+ Holy Baptism of David Herman Demarest +
Readings: Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
Text: Matthew 17:1-9
The Feast of the Transfiguration was celebrated by Armenian Christians in the 5th century, but the commemoration as we know it today was standardized by Pope Callixtus III in 1456. It was to be celebrated on August 6. Why? To celebrate a bright spot in an otherwise dark time in Western history. Just three years after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, they were advancing into Europe. After a nearly three-week siege of the city of Belgrade, the Muslim forces withdrew.
However, the Evangelical (that is, Lutheran) fathers decided to move the celebration to Epiphany. Why? Because even Belgrade fell to the Turk in 1521, but the Transfiguration of Our Lord is about things that are true and eternal. The Feast of the Transfiguration reflects and confirms all that came before of who Jesus is. Say what you want about Jesus today. Try and make Him fit your cause, dress him up in blond hair and blue eyes, say that He is no more than a good man. None of that has any substance, because the Transfiguration confirms: this is who He is, and it attested by eyewitnesses (2 Peter 1:19-25).
But it also gives us a needed foretaste of what is true in eternity for all who believe in Him. Life for the Christian is to be seen from an eternal vantage point. Moses was the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt, delivered the Law to them, and bore with them in all their foolishness. Though he died, now He stands with Jesus in His glory. Elijah did the work of God’s prophet when Israel’s ruler wanted nothing of the Law of the Lord and was busily fashioning a religion that fit man’s twisted desire and the worship of demons. Elijah faced down the prophets of Baal, was sustained by the widow, and called kings to repentance. Though he was taken to heaven in a whirlwind and nobody knew where he ended up, he now stands with Jesus in His glory.
And as Christ is, so are those who follow Him in faith, for He said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24) Therefore, the Christian life is not fully the here-and-now. All earthly things, no matter how joyous they are or powerful they seem now, shrivel up in comparison to the glory which is to come.
The Son of God has broken into this grim world, veiled in flesh. Yet, He is the Lord whom Moses and Elijah served. He was rejected by men and a man of sorrows, one from whom they hide their faces [Isaiah 53:3]. But in this humiliation, the Lord of Hosts was breaking us free from the prison house of sin and death.
What power sin has over us to drive a wedge between us and God, and each other! The chains which bind a person can be great, and lead them into despair of God’s mercy and every manmade way to deal with sin that is not the blood of Christ. Christ has burst those chains and proclaimed a Word that delivers His innocent death and His glorious resurrection: “Peace be with you” [John 20:19].
What relentless reign death seems to hold. It stalks some for years, eroding their sound body or mind. Others, it seems to snatch away unexpectedly, in a moment. There is no guarantee that babies in their father and mother’s arms will live to adulthood. Such is the tyranny that death holds over us. But Christ has ripped us out of its bony grasp! He has gone down into death only to burst out the other side.
As an aside, the Church father, Athanasius of Alexandria has a name that means ‘deathless one’. This is the position of every believer: because of Christ our head, death no longer has any dominion over us [1 Corinthians 15:54-57].
This escape and victory is for you and your children [Acts 2:38-39] in the lavish washing away of sin, the mighty rising to newness of life which is delivered in your Baptism.
“3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:3–5)
Here stands God’s promise: the salvation gained by Christ’s death and resurrection is delivered personally. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me,” says the Lord, “therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-19) As we sang at the beginning of the service today, we have gathered here, gladly obeying the Lord’s command and believing His Word of promise.
In the same way, though we don’t know the future, both parents and sponsors commit themselves to continue to fulfill the rest of the Lord’s command, to teach young David to treasure the Word of God and grow up in His commands. Can this part fail? Of course, and I’m living evidence of that. But what the Lord Jesus, Victor over sin and death, has done this day stands. There is no need to do it over, as if it didn’t work the first time. We ask that God would enable Trent and Maritza, with Josh and Emily, to raise David to bear fruit from the Word.
Beloved of the Lord, take heart. Your strong Lord has blazed the way through this world of death, cancelled your sins’ guilt, and broken the power of the devil over you. He has gone where you will.
“1Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Leave a Reply