “…My Father , if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me…” (Matthew 26:39 NIV). But in His second prayer Jesus asks, “…My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matthew 26:42 NIV).

By the time Jesus returned to the three after His third prayer it was clear to Him that the cross was the only way for sinful mankind to be saved from hell. If He didn’t experience hell in their place, sinners would be damned forever.

Once Jesus was sure of this, His behavior changed dramatically.

Upon returning to the three Jesus could see Judas coming with a crowd. Jesus tells the disciples to get up for it is time to meet His betrayer. There is no more asking for another way. Jesus knows the Father’s will and it is His will also.

And just moments later, when Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus from arrest, Jesus rebuked him with the words,

“Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11 NKJV).

May the Father grant us the same strength of faith, so that when we know His will, we will refuse to do otherwise even if it means our own suffering.

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The oil pressed from olives is useful for more than cooking. It also soothes sore and damaged skin. So also the truths produced in the press of Gethsemane soothe our sore hearts.

Jesus has been through much more than us, and is therefore able to guide and comfort us in all our troubles. He does so by His Word.

Jesus leads us to trust the Father in the midst of all troubles and to go to Him for help. We do this by prayer.

But the most soothing oil that comes from the press of Gethsemane is the fact that Jesus is our one and only Savior. He alone could do what was required. And because He did, we need not feel the sharp press of our own sins, nor fear the eternal suffering that our sins have earned. For Jesus has already felt that punishment for us. Through Him we are soothed and comforted. Through Him our sins are forgiven.

May the oil of this truth heal your sore hearts and bring joy into each day that you live under the Father’s love, in the Kingdom of the Son.

Amen.

-Pastor Caleb Schaller

The Word of Forgiveness - Feb 6, 2008

- The Seven Words From the Cross -

THE WORD OF FORGIVENESS

Luke 23:33-34

Grace and Lenten peace be multiplied unto you in the knowledge of our crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for this first of our midweek Lenten meditations comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verses 33 and 34, as follows:

And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." So far the Holy Word.

In the Name of Jesus, Who died that we might live, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

"Famous last words." -That phrase has become such a cliché over the years that now it's most often used in a joking way. But behind all the jokes people make there is, as usual, a kernel of truth. Last words are often famous. The dying words of Julius Caesar, Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln -- these will stand recorded in the history books until the end of time. Why is it that the last words that a person speaks before death are often so significant? It's because, as death nears, trivial things fade into the background. The thoughts of a dying person are focused only on the most important issues: life and death, God and eternity, heaven and hell. No matter what words a person speaks during his life, the words that issue from his dying lips are likely to reflect the beliefs and concerns that lie closest to his heart.

This is especially true of the last words of our Lord Jesus. Jesus spoke seven times from the cross. Each time He revealed a different aspect of Himself, His love for us, and the agony He endured on our behalf. As we gather for these midweek Lenten services, we'll consider, one by one, the significance of these "famous last words" of Christ. Travel back with me, then, to a dark Friday afternoon on a lonely hill called Golgotha, as we consider the first of the "Seven Words From the Cross"

THE WORD OF FORGIVENESS

Jesus had been through a lot in the last 24 hours. The last supper with His disciples on Maundy Thursday evening: the betrayal and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, the mock trial and condemnation by a kangaroo court of Jewish religious leaders, the final examination and pronouncement of the death sentence by a wavering Pontius Pilate. He'd seen His friends run away, and He'd heard the blood-lust in the voices of the crowd that shouted, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" over and over. He'd felt the bite of the Roman scourge on His back, the piercing pain of the crown of thorns, and the dull weight of the cross as He dragged it to Calvary. Now the nails had been driven through His hands and feet, and the cross had been lifted up and settled into its place with a wrenching thump. A final six hours now stand between Jesus and death. It is now that the most severe pain is felt. It is now that Jesus endures the very agonies of hell itself.

How can we even begin to understand what Christ went through on the cross? Some time ago PBS had a documentary on the subject of "chronic pain." It dealt with the behavior of people who are forced to endure very severe pain on a daily basis, like chronic rheumatics or migraine sufferers. One phenomena the researchers noted was the fact that, for such people, the pain often is so great that it consumes their whole consciousness. It's usually impossible for them to focus their attention on anything except the pain that they are suffering. What a contrast our Savior presents to us! For in the midst of the most unspeakable pain -- did you notice? -- where are Jesus first thoughts centered? Not on Himself at all, but on others! "And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.'"

Even in the midst of such great physical and spiritual agony, Jesus offers a prayer. More amazing still, it's a prayer not for Himself, but for others. And not for His friends, either, but rather for His enemies! "Father, forgive them." Even in this extremity, Jesus practiced what He preached. For it was Christ Himself, in His Sermon on the Mount, who had told His followers, "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." And now, in love, the gentle Savior does just that.

