The Lord has finally come to His temple

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord

Malachi 3:1-4 + Luke 2:22-32

42 days ago today (40 days ago, counting from this past Monday, February 2nd), we celebrated Christmas. Why do we count off 40 days from December 25th to make a holy day out February 2nd? We do it, because Mary and Joseph did it; they counted off 40 days from the day of Jesus’ birth, and then they took Him up from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, to the very Temple of which God had spoken through the Prophet Malachi, “And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts. And finally, after 400 years from the time Malachi wrote those words, He did come. The Lord finally came to His Temple, 40 days after His birth.

Why 40 days? Because Mary and Joseph were godly Jews who paid attention to God’s ceremonial laws for the Jewish people, and the Law of Moses required that they perform two ceremonies: Purification for Mary, and the Consecration of her firstborn son.

In Leviticus 12, Moses gave the Israelites God’s command about purification after childbirth. Just like eating pork or touching a corpse made someone unclean, so childbirth made a woman ceremonially unclean. She was unclean for 40 days after the birth of a son, 80 days after the birth of a daughter. On the 40th day after the birth of a boy, the mother was to take two offerings to the Temple to be sacrificed: either a lamb and a turtle dove, or, if she couldn’t afford a lamb, then two turtle doves, which is the offering Luke indicates that Mary brought.

Purification was commanded by God, because every time a child is born, there is a flow of blood—a sinner’s lifeblood. And in the Old Testament, God used lots of symbols. A sinner’s blood was a symbol of sin—sin that needed to be punished with death. That’s why God gave them so many animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, to teach them that blood needed to be shed in order for sinners to stand clean and pure before God. But even the animals were just symbols. What was really needed was the blood of a spotless, sinless human being, and not just any sinless human being, but the very Son of God, sent to earth for this very purpose. The ceremonies and the laws about clean and unclean were shadows pointing to the Christ who would bring real, spiritual purification to sinners. And the much shorter time of a woman’s uncleanness after giving birth to a boy pointed to the coming of a male Child who would redeem us all. Well, now, finally, the Christ had been born, the sinless Son of God who, by His death, would make atonement for the sins of all people. Finally, all the pictures of the Law of Moses and the Jewish ceremonies were being fulfilled. Finally, and for the first and only time in human history, a clean, sinless Son had been born of a woman. And right there in Mary’s own sacrificial offerings for her purification, the future sacrifice of her sinless Son was being foreshadowed.

The second ceremony that had to be fulfilled according to the Law of Moses was the Consecration of the firstborn son. That goes back to the Exodus, to the first Passover, to the tenth plague God sent against Egypt, the plague of the firstborn. You remember, God sent the destroying angel against all the firstborn sons of Egypt, but He spared the firstborn sons of Israel by telling them to take a lamb and slaughter it, to take its blood and paint the doorframes of their houses with it. When the destroying angel saw the blood of the lamb, he passed over their houses. Then God put a claim on every firstborn son who would be born in the future generations of Israel. Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD. Now, what does that mean? It means that, as an Israelite, either you present your firstborn son to God in His Temple and leave him there to serve God for the rest of his life (as Old Testament Hannah did with her son Samuel), or, as was usually the case, you had to redeem or “buy back” your firstborn son from God, for the price of a lamb.

Did Mary and Joseph actually buy Jesus back from God with a lamb? Luke makes no mention of it here, and that makes sense, because of all the sons born to men, Jesus truly was holy to the Lord. Jesus was the Son of Man who belongs to God the Father and cannot be redeemed from Him, but would dedicate His life to God’s service and to being the Redeemer whose blood was the redemption price of the world. We hear at Jesus’ Baptism how God claimed Jesus as His own, beloved Son. So it makes sense that Luke doesn’t record Mary and Joseph offering a lamb to buy the Lamb of God back from God.

It seems that they planned to, they planned to redeem the Redeemer—to, as Luke says, do for Him according to the custom of the law. But they were interrupted by divine intervention. It was at that moment that God’s Spirit brought old Simeon over to Mary and Joseph.

