The Joshua Victor Theory

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our Old Testament reading from 1 Kings is a couple of verses short, because someone took out the repetition of a question and answer between God and Elijah. The prophet Elijah meets God on Mount Horeb, another name for Mount Sinai. So what is the repeated question and answer? God asks: “ What are you doing here Elijah?” The first time God asks this, Elijah has arrived on the mountain and is staying in a cave. The second time is after God has beckoned him outside of the cave, to witness the tearing wind, the earthquake, the fire, and the gentle whisper. Then God repeats the question, in the gentle whisper: “ What are you doing here Elijah?” Both times Elijah answers exactly the same: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Welcome again to our grade school families and students! Today is the Transfiguration of Our Lord, the miracle you heard about in the Gospel reading. On that day, Jesus’ appearance was briefly transformed before three disciples. His face and clothing shone with a dazzling white brilliance like the sun. A simple and clear reality dawned on them—Jesus was far more than just an ordinary man. And they didn’t come to this conclusion on their own, but God Himself said it: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” God identified Jesus as His Son! It was unquestionably an incredible experience, on that mountain-top! Almost as incredible, is that Peter, James, and John, the eyewitnesses, had to keep it bottled up, even from the other disciples, until Jesus rose from the dead. They must have been dying to tell the others what they had seen! But who would believe the...