It may be worth your while to consider this Question: who was Jesus praying for, exactly, when He spoke those words? Was He praying for the Romans? Perhaps. The Roman guards had had their sport with Jesus, mocking Him and spitting on Him, ruthlessly driving the metal spikes through His hands and feet. Even now they were sitting at the foot of the cross, ignoring the Sufferer above them, and callously throwing dice for His clothes. They truly didn't know what they were doing. They were just following orders. For them, it was just another execution. A brutal carrying-out of a brutal sentence by a brutal Roman regime. They were used to it.

Was Jesus praying for Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor? Pilate had ignored the warnings of his wife and his own conscience. Knowing Jesus' innocence, he had finally washed his hands of Him, and delivered Him to be crucified. He didn't know what he was doing, either. Perhaps it's Pilate's ignorance that Paul's referring to when he says, in I Corinthians, "None of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 2:8.

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Certainly, Jesus is praying for the Jews. The Pharisees, the chief priests and the elders had been plotting against Him for months, hoping to put Him to death. In unbelief, they had rejected Him as the promised Messiah, their Savior. They had ignored His calls to repentance. Even now, we see them passing the foot of the cross and hurling insults at Him in His suffering. Misled by their leaders, the Jewish people - the chosen people of God - had rejected Jesus, too. Many of the same people who had welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem with palm branches and hosannas not a week earlier, this Friday morning had stood outside Pilate's courtroom, screaming for His blood. Certainly, Jesus' prayer is for the Jews. It is for these lost sheep of the house of Israel that Jesus had wept bitter tears, crying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" Mt 23:37.

But where do we fit into this picture? I mean us - you and me! I think that too often we cast ourselves as innocent bystanders at the cross of Jesus. We sit in judgment of the cruel Jews and the callous Romans. We feel nothing but contempt for the enemies of Jesus, and we imagine how different it would have been if we had been there to befriend Him. But would it?

One lesson of Lent that we've discussed before is that there are no innocent bystanders at the cross! You and I are personally involved, in a very real sense. We were present on that dark, skull-shaped hill, even though it all took place nearly 2,000 years ago. We were there, alright -- and not as friends, either! We were represented at Calvary by our sins - the very same sins that weighed Him down and caused Him such bitter agony on the cross. Yes, it was your sin and my sin drove Jesus there, and that made Him suffer. Isaiah says, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." 53:5. By virtue of our sinful flesh, we are the enemies that nailed the innocent Son of God to the cursed tree. When Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them," my fellow Christians, He was praying for us.

"Actions speak louder than words," is how the old saying goes. You folks with parenting experience know the truth of that - what you say to your kids will have little effect on them if you don't back it up by what you do. During His life, Jesus preached love for one's enemies. His last words from the cross reflected love for His enemies. But unlike so many others, Jesus' love for you wasn't just words - it was action. He didn't just pray that the Father would forgive you -- with His death Jesus guaranteed it! Rather than stepping down from the cross - as He could have - Jesus stayed there and suffered until each one of your sins had been atoned for in full. Rather than calling down fire and brimstone to destroy His enemies - as He could have - He prayed for them. He willingly suffered the torments of hell, so that you and I will never face that fate!

All the sins that you and I commit every day, all the sins that plague our conscience, even the secret sins that should trouble our conscience but don't -- Jesus paid for them on the cross. He tore down the last barrier between us and God, removed the last obstacle that stood between us and eternal life. It was a divinely illogical swap - the innocent Lamb of God for us guilty sinners. But with that one sacrifice, our salvation was made! The Apostle Peter says, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit." I Pet 3:18.

Does the date July 14th mean anything special to you? Probably not, but for people in France it's the biggest day of the year. It's known as Bastille Day, because that day in 1789 saw the storming of the Bastille Prison, and the beginning of the French revolution. It was a bloody day, and a bloody revolution, but the French remember it with joy, as the first day of true freedom in their country. In a similar way, many people view the season of Lent as a time of gloom and sadness. Certainly it is a solemn time, a time to repent of our sin, and to reflect on the consequences it held for our Savior. But on the other hand, how can we keep from rejoicing, when we know that the suffering Jesus endured gained heaven for you and me? We can't, and we shouldn't! Rather, let's give our most hearty thanks for this heavenly Friend who loved us so much! John says, "When Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." Jn 13:1.

"Father, forgive them." -In word, Jesus prayed for it. In deed, Jesus accomplished it. God grant us truly to know the length and breadth, the height and depth of the love that these words contain. For us Christians, they are and indeed deserve to be -- the most famous last words of all! In Jesus' name, AMEN.