Simeon was one of those Jews—one of the relatively few, it seems—who understood, by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit, that the Law of Moses was pointing ahead to someone, pointing to the coming of the Messiah. He was “waiting for the Consolation of Israel,” the consolation or comfort that Isaiah had promised long ago. Not the comfort of a cushy life on earth, but the comfort of the forgiveness of sins and peace with God. As Isaiah said, “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD’s hand Double for all her sins.”

God’s Spirit revealed in the prophecies of Scripture that the Messiah had to be born right around that time, and God’s Spirit revealed to Simeon that he wouldn’t see death until He saw the Lord’s Christ with his own eyes. So at just the right moment, on just the right day, God’s Spirit brought Simeon to the Temple and brought him right up to the right family. And he took Jesus up in his arms and blessed the Lord with those Spirit-inspired words that we sing every Sunday and on many Wednesdays: Lord, now You let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a Light for enlightening the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.

Let’s take a brief look at this Nunc Dimittis. First, Simeon announces that he is ready to depart—to be dismissed from the Lord’s earthly service, to die, in peace. You hear some people say, “I’m ready to die, whenever.” Some of them even mean it! Some of them aren’t actually ready, though, even if they think they are. They delude themselves into thinking they’ve lived such a good life that God will surely let them through the “pearly gates.” Others think that death just has to be better than what they’re suffering here, as if hell didn’t exist. Still others delude themselves into thinking that God is so “nice” that He’ll just let everybody into heaven. But, no. Simeon’s readiness came from only one place—from faith in the God of Israel who had promised to send a Savior to Israel—the very Child whom he held in his arms.

For My eyes have seen Your salvation. This is such a basic truth: Sinners need salvation, an offering, a sacrifice that atones for their sins and rescues them from eternal condemnation in hell. And Simeon tells us that this salvation of God is found nowhere but in one place—in the Child whom he held in his arms. St. Peter says the same thing, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Only by the name of Jesus, the Son of God, true God and true Man, who would give His life on the cross as the redemption price.

The price for whom? “Prepared before the face of all peoples, a Light for enlightening the Gentiles and for glory to Your people Israel.” No one on earth, Jew or Gentile, no matter how sincere or religious they may be, will be saved, unless they believe in this Child, held by Simeon, in Jesus, the Christ, the Savior sent by God to save all men from their sins. God sent Him to bring the light of the knowledge of God to all the Gentiles. And He also sent Him to bring glory to Israel, the only nation on earth that already had the light of God’s salvation shining from the Old Testament promises of God, promises which centered on the coming Redeemer. The Lord Jesus was offered into death for all men on earth, and He is offered now as the One who defeated death—offered to all men on earth in the preaching of this Gospel, so that all might hear, and repent, and believe in Him, both Jew and Gentile.

So again today, on this Feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus, we celebrate the revelation of God’s salvation to us sinners in the Person of Jesus. And again today, we celebrate the great Sacraments that God has given us, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Why? Because Holy Baptism is our purification ceremony by which God washed us clean, through faith in Mary’s firstborn Son. And why Holy Communion? Because Holy Communion brings the Lamb of God to us with consolation, with salvation, with the promise of forgiveness, so that, just like Simeon, our eyes can see the very bread and wine to which Jesus has attached His promise, This is My body; This is My blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. As truly as Simeon saw with his eyes the Lord’s salvation, so we see Him with the eyes of faith every time we receive the Sacrament of the Altar, so that we, too, may depart in peace, at any moment, whenever the Lord is ready to dismiss us from His earthly service and bring us into heavenly glory. Amen.

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Let God’s favor be the only reward you seek

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for Septuagesima

1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5 + Matthew 20:1-16

Why does the average person go to work, would you say? If you’re of working age, why do you spend all those hours usually away from home, away from your family, working at a job? I’d say that almost everyone does it to earn a living, to make some money, so that you have some money to spend on the things you need, or on the things you want. You expect your employer to pay you for your work, and, in a just world, you expect your wages to reflect how long and how hard you worked, and how well you performed at your job, and you would be rightfully upset if your employer decided, at the end of the day, to pay you the same amount he paid to another worker who didn’t work as long, or as hard, or as well at the same job. All of that makes perfect sense in the business world. Because the business world is all about working to earn your well-deserved wages.

