Preached on January 17, 2016
St. Matthew 17:1–9
In the name of the Father and of the + Son
and of the Holy Spirit –
Last week we recognized the restless searching
of sinful humans – how so much of our lives are spent looking for something,
grasping for something that is not ours, that we think will make us the people
we want to be. But we also recognized the futility of this search. We don’t
even know what we’re looking for, and really that’s because we’re not even sure
who we are. At the bottom of our restless hearts, in the darkness of sleepless
nights, hidden behind all the worries of everyday life, is the question we
struggle to answer: “Who am I?” It’s a challenge that comes from within and
from without. “Who am I? Who are you? What right do you have to exist? And what
are you doing with this existence?” And our whole lives are full of
justifications, excuses, explanations, attempts to answer these questions. We
attempt to justify ourselves, giving ourselves reasons for who we are and what
we do. We can sense that we’re accountable, that we must respond to these
challenges. The fact that we exist and that we did not create ourselves, drives
our need to justify, to explain ourselves, to give our existence meaning. And
inevitably, these questions spill over into our relationships with others. Questioning,
judging, investigating them. And ultimately, the questions are thrown at God. Who
are You, God?
In our frustration and arrogance
we expect God to explain Himself, to justify Himself, to open the heavens and
answer. And in His grace He has done just that. In the Gospels, God the Father
spoke from heaven three times. The first time was at Christ’s baptism. After Jesus
was baptized, the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended like a
dove, coming to rest on Him, and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased.” (Matt. 3:16–17) This Jesus is the eternal Son of the Father, and
He pleases His Father by coming to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. The
second time was on the mount of Transfiguration. Jesus’ face shone like the
sun, and behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud
said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom
I am well pleased; listen to Him.” (Matt. 17:2, 5) Again, Jesus is the Son
of God, the pleasing sacrifice for sin, and we must listen to Him, for it is in
Him and in His Word that the Father’s love is revealed to us. The third time was during the final
days of Christ’s earthly life. Jesus
said, “Now is My soul troubled. And what
shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come
to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I
have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” (John 12:27–28) The Father
had glorified His name through His Son’s baptism and ministry on earth. Now He would glorify it again in His
Son’s death and resurrection. The
name of God is glorified by the Son of God dying to save sinners.
Isn’t it striking that the three
times God the Father speaks from heaven, He is talking about His Son and the
cross? Each time He speaks, His Word is Christ-centered, for it is in Christ
that God answers us and reveals Himself to us. Each time He speaks, His Word is
cross-focused, for the cross is how God reconciles the world to Himself and
makes us His own. Each time the Father speaks from heaven His Word is
Christ-centered and cross focused, because that is how God wants to show His
glory. That is how God wants to be known. “Who are You, God?” we ask. “Look at
Jesus,” He answers. “This is My beloved
Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”
Listen to Jesus. He is the Word,
the answer to all the questions, all the challenges from man, devil, and God
Himself. In Jesus we really have the heart of Christianity: Listening to God’s
answer, His answer for sin, His answer for death, His answer for relationship,
life, and love. It should come as no surprise that Christianity is
Christ-centered and cross-focused. What’s more, the universe, our existence is
Christ-centered and cross-focused. This is how God has made Himself known and
it is how He knows you – in Christ.
This is also why we have the
Bible. It is the Word written – Jesus written down. If the Father’s answers
spoken from heaven were all about His Son and the cross, then the answers
written down in Scripture are likewise all about the Son and the cross. Listen
to Jesus, said the Father. And Peter did, and the Apostle bids us to do so as
well. Peter wrote, We have something more
sure than the glorious mountain or the thundering voice from heaven. We
have the prophetic Word, to which you
will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place. (2 Peter 1:19)
We have the spoken Word, the preached Word, the written Word, the Word that
comes from outside our dark hearts that are so full of unanswered questions and
self-made justifications and excuses. We have the Word, the answer that comes
from God Himself, for no prophecy, no
preaching, was ever produced by the will
of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
(2 Peter 1:21) The Bible is God’s Word written down by the inspiration of
the Spirit so we have a clear and certain answer from God on who He is and who
we are.
Moses also had questions for
God, along with his own justifications and excuses. Not only did he challenge
God by asking, “Who am I that I should go
to Pharaoh?” But he asked, “Who are you? What is your name, God?” And God
answered Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus
3:11, 13–14) That’s God’s name for Himself: Yahweh – I AM. He is the One
Who Is – the One Who determines what is. He is the One Who created all things out
of nothing by His Word. “Let there be,”
He said… and there was. Solely by I AM’s speaking all things have come from
non-existence into existence.
And He is the One Who has
re-created all things by His Word made flesh. Including you. Out of the nothing
of the sinner, He creates the saint. He declares the ungodly to be righteous. He
speaks the righteousness of Christ over you, giving you a new identity, telling
you who you are in Christ. In the nothingness of your sin, God challenges you,
“Who are you?” And none of our justifications, no excuses, no feelings or plans
from our hearts can stand up under His scrutiny. But in Christ, God answers the
question for us. He tells us who He is and who we are – that He is for us. He
justifies us. That righteous life of Christ counts for us. The death of Christ
is the death of our sin. The resurrection of Christ is our life. This is how
God wants to be known and how He wants to glorify His name: In Christ, in the
cross, in justifying sinners. This is why we listen to Jesus, because that is
where we hear the answers.
So when your heart asks, “Who am
I?” Here’s how you answer: I am the one addressed by God in love, through
Christ, by the power of the Spirit. I am the one to whom it is said, “I am the Lord your God.” I am the one
who is created by this Word from God my Savior. I am the one to whom it is
said, “I forgive you all your sins.” I
am the one to whom it is said, “This is My
beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.”
In the Holy + Name of Jesus –
