“This
Is My Beloved Son”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. Our text is today’s Gospel Reading, the story of Jesus’
Transfiguration. In Matthew’s account of this event, it says: “A bright
cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!’” This is a set of matching bookends from my office. The
Transfiguration of Our Lord is like a bookend at the end of Jesus’ earthly
ministry. At the beginning of his earthly ministry, three years earlier,
there had been the other bookend, the beginning bookend, at his Baptism: “The
heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a
dove. And a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I
am well pleased.’” In the three amazing years that followed, so many wondrous things in
Jesus’ ministry affirmed he really is the Son of God. At the end of the
Sermon on the Mount, Matthew reports, “When Jesus had finished saying these
things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching.” When Jesus calmed the
storm his disciples asked in awe, “Who is this? Even the wind and waves
obey him!” And Matthew summarizes his fantastic healing ministry, “Great
crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and
many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people
were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame
walking and the blind seeing.” At the beginning of his earthly ministry, God declared “This is my
beloved Son,” and over the next three years so many wondrous happenings in his
ministry affirmed that declaration, over and over again. But, now comes
the end of his earthly ministry. Just before the Transfiguration, Matthew
says, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go
to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests
and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be
raised to life.” The glory days of Jesus’ earthly ministry are coming to an end.
He will suffer horribly; be rejected by his own people; be scorned and ridiculed
and whipped and spat upon; even be put to death, and in the most shameful way,
reserved by the Romans for executing only the lowest criminals: crucified, death
on a cross. What does this mean? Does this suffering mean that God has
rejected Jesus as the Messiah? Does this suffering mean that Jesus has
failed in his mission? Does this suffering mean that Jesus is no longer
God’s beloved Son, with whom he is well pleased? That’s what Jesus’ own disciples were tempted to think. You see,
they expected the Messiah to establish a glorious earthly kingdom, not to be
rejected, suffer, and be crucified! And so Matthew reports that when, as
he had predicted, Jesus was rejected, and suffered, and crucified, “All the
disciples deserted him and fled.” Jesus’ his crucifixion created a CRISIS
of faith for his disciples: For how could he still be God’s beloved Son, if he
suffered so? That is a question we often ask when we face suffering in our own
lives: Am I still God’s child, if I am suffering so? In your Baptism, God
declared of YOU, “This is my beloved son.” Jesus said, “You must be born
again . . . of water and the Spirit,” and in Titus, Paul describes Christian
Baptism as, “The washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” So
through Holy Baptism, God the Father makes you spiritually “born again” as his
own child. As Paul says in Galatians, “You are all sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.” Some modern translations change “sons of God” in that verse to
“children of God.” But, the phrase “sons of God” is essential to
understand the significance of what Paul means when he says, “You are all SONS
of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” In the British mini-series “Downtown Abbey,” Lady Mary originally could
not inherit the family estate because of the British custom of primogeniture,
which gives all the inheritance to the eldest son. That British custom
actually does NOT come from the Bible, or the Christian heritage of England, but
it was a tribal custom taken from the Vikings and other pagans who once
inhabited the British Isles. Although the Bible itself does NOT at all disparage women, the pagan
culture and secular law of that day did. Like Lady Mary, women in the
Greek-Roman world were very much second-class citizens. They basically had
no rights or legal standing, they could not own property, and they could not
inherit. Even though the Bible does NOT in any way support or endorse this
attitude, such disparagement was the reality women faced in the prevailing
culture of that day—just as there are many aspects of OUR secular society today
that are not in line with the Bible. So, it is very significant when Paul says, “You are all SONS of God
through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Paul is not in these verses throwing out all differentiation in this
world between men and women. For instance, Paul’s statement that in Christ
“there is neither . . . male nor female” is sometimes grossly misquoted to claim
that the Bible supports modern perversions of what constitutes marriage.
But, on the contrary, whatever our modern society may say, it is clear from the
Bible that God’s plan for marriage is and always will be only a union between a
husband and a wife, a man and a woman. No matter what the opinion of any
human judge, or politician, or even a majority of voters, that fundamental
distinction between men and women remains God’s plan for humanity and can never
be changed. So, if Paul is not throwing out all differentiation between men and
women, what does he mean when he says in Galatians, “You are all SONS of God
through faith in Christ Jesus”? Paul’s means that although in this
world we do still distinguish in some ways between men and women, as far as
eternal life in the next world is concerned, God gives equally to ALL his
children the right which in their culture was granted only to sons, the right of
inheritance. As Paul says in Galatians, “God sent his Son . . . that we
might receive the full rights of sons. . . and since you are a son, God
has made you also an heir.” Jesus says that at the final judgment, “The
King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the
world.’” You remember the Parable of the Prodigal Son, when he returns home,
“the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him.
Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf
and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was
dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” In your Baptism, God welcomed you just like that into his family, made
you born again as his beloved son, with all the rights and privileges of a SON,
especially the right to inherit-the most precious inheritance of all: eternal
life! The Pilgrims who came to this country in 1620 were of a denomination,
now out of existence, called the Puritans. The Puritans taught that you
should base assurance of salvation, whether or not you are a true son of God, on
your lot in this world. Do you have many earthly blessings: a good income,
a nice house, a loving family? And do you have a lack of earthly troubles:
no sickness or other suffering? If so, you must be a true son of God.
But, the Puritans taught, do you have troubles and suffering and want in your
life? Then, be warned, for God must be showing you his wrath and you must
be not a true son of God. We fall into that same trap as the Puritans, and as Jesus’ own
disciples. It was easy for them to accept that Jesus is God’s beloved Son
when he was working miracles and wowing the crowds with his teaching. And
it’s easy to accept that you are God’s beloved son when things go good in your
life. But, what about when Jesus—and you—come down from the mountaintop
experience into the valley of shadow of death? “A bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This
is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!’” That
bookend at the end of Jesus’ ministry is meant to strengthen him, and the
disciples, and you. For Jesus, the reaffirmation “This is my beloved Son”
at the end of his ministry is a reassurance that the suffering he will endure is
not a sign that his mission on earth has failed, but his suffering and death is
actually the very means by which his mission on earth will succeed and God will
fulfill his plan for our salvation. For the disciples, the reaffirmation “This is my beloved Son” at the
end of Jesus’ ministry is a reassurance that the man from Galilee they have
followed for three years really is the Messiah, even though things won’t turn
out like they expected. And for us, the reaffirmation “This is my beloved Son” at the end of
Jesus’ ministry is a reassurance that just as his sufferings do not mean that he
was a failure, or that the Father had rejected him, in the same way the
sufferings you endure in your lives are not a sign that you are a failure, or
that God has rejected you. At the beginning of your spiritual life in Christ, at your own Baptism,
God declared of you, “This is my beloved son.” That declaration stands
sure and firm, forever—despite whatever this world may throw at you. And
at the end of your life in this world, the Father will welcome you into your
inheritance in heaven, and he will declare of YOU: “This is my beloved son.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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