-Paul Naumann, Pastor

God’s Gift of Illumination - Feb 3, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace be yours in the certain knowledge that Jesus Christ exists right this moment in Heaven with all of the glory witnessed by the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. He is forever our glorified and ascended Savior. One day we will see Him as he is, and live forever in his holy presence. God preserve us all until that great day. Amen.

Dear Fellow Christians:

Cyrus and the whole vast Persian army were camped outside the walls, but Belshazzar felt secure within the confines of mighty Babylon. To ridicule the would-be attackers he called a feast and brazenly ignored the army camped without. Starvation was the greatest enemy of a city under siege so for Belshazzar to declare a feast in the face of a siege was an uniquely boastful taunt.

His great walls (there were both inner and outer walls) were over 130 feet thick and impossibly high—taller than could be scaled by any enemy. They enclosed a city of some 170-200 square miles through which flowed the Euphrates River. With fortifications like this, together with an unending water and food supply, a handful of defenders could hold off an entire army. And so Belshazzar and the rest of the lords and nobles celebrated. They trusted their bricks.

But the handwriting, quite literally, was on the wall. In fact it is here that the expression first began, for on this fateful night Belshazzar saw a hand writing on his wall. The words were from God and conveyed doom to Belshazzar—his reign was about to end. The message, you may recall, was interpreted by Daniel: “And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:25-
28).

Unknown to Belshazzar, or at least of little consequence to him, Cyrus the Persian was busy diverting the Euphrates River (so certain historians and archaeologists believe) into those imposing walls, dissolving the bricks. Belshazzar’s security turned to mud. That very night the entire Persian army marched into the city and captured it intact, killing Belshazzar.

As Belshazzar ignored Cyrus just before the end, so today we toy with sin. We are well aware that it is “out there,” but we feel safe and secure inside the walls of our faith. Feeling fairly invincible, we taunt sin, flirt with it, or ignore it. This is a most dangerous game we play. We imagine that the Devil will never breech the walls of our faith, just as Belshazzar believed Cyrus was powerless against the massive walls of mighty Babylon. How ironic that the very walls that Belshazzar thought would save him, served instead to insulate him from reality. He could not see the Persian army from his palace, so the threat became less real.

God forbid that we fall into such foolishness. The Holy Spirit did not create saving faith in our hearts so that we might ignore the sin that continually assaults us. Faith is the wall from which we continue to do battle with the Devil and his minions and against the sins that tempt us. The world around is blind to the sin that possesses it. Let it not be so with us, for the light of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus has not only been revealed to us, it has also served to awaken our hearts and minds to the dangers all around us. In this, and in so many other ways, our merciful Father has provided us with sublime illumination. So we read in our text for this morning, found in the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians, the fourth chapter:

“2But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:2-6 NKJV).

So far the very words of Almighty God. With reverence and awe, and in complete trust that these are indeed the Words of God, so we pray, “Sanctify us through Your Truth, O Lord. Your Word is truth!” Amen.

The opening verse of the text denounces “handling the Word of God deceitfully.” [v.2] What does this mean to “handle deceitfully”? The most obvious offense is the manipulation of Scripture to make it say what God never intended it to say. We obviously condemn such a practice. Yet it is also true that a great deal of all Bible study done today (perhaps even a majority of all Bible study) has as its goal the proving of a man’s opinion about God’s Word, rather than the discovery and establishment of God’s Word itself. Understand that the two may be identical (what a man believes might be in harmony with what God actually says), but this is indeed a backward and dangerous way to approach God’s Word.

Why then do we study Scripture in that way? Circumstances at times dictate that we do so. It begins when someone challenges this or that doctrinal position of Holy Scripture. How do we defend what we teach? Obviously, we want to establish all truth with passages from the Bible. Therefore, we ransack our Bibles to find passages to prove that what we teach is correct. This kind of study is, of course, necessary and good, but it can also be very dangerous. This is especially true when we do little of the other kind of Bible study—when we spend little or no time simply reading and studying the Scriptures in an effort to hear and learn what they say (rather than what we hope or believe they say).

The real problem is that when we study the Scriptures in an effort to prove what we already believe to be right, we tend to ignore passages that seem to disagree with what we are trying to prove. We call them “dark” or “unclear” and focus instead on those that seem to support our position. This tendency can easily deteriorate into “handling the Word of God deceitfully” as it is named in our text. It results in robbing God’s Word of its position of final authority, and instead sets man up as the ultimate judge. Carried to its extreme, this is just one more way that mankind can serve to veil the Gospel, and our text is all about the unveiling of the Gospel. It is about letting the light of Jesus Christ—the light of truth and of His glory—shine in all that we say and do.

