Sermon Text: Luke
9:28-36
Title: “The
Greatest Exodus.”
I. Moses led
God’s people from slavery to the promised land.
II. Jesus leads God’s people from the slavery
of sin to the Promised Land.
THROUGH CHRIST – THE
GREATER MOSES – AND CHRIST’S CRUCIFICXION WE ARE DELIVERED FROM THE SLAVERY OF
SIN TO OUR HEAVENLY PROMSIED LAND.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our
LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The sermon text for this Transfiguration Sunday, is taken
from Luke 9…
Now about eight days
after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on
the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was
altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were
talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his
departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and
those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake
they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were
parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here.
Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not
knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and
overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a
voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to
him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept
silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The focus of our message and the text today is on one tiny
little word of Holy Scripture. Can one word be so important? Let’s see.
One night in the fall quarter of my first year at seminary I
sat down to do some Greek translation homework. I remember thinking to myself –
is this really all that important? We have English Bibles don’t we? The text I
was wrestling with that Fall night in 2002 was our text today. What you will
hear now is how I found out that a pastor’s translation of the text each week is that important.
The word we need to focus on is often times translated as departure as it is in our text just read. In the original Greek the word is exodus which when broken down ex means out and hodos means way literally meaning way out.
This word exodus is very familiar to you isn’t it? It is the second book of the Bible, but
probably made more famous by Charlton Heston in the 1956 classic “The Ten
Commandments.” Whichever way you came to
know the word exodus it means one thing to all people. It means the deliverance
of God’s people out from under the burden of slavery imposed by the Egyptians.
We all know the story. God chooses Moses, sends him to
Pharaoh demanding that he free God’s people with the famous line, “Let my
people go.” Pharaoh denies Moses and God
time and time again, and in between each of those times a plague is sent
against the people of the land.
Eventually Pharaoh grows tired of the plagues especially when the last
one takes his own son. Pharaoh releases
the children of Israel. And to make a
long story short the children of Israel reach the land they were sworn to
receive by God Himself, the promised land – forty years later.
All of this sounds familiar, right? Not just because of the Old Testament exodus
but also now because our reading today speaks of exodus too. St. Luke writes…
And behold, two men
were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his
departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Now remember, the word departure
here should be translated exodus meaning way
out. Just like Moses, Jesus is to lead
an exodus too. Jesus is to lead a way out.
But a way out of what? We look to
ourselves and there are no chains on our wrists and ankles. We don’t feel the sting of the foreman’s whip
upon our backs. We know of no slavery
that we are bound to.
Or do we? Don’t you
feel the shackles around your wrists and ankles cutting deeply into your flesh,
as does the foreman’s whip upon your back? Take a look your lives. Aren’t they
filled with chains and whips? Do you find yourself sinning day and night? Do you say things that are hateful to
others? Do you do things that are
spiteful to others? Do you love the LORD
your God with all your heart, soul and mind?
Do you love you neighbor as yourself?
Do you love your enemies? Do you turn
the other cheek? Do you give of your
first fruits to God first and then to others and then to yourself? Or is a better description of you a soul bound
to sin like a manacle bound to your wrists?
I remember sitting there at my desk that night at the
seminary thinking – ok maybe there is something to this translating stuff.
So do you want to rethink that whole bit about chains and
stinging whips and slavery? Show me a
day without sinning and I will show how to jump to the moon. We cannot not do them. It is a part of our fallen nature. It is a side effect of our original sin, this
actual sinning that we do. And yes, dear
brothers and sisters in Christ, we are slaves to it. Like Ebenezer Scrooge who could not see Jacob
Marley’s chains we too look about us wondering where they are. But just like
Marley explains his were invisible to himtoo – until he died. Then they became
very visible.
Make no mistake Brothers and Sisters – they are there and we
are bound by them. We are slaves to sin
just as St. John writes…
Jesus answered them,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. John
8:34
In a breath, Jesus says it all.
II.
But remember, the word exodus recorded in our text today
means a way out. And it is through Jesus Christ and His death
on the cross that we have our exodus our way out. Why?
Because only someone who is true man and knows our plight personally,
and only someone who is true God who can resist the debauchery of sin, can
truly save anyone. Jesus was NOT a slave
to sin, but a slave to righteousness.
His master was the Father and His neighbor and to please them was His
delight. And He has done that for you
and for me, for He knows that we cannot deliver ourselves. Salvation must come from without, not within –
for to come from within means it is tainted corrupted by sin and is no
salvation at all –but rather the opposite condemnation. Thanks be to GOD Jesus comes from
without. He comes from Heaven above as
the hymn goes and He has come into our world of sin, death and the devil and has
conquered all three.
And now when we look down to our wrists and ankles we see no
chains and they are not there, even invisibly.
They have fallen away through the waters of Holy Baptism and through the
very body and blood of our crucified and risen LORD and Savior.
And now – even though we still sin – we are not slaves to
sin. We have been washed and reborn – for
Jesus leads us into the waters of Holy Baptism just as Moses did when he led
the children of Israel into the Red Sea.
There the children of Israel were saved by water and we too are saved by
water. We have been led out of the
slavery of sin through the greatest exodus and it is the very Son of God,
Jesus, who is leading the way, the way of His cross which is our way out.
So indeed one word of Holy Scripture is that important and
it is also important of your pastor to know and translate Greek. In this one
little word exodus we see a thread – tiny it may be – but strong as steel it
is. In this tiny thread is the connection between Old Testament and New
Testament, between Moses and Jesus, between Promise and Fulfilment. In this
tiny word exodus we see the full and rich tie that binds GOD’S promises to
deliver man – and His execution of those promises in Jesus Christ and His life
and death and resurrection lived and died and raised for you and me. So yes –
this little word is important and we are reminded in the great Reformation hymn
A Mighty Fortress penned by our dear, sainted Martin Luther – “one mighty word
can fell him.” Thanks be to GOD for this small and significant word – kept for
our salvation. Amen.
Now the peace of the LORD which surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+Soli Deo Gloria +
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