But that all gets turned upside down in the kingdom of God. That isn’t how things work in God’s kingdom, and because things do work that way in our day-to-day lives, with our businesses and with our jobs, there’s a real danger that a person could begin to see his place in the kingdom of God just like his place in the workplace. Go to work, work hard, get paid for the amount of work you do or the amount of time you put in.

The apostles themselves began to think of their place in the kingdom of heaven that way. At the end of Matthew chapter 19, Matthew tells us about a rich young man who refused to part with his wealth in order to follow Jesus. He was unwilling to give it up, to pay that steep price. But the twelve apostles—they had given up everything to follow Jesus, which Peter went on to point out to Jesus, and then asked, “What will we have as a result?”

Oh, you’ll sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, Jesus said! And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But, those rewards come with a warning.

Some will be called by God to give up much as they live in God’s kingdom. They will have to work hard and suffer much, and long. On the other hand, some will be called to suffer less, maybe much less. They will not have to work as hard or give up as much during their time in God’s kingdom, and yet they will still receive the same promised reward of eternal life and eternal joy in God’s presence as those who worked hard their whole lives. That’s not how it works in the business world, but it is exactly how it works in God’s kingdom.

And here’s the warning, the thing to watch out for: Many who suffered much, and gave up much, and worked their whole lives will begin to view the reward at the end of the day as the just compensation for their hard work, just as it is in the business world. And that will cause them to become jealous and resentful toward their brothers and sisters in Christ who weren’t called upon to work or suffer as much. At the same time, they’ll grow bitter toward God, who dares to give the same reward to those who didn’t work as hard, revealing that they weren’t really in it to serve God, but to earn a reward that matched how hard they worked. The ones who came into God’s kingdom last, and who worked the least, will end the day with God’s favor, while these who came in first and worked the hardest will end the day with God’s contempt.

That’s a summary of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Now let’s walk through it piece by piece to see what it teaches us about work in the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a household who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. The vineyard is the kingdom of heaven, and God Himself is the master of the household or the “landowner,” as some translations say. And, understand, the kingdom of heaven isn’t only what awaits when a person’s soul is taken to heaven. No, the kingdom of heaven is already here on earth in the form of the Holy Christian Church. All believers in the Lord Jesus have entered the kingdom of heaven, whereas, to be outside the vineyard is to be outside the kingdom of God, to be among the lost who will not inherit eternal life, because they are still in their sins, responsible for their sins, separated from Christ. But, in His mercy, God comes to sinners, through His ministers, and calls them into His kingdom, into His Church, into the company of believers in Christ Jesus. Notice, there is no price of entry, no qualifications needed. Their works don’t get them into God’s kingdom or into God’s grace. Instead, they are called into God’s kingdom in order to be able to work. Repent and believe the good news! Live in faith and in God’s forgiveness each day!

After agreeing with the workers on a denarius for the day, he sent them out into his vineyard. God tells sinners what to expect when they come into His kingdom: His mercy, His love, His attention, eternal life in their souls now, eternal life in heaven at the end, for all who love Him, for all who believe in the Lord Jesus. Those who repent and believe in Him are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven, and begin their lives of sanctification, getting to work in God’s vineyard, with love for God and love for your neighbor, struggling against sin, praying earnestly, worshiping God, hearing His Word, receiving His Sacraments, taking up your cross, and suffering for Jesus’ sake, knowing that, at the end of the day, when your work on earth is done, you’ll remain in God’s presence forever. Living in the loving presence of God is the goal.

