Exodus 24:8–18

⁸And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. ⁹Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: ¹⁰And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. ¹¹And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. ¹²And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. ¹³And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. ¹⁴And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. ¹⁵And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. ¹⁶And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

Global warming. Endangered species. Disappearing rain forests. Overpopulation. Poverty. Hunger and starvation. Oppression. Imperialism. All these are problems that our world is faced with today. Mother Earth is being exploited and abused. The balance of nature is upset. And we are being told that Mother Earth is getting back, trying to warn us, by causing hurricanes, forest fires, extreme cold, extreme heat. Post-modern man has figured out the root cause of all these woes; they tell us it is mankind. According to today's philosophies, the human race is the biggest problem the earth has. If it were not for humans, the world could be in peace. Nature would flourish. The earth, the seas, the air, the animals and the forests could live in harmony. It is most urgent that we reduce the population of man on the earth. Birth control, euthanasia, abortion are all positive, healthy things because by reducing the number of people on the planet earth, or even by eliminating the human race all together, then all problems would be solved.

Such ideas sound ridiculous to those who believe that God is the creator of heaven and earth; and that man is created in the image of God. All the doomsday prophets about the end of civilization by global warming or an asteroid colliding with earth strike us as fantasy in light of God's promise to sustain and preserve his creation until its final culmination. But that is the belief of our society. That is what the news reports daily and it is a common thread among environmental extremists, global warming proponents, abortion enthusiasts and animal rights advocates.

As extremist and farfetched as it sounds, there is a grain of truth at the core of it. Man is the problem. Man who sinned and rebelled against the creator and who brought the curse of death upon the earth. But what they don't understand is that it was also a man, the Son of God made man, Jesus Christ, who has removed the problem of sin. If man is the problem the world has today, it is also by a man that the solution has come. For it is the God-man, Jesus Christ who paid for sin, removed guilt, and reversed the curse that held the world in bondage.

For this reason, the Transfiguration is a high point of the church year. Literally, it is the climax of the Epiphany season, the season of revealing the glory of Christ to the world. There on that mountain in Jerusalem stood Moses and Elijah with Jesus. It is the great turning point in salvation history. It is perhaps the real dividing line between the Old and New Testaments. For the Old Testament, the Scripture of the Israelites, was written by Moses and the Prophets. Moses received the Law of God on another mountain, Mount Sinai, and handed down the law to the Israelite nation, and the prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah. Moses and the prophets wrote about the coming Messiah, the Christ. They foretold the Christ of God who would come into the world to redeem God's people.

Now, on the mount of Transfiguration, in the middle of Zion, stood Moses and the prophet with Christ, the Messiah. They were passing the torch, so to speak, to Jesus. As runners in the Olympic Torch Relay, they handed the torch to the next runner. The Old Testament had been fulfilled. The hope of the ages had come. The Messiah had arrived. God's plan of salvation for his chosen people was now at hand. Jesus would take the torch and run to the finish line which he would cross on the cross when he exclaimed, "It is finished."

And there on that Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John saw the glory of Jesus. They saw him in the fullness of his heavenly beauty and splendor. What a sight! But for them it was a terrifying sight. They fell to their faces in sheer terror. Why? Because in seeing the glory of Christ, they saw the very face of God. They saw the terrible contrast between their own sin and the holiness of God. They saw just how unholy and how unworthy they were to be anywhere near God. God says, "Man shall not see me and live." ....But they didn't die. Neither did the men in our Old Testament text when they saw God on Mt. Sinai. How can this be? This is a contradiction that needs to be resolved. How can it be that for a sinner there can be life, not death, at the face of God?

The mountain of God presents us with an uncomfortable problem. In our Old Testament text, God was on his mountain. It is God's mountain. God is there and the holiness of God shone like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain and the eyes of the children of Israel saw it and were terrified. The fire of God is a devouring fire which destroys the sinner eternally. The fire of God is a purifying fire which refines the children of God in the fiery furnace like the refiner's fire that burns the chaff from silver and gold. It was there, on that holy mountain, that God gave the Ten Commandments and his Law to Moses. Those Ten Commandments define us as sinners. They are God's accusation against us as unholy. They are the charges that God brings against mankind.

There on the mountain of God was man. Sinful man. Mortal man. Unholy man standing in fear of the fiery holiness and wrath of God. The Israelites saw the glory of God and were terrified. Peter, James and John saw the glory of God on the Mount of Transfiguration and fell to the ground in terror. Unholy man always stands in fear when he comes into the presence of a holy God. As we gather in worship in the presence of God; Emmanuel, God with us, we come in fear and trembling into the awesome presence of God's holiness. That is why the liturgy begins with the confession of sins. Unholy man cannot stand in the presence of God and live.