Rather than “handle the Word of God deceitfully,” Paul talked about “manifesting (making known) the truth” and “commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” [v.2] This is precisely what each one of us has been called to do. We have been called by Almighty God to make known, or “unveil” the Gospel to a world born blind. It is, therefore, the Gospel itself that must be unveiled.

It is only the Holy Spirit who can perform the miracle of truly enlightening someone. Only the Holy Spirit can call someone to faith through the Gospel, but that same Holy Spirit works through means. You will recall that the “means of Grace” is the Gospel, transmitted to human beings in Word and in Sacrament. Here we find a great irony. It is the Gospel alone that can lead a man to believe the Gospel. This is a bit like the bank requiring that you have money before they will give you a loan; or like needing your car keys to unlock the door so that you can retrieve your car keys from the ignition. Look again at what our text said, “But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” [vv.3-4] Our text pictures our condition without Jesus Christ as desperately impossible. We could not see the only thing that could make us see.

How foolish must man look in God’s eyes when we imagine that we had something to do with opening our own eyes or “accepting the Gospel.” The Gospel had to be unveiled for us by the Holy Spirit or we would have remained forever blind to it—damned to Hell for an eternity. This is the truth taught by our text with the words, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” [v.6] Here is the first message of our text: The Gospel had to be unveiled for us or we would have remained forever blind.

But now our text holds other insights for us. That same light of the Gospel, once it has revealed the Lord Jesus to us and brought us to saving faith in Him, also reveals to us a whole world of truth and light. It is, in a sense, the spiritual equivalent of learning to read. In much the same way that learning to read will open a whole new world to a human being, so too the Christian’s rebirth by the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to God’s truth. Even unbelievers understand part of this concept. What the secular world will never appreciate is the depth of meaning, understanding, and truth that is illuminated for us by the light of Jesus Christ shining in our hearts. They will neither understand nor accept the fact that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7).

Have you ever looked up at a cloud and recognized some sort of a shape. Or, have you seen a face or image in the wood grain pattern of a door? Someone else might look for a very long time at the same thing and never see what you see. The more insistent you are that it is there, the more certain they will become that there is something seriously wrong with you. So too the Bible tells us clearly that “natural man cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Unconverted man will look right at these truths, just can’t see them. Christians, on the other hand, see so many things so clearly, and find it hard to believe that others cannot. Our text describes this illumination in verse 6: “God…has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Do not allow your Christian humility to overstep its bounds. It is not a virtue to deny that what God has said is indeed true. It is neither prideful nor sinful to acknowledge the gift of understanding and wisdom that God has given to you as His child. God has given you the gift of truth and wisdom in Jesus Christ—a rare and precious gift that we dare never take lightly.

What then can we now see so clearly that the world cannot? Perhaps a better question would be, “What can’t the Christian now see more clearly?” We may not understand politics or finances or military strategy as do the wise of this world, but we can, by God’s grace, understand the relative unimportance of all things temporal when compared to all things eternal. We may not be able to recite the emperors of the Roman Empire or write a volume on world history, but we do understand that all history is in reality His Story—the true account of how God has arranged the events of this world to allow for the birth, life, and death of His Son, Jesus Christ. Only the child of God can truly understand what it means that Jesus was not defeated by death, but triumphed over death by the cross. Only the child of God can understand such things as why certain actions are wrong and others right; why global cooling, global warming, and the overall fate of the cosmos rest in the hands of a much higher power than man; why the institution of marriage is not man’s to tamper with; and why simple morality is established and changeless.

Yet all of these things pale in comparison to the greatest illumination that is ours: the ability to see our Lord Jesus for what He truly is—our glorified and risen Savior!

It is only the eyes of faith that allow you to see Jesus standing on the Mount of Transfiguration and to recognize that He exists right now with that same glory. In Jesus Christ you now see the true and only God as your dear friend—a friend that loved you so much that He willingly gave His life to spare you from an eternity in Hell. The Holy Spirit has opened your eyes to the humbling revelation that every single one of your sins has been forgiven by God, the Father—the whole ugly mess having been carried by Jesus Christ to the cross of Calvary.

These are the facts that now stand as sure and certain in your heart and in your mind. Every single one is a gift of illumination from God, the Holy Spirit. On this Transfiguration Sunday (a day when we celebrate light and illumination) thank God for the precious light that illuminates your world, and continue, day by day, to walk in that holy light—the clean, bright truth of God’s holy will. Amen.

—Pastor Michael J. Roehl