Now, the landowner went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, ‘You also, go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. He did the same thing again at the sixth hour, and at the ninth hour, and even at the eleventh hour, when the sun was beginning to set and the day was almost done. Who are the ones who start at the beginning of the day, and who are the ones who are called into the vineyard later? Well, we can look at it, first of all, as a reference to people groups. A few centuries after the Great Flood, while the rest of the nations had already gone their own way, after their own false gods, God came to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then, eventually, to Moses and the children of Israel, and called them into a special covenant with Him, ratified at Mt. Sinai. The Israelites, the Jews, were the first to know the true God, to be called into His kingdom, and to be given work to do and toil to suffer within His kingdom. Then, at the time of Jesus, still within the people group of the Jews, He called tax collectors and sinners, who had abandoned God’s kingdom by their sins, called them back into His kingdom. Then He called the Gentiles, one group of them after another, into His Christian Church. The Jews, as a people, had borne the burden of the Law of Moses for 1500 years before the Gentiles, as a people, were invited in.

But we can also look it at with regard to individuals, some who are called to the faith early in life, others later, and still others toward the very end. We can look at it, not only as different lengths of time various people spend within the Church, but also as the different circumstances under which people are called. For example, some Christians are called to suffer more at the hands of persecutors, some less. Some are given more opportunities to serve, some fewer. Some are called to sacrifice much, others (seemingly) little. There are disparities in the kingdom of heaven when it comes to such things. If we were talking about the business world, the ones who work the longest and the hardest should get something better than the ones who work the least.

But we aren’t talking about the business world. We’re talking about God’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, which isn’t gained through our work, or through our suffering, but is gained for us, through the work and the suffering of the Lord Jesus. If we lose sight of that, then we’re in big trouble.

That’s what we see at the end of Jesus’ parable. Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ Now, when those who were hired about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. So when the first came, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, received, each one, a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled against the master of the household, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden and heat of the day.’

The hearts of the longest and hardest workers are revealed at the end. All their hard work, all their suffering, caused them to lose sight of God’s free gift in Christ, caused them to begin to believe that they deserved God’s favor, caused them no longer to desire God Himself, but only the good things He might hand out. Those who worked longer expected more, thought they deserved more, revealing that, for them, the work was not done in service to the owner, but was done entirely for the reward. For them, there was no concern at all for their fellow workers, or for the owner himself. For them, the generosity of the landowner was despised, not praised. When that happens, those hard workers who have become bitter toward God because they aren’t getting all the things they thought they deserved—it will not go well for them. They will be greeted by God with contempt. He answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I give you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is mine? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.

As always, Jesus’ warnings aren’t given in vain. It doesn’t have to turn out this way for you. If you’ve worked long and hard in the kingdom of God, if you’ve pursued the Christian life with zeal and devotion, that’s good! But why have you done it? Was it to earn more blessings from God in the end? Was it to compare yourself with others, to compare your sacrifices with their sacrifices? Would you dare to think of God as unfair for giving you no more than He promised to give you in the beginning? He promised to give you Himself! Was that not enough?

Let it be enough. Let God’s favor be the only reward you seek. As Jesus promised His apostles, you will receive, at the end, a hundred times more than you ever gave up. But don’t serve God for those things. Serve Him, here in His kingdom, because He gave His Son into death for your sins. Serve Him, because Christ loved you and gave Himself for you. Serve Him, because it is an honor just to be counted among His children. And, whatever you do, never, ever, ever start to think of yourself first, to depend on yourself, or on your past obedience, or on all the time you’ve spent in the kingdom of God, as if that were a guarantee of your future. Depend on Christ, and on Him alone. Think of Him first, and of yourself last. Then you will be counted among the first, being both called into the kingdom of God and chosen to remain there, in God’s favor, for eternity. Amen.

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The even more dependable prophetic word

Posted on January 28, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for the week of the Transfiguration

2 Peter 1:16-21

It would have been pretty amazing to see the Transfiguration, as Peter, James, and John saw it. You heard Matthew describe it on Sunday, who must have gotten his account of it from one of those three, or from Jesus Himself. You heard Peter’s own account of it on Sunday, too, and again this evening. On Sunday, we focused on the Transfiguration and the shining light coming from the face of Jesus, but tonight we’re going to focus on the other amazing, extraordinary light Peter talks about in his epistle, the light that shines from another place. Tonight let’s consider the even more dependable prophetic word.