Yet there was life, not death on the mountain. That is the puzzle. Not only did Moses and Joshua and Nadab and Abihu and the 70 elders go up the mountain of God and saw God, but they even ate and drank. Now how can we understand this? These sinful men were in the presence of a holy God... having a picnic with him!

It is on God's mountain, Mt. Sinai, where God gave us the Law which defines holiness and accuses us of sin. It was on God's mountain, Mt. Calvary, where God fulfilled the Law and made us holy. The law he had given us we could not obey. We could not fulfill the law ourselves, so God did it for us. It is on God's mountain that God makes us holy. God is present on the mountain to make us holy. And that is the glory of God; that God makes us holy. God's glory is that God reveals himself to sinners for their salvation.

Man is present on God's holy mountain in order to be made holy. On that mountain Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people. It is the blood that cleanses us and expiates our sin. It is the blood that covers our guilt and removes our shame. It is the blood that makes us holy so that we can stand in the presence of God. In fact it is the very presence of God, by the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ, where we are made holy. Standing on the mountain of God is to stand in the presence of Jesus Christ, and standing in the presence of Jesus Christ we are made holy by his blood.

On God's mountain Holy Israel stood in the presence of God, not in death, but in life. Not only did they not die when they saw God, they were in peace and fellowship with God; they ate and drank. In worship we are on the holy mountain in the presence of God. We do not die but are given life; we are made alive by the blood of the Lamb in word and sacrament. We stand in peace and fellowship with God; we eat and drink at the table he sets before us; we eat and drink the meal he prepares for us: his very own body and blood.

How can this be? It's the blood! It was the blood that cleansed Israel. It is the blood that cleanses us; the holy, innocent blood of the Lamb which he shed on the cross that washes us from our sin and makes us holy. It is that same cleansing blood of Christ which we receive in Holy Communion. And it is the Word of God that proclaims us holy which applies that blood to each and every one of us individually in Baptism and Holy Communion. In the Lord's Supper we stand on the mount of God. God is present in the body and blood and his presence in the body and blood washes us clean of our sins, so we sit at the table and eat the meal he has prepared for us. Like the Israelites on the mountain, we have a picnic with God on his holy mountain each time we partake of the sacrament.

Because the transfigured Lord was going to Mt. Calvary to shed his blood for us, we now stand in his life. We stand in the presence of a holy God who comes to us in Emmanuel, God with us, to cleanse us of our sin and give us life. So as Jesus said to Peter, James and John, "Rise and be not afraid," we rise and have no fear. We are made holy by his word and we fellowship with God in the wedding feast of the bride and groom, eating and drinking his holy, precious body and blood, in the company of angels and archangels and all the saints in heaven and on earth.

There on that holy mountain in the sacrament, Christ shares his glory with us. We shine with the glory of Christ, that glory which he will share with us eternally in heaven. There, on the holy mountain of communion, God calls us his children, a holy people, a royal priesthood. There on that holy mountain, we have a glimpse of what we will be in the eternal kingdom of heaven. Here to the sacrament we come in our broken and dying bodies to receive his body, broken and laid in a tomb, and his blood poured out for us. But it is here that our eyes turn to the glory of our renewed bodies in the heavenly kingdom; that radiant splendor of Christ which he shares with us eternally.

Then it is into the world as we take the word and sacraments that the glory of Christ shines to all people. Just as the glory of Christ shines in Panama in the ministry of Kristy Lorfeld as she shares Christ with here students. Recently a student named Mary, who is originally from China, shared with the class how she had come to know Christ in Panama. As a result here parents and family have also seen the glory of Christ and are now Christians as well. Recently even her 101 year old grandmother in China has become a believer. Now Mary wants to be a missionary to Peru, South America, as the mission team in Panama are exploring joint work with LCMS World Relief to rebuild the Lucumo settlement in Peru which was destroyed last year by earthquakes. This past week the mission team from Panama visited Lucumo along with a World Relief team to begin work there. The glory of Christ is spreading around the world today.

On the holy mountain the Father says, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him." The Son says, "Drink of this cup all of you, for this is my blood which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Hearing the Son, the church says, "Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face. Here would I touch and handle things unseen; here grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace. And all my weariness upon thee lean." (LSB 631)

Amen.