The Joshua Victor Theory

  In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today is the Transfiguration of Jesus, a glimpse of Jesus’ glory shortly before His death on the cross and the resurrection. After the glory fades from the spectacular transformation, Peter, James and John are left with Jesus only. And that’s not a let-down—it’s the point. Having Jesus only, is having everything we need. The Total Jesus. The One to heed and hear, the Only One we need and fear. With a newfound reverence for God’s Beloved Son, they descend the mountain where Jesus resumes His path to the cross. But we have the Total Jesus; He is our “ all in all ” (Eph. 1:23; Col. 3:11). The Transfiguration shows several ways how we have the Total Jesus. When we have Christ, we lack nothing. Let’s consider four ways He is the “Total Jesus.” His Transfiguration shows His Total Authority, Total Truth, Total Purity, and Total Glory. It was quite extraordinary to see these living saints and biggest heroes of the O...

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord... For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.” In just a few words, when Peter says to Jesus, at His Transfiguration: “It’s good Lord to be here” and offers to build dwellings for Jesus and the rest of them to stay there; Peter is echoing the thoughts of Psalm 84, our Introit. Like Peter marveling about the glory of being in Jesus’ presence, so the Psalm speaks of the delight of being together with God in His dwelling place, His courts; how his soul thirsts to stay with the living God forever. At the Transfiguration, when the Father speaks from the heavens, He does not answer Peter’s suggestion, but calls him to silence and to listen to Jesus. “ This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” As God’s courts and dwelling place are lovely to the people, so God’s Son Jesus is lovely to the Father. Dear to both God’s heart and ours, is Jesus...

Sermon Outline: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. ·          Who can you call down from heaven to your attention, or to pay honor to you? Underscores the power and identity of Jesus. Son of God. ·          Note Moses and Elijah— alive . Promise of resurrection. Who they were… ·          After six days …setting, time reference, Moses, and events parallel one of Moses’ own mountaintop encounters with God in Ex. 24, the first time he received the stone tablets. Whether or not this intends for us to see the similarities, Moses-Law + Elijah-Prophets = represent OT, together pointing to and in service to Jesus ·          Moses—prophecies of a greater prophet, like him, to be raised up from among them and to speak God’s Word, and we must listen to Him. Elijah—mountaintop encounter w...

Contrast of glory to cross Transfiguration account follows right after Jesus’ first prediction of His suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. Read Luke 9:22-27 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” ...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. “Hold that pose, look at the camera, smile!” Have you ever thought about how pictures seem to have the ability to capture a perfect, idealized moment? A split-second can be frozen indefinitely in time, so that the image of joy, excitement,   beauty, peace, or sadness, or any emotion is preserved in the photograph. Photo-editing software even makes it possible to polish and “clean-up” the image. But in real time the scene changes, the subjects in the photo move along to the next thing, the emotion changes one way or another, and life goes on. Peter might have wished he had a camera on the mount of Transfiguration, some way to capture the glory of Jesus, as His appearance was transformed to a brilliant, blinding light. He hoped for some way to extend the glory, to bask in it a little longer. But this was not possible. Life would go on, and Jesus was marking the time and pointing His...