Now, don’t misunderstand. Peter’s eyewitness account of Jesus’ transfiguration—and of all that Jesus said and did—is absolutely dependable, and the Holy Spirit made sure that Peter’s account was written down for us and preserved for us through the ages. You can absolutely depend on Peter’s account as he writes about what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration. But notice, even in that description, he doesn’t focus on what he saw with his eyes. He describes what he heard with his ears: Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice such as this came to him from the majestic glory: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

On only two other occasions had God the Father spoken audibly from heaven prior to this, as far as Scripture tells us. The first time was when God thundered down the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai. They all heard the words—and cowered in fear. Then, nearly 1500 years later, the Father spoke from heaven at Jesus’ baptism (the same words He spoke at Jesus’ transfiguration). We aren’t told who heard the voice at that time. But on the Mt. of Transfiguration, the voice and the words were heard by Jesus and by those three apostles who were with Him. The words were heard clearly by them. There was no doubt at all about what the Father had said, how He claimed Jesus as His beloved Son, how He proclaimed how well-pleased He was with Jesus. The word was clear. The word was dependable.

But, as I said, it was only heard by a handful of people. According to Peter, we all have something even more dependable: the prophetic word.

What is the prophetic word? Peter is referring to the inspired Scriptures of the Old Testament. The Scriptures are a flawless record of the words spoken and/or written down by the prophets whom God chose to speak for Him to the people of Israel, from Moses to King David to Malachi. We confess it every Sunday in the Nicene Creed: I believe in the Holy Spirit…who spoke by the prophets. When the prophets spoke, it was the Holy Spirit speaking through them. When the prophets wrote, it was the Holy Spirit writing through them. For example, when the writer to the Hebrews cites a passage from one of the Psalms, he simply writes: “The Holy Spirit says” such and such. And while the Spirit surely spoke many things through the prophets that were not written down and preserved for future generations, the things He did write down through them and preserved through countless copyists over the ages are the things God intended for us to read and hear, even thousands of years later.

You do well to pay attention to this prophetic word, Peter says, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Now, if you’re in a dark place, and there’s a lamp there, no one has to tell you to pay attention to the lamp. The lamp is obvious, and so is its importance. But Peter does draw our attention to the lamp that is the inspired Word of God, because we sometimes forget that we’re in a dark place, because we’re dealing with spiritual darkness, which requires spiritual perception. We sometimes forget that the Word of God is “a lamp to our feet and a light for our path,” as the Psalm puts it, thinking we can see clearly enough without it. Because human reasons pretends to be a light, too.

For example, “science” (so-called) pretends to be a light, telling us where the universe came from, and how life appeared on earth, and how God had nothing to do with it. In reality, though, that’s like men flailing around in the darkness, proclaiming as loudly as they can, “I know the way! I know the way!” No, they don’t. Because human reason and science are limited and clouded and darkened by the sin that corrupts our flesh. Remember, Peter says. The inspired Scriptures are your lamp, not human reason, not human science.

Or, as others pretend, “The Church and its leaders and its councils are your lamp! Live by them, and you cannot fail!” But no, that’s not what Peter wrote. You do well to pay attention to the prophetic word. That word is the lamp shining in a dark place, which means that the Scriptures are clear enough that any believer can understand them. That word is the lamp that reveals Jesus to you as the fulfillment of prophecy. It’s the lamp that shows you where the universe came from, where man came from, where sin came from, where death and violence and hatred came from, and how God made and unfolded His plan throughout the Old Testament to nurture the nation of Israel until it was time to bring His beloved Son into the world, with whom He was, and remains, well-pleased. Just as light shone brilliantly from the face of Jesus at the transfiguration, so the light of the prophetic word shines brightly at all times and in every place, guiding people to Christ Jesus, so that we see in Him the true Light of the world, who reveals to us the love of God in giving His Son into death for our sins.

Why can the prophetic word, the Holy Scripture, be such a dependable light? Well, it couldn’t be if it were just the musings of men, the pious ideas that a handful of men (even the best of men!) came up with and decided to preach. Because then it would still be just a human book filled with the thoughts of fallible men. No, Peter says, you must know this, first of all: that no prophecy of Scripture comes from a person’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were driven by the Holy Spirit. “Driven.” Driven, not by their own interpretation of things, but by the Holy Spirit to prophesy as they did, to say what they said, to write what they wrote. The Holy Spirit is the true Author of the Bible, and just as God cannot be wrong or mistaken about anything, neither can the inspired Scriptures be wrong or mistaken about anything. The Spirit of God is the Author, and, therefore, the Spirit of God is the true Interpreter of what He inspired to be written.

Doesn’t that truth drive you to back to the Word of God? Doesn’t it inspire you to spend even more time in the Holy Scriptures, reading and meditating on the things your God inspired to be written for every generation of His children? You do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place. Amid all the darkness in this world, there shines a brilliant light, and it shines for you and me even more brilliantly than the light that shone from Jesus’ face at the transfiguration, because while that light wasn’t for any of us to see in this life, the light of the prophetic word is for you and me, and by it, the Lord God will guide us safely through this darkness into the light of His glory in heaven. Amen.

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The glory that awaits is worth the pain of the cross

Posted on January 25, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

2 Peter 1:16-21 + Matthew 17:1-9

If a person is serious about living a Christian life in this world, he’ll find that it involves plenty of pain and sacrifice. He (or she) will no longer fit in with the surrounding culture and society. He’ll experience strained or broken relationships, public shaming, persecution, struggles with temptation, confusion about the path forward (for oneself and for the Church), maybe also feelings of loneliness and isolation, as we live in the midst of the many lies, injustices, and acts of lawlessness that fill our world. In fact, it was just six days before Jesus’ transfiguration, which you heard about in today’s Gospel, that Jesus summarized all this to His twelve apostles: If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Taking up one’s cross is not a symbol of comfort, or ease, or relaxation. Quite the opposite. The Christian life is symbolized by the cross, which is a heavy burden all by itself, and which leads inevitably to crucifixion.

But Jesus went on to explain to His apostles that taking up one’s cross, even losing one’s life, would turn out very well for those who follow Him. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

The cross and death—losing one’s life—comes first. But one of the basic truths of the Christian faith is that death is not the end for the believer in Christ, just as it was not the end for Christ Himself. The entire eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews teaches that truth, listing Old Testament believer after Old Testament believer who looked ahead in faith, past this life, with its joys and with its sorrows, to the glory of the life to come. Then it picks up at the beginning of chapter 12 with this encouragement for Christians: Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

How was Jesus able to endure the pain of the cross? By looking past it to the “joy that was set before Him,” the joy of providing the atonement for the sins of mankind by His cross-bearing, by His suffering and death, the joy of the resurrection from death and eternal glory afterward, first for Himself, and then for those who would follow Him into glory. That’s what’s pictured for Jesus’ disciples in the Transfiguration. In it, Jesus gives them a vision, an appetizer, if you will, of the glory that awaited Jesus, and all believers, on the other side of pain and death, enabling them to endure the cross that was coming.

Jesus took just three disciples—Peter, James, and John—up onto the mountain that day. It was enough for just three of them to see the vision. They would bear witness to the other apostles, and, later, to the whole Church of what they saw there that day, and the Holy Spirit would bear witness through them, so that those who hear, as you’re hearing today, might believe.

Jesus was transfigured before them. (That means, His form, His appearance underwent a drastic transformation.) His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white like the light, shining and white, like snow, Mark describes it, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. We’re used to seeing things like that in movies, but imagine it happening in real life, right in front of you, to a man you’ve spent almost three years with, every day, watching Him do miraculous things, yes, but never once looking any different than any other man. Before, the eyes of faith told them that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, as Peter had confessed one week earlier. Now, suddenly, they see Jesus looking like the Son of the living God, with all the glory and splendor of the Creator.

But there was more to this vision. Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Remember how Hebrews chapter 12 spoke of the Old Testament saints as a “great cloud of witnesses,” all urging us onward and upward, to live as strangers here as we focus on the goal of heavenly glory? Well, God chose just two from that great cloud of witnesses to appear here with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Why these two? Oh, there are all sorts of reasons we could point to. Jesus had much in common with both Old Testament prophets, but I’ll mention just a few. Both Moses and Elijah faced their share of opposition from the unbelievers in Israel, just as Jesus had. Both of them trudged through this life, hoping for something better at the end. Moses knew he wouldn’t be allowed to enter the earthly Promised Land of Canaan, and yet he went on faithfully leading the Israelites through the wilderness for those forty years, because he had his heart set on the heavenly Promised Land that he did enter when he died. Elijah, for his part, was taken to glory early. He readily left behind this sinful world when God was ready to take him, and he left in a most extraordinary way: he ascended into heaven alive, being carried up in a whirlwind. In both cases, how did things turn out for them? Well, here they are, alive and well, conversing with the Son of God in His glory. Clearly, for them, the glory that awaited was worth the pain of the cross they bore.

Luke adds that they were talking with Jesus about His “departure (literally, about His “exodus”) which He was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Ironic, isn’t it?, that Moses was talking about an “exodus,” and Elijah, too, given his extraordinary “exodus” from this world. Jesus’ own departure or “exodus” would also be rather extraordinary. He had a few months left to preach and teach, and then He would depart via death, as Moses had, but then come back to life, and finally depart by ascending into heaven alive, as Elijah had. This was the plan. It was the plan all along. It was the plan since Old Testament times, and, in fact, since the creation of the world. The Christ would come, not to conquer the world or dominate the world, not to sit on a throne in comfort and glory, but to suffer the pain of the cross, and then to enter into His glory.

Only a glimpse of that glory was being given to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, but they sure wanted it to last. Lord, it is good for us to be here, Peter said. If you wish, let us make here three shelters—one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. St. Mark adds that he didn’t know what to say, since they were all so afraid. But Peter’s instinct to remain on the mountain, to keep the glory going, to not have to think about the cross they’ll have to face down at the bottom of the mountain—that instinct lives in all of us. We want the good times to last. We want to avoid the pain of the cross. In fact, Peter is almost repeating what he had said six days earlier when Jesus began to predict His suffering and death, “No, Lord! This will never happen to You!” At which point, Jesus had to rebuke him sharply, Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.The things of God include the pain of the cross in this life, for Jesus, and for those who would follow Him, without fail. But the flesh shrinks back from those things.

While Peter was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Hear him!” God the Father speaks from heaven for a second time. The first time, you recall, was at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when He was baptized. “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” The Father was pleased with His Son at the beginning. And He remains pleased now toward the end, even after Jesus has foretold the way of the cross, for Himself and for His followers. The Father was pleased to lead His Son to that cross for our salvation, and He was pleased with Jesus for being willing to set aside comfort and glory for a time, to bear the pain of the cross for us. And He is also pleased to bestow a glorious kingdom upon all who follow Jesus until the end.

Hear Him! Listen to Him!, the Father commands. No better advice can be given, at any time, but especially when it’s time to head down the mountain, away from the glory, when it’s time to bear the cross. When you’re tempted, when you’re disappointed, when you’re confused, when you’re depressed, when you’re persecuted, when you no longer fit in in this depraved world, Hear Him! Listen to Jesus! Not to a whisper in your ear, or to something you feel inside. Listen to the word of Jesus, to the things He has said, and has inspired to be written down in the Holy Scriptures, and has commanded His ministers to preach until He comes again in glory. As Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 8, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. That’s the lesson in the Transfiguration. The glory that awaits in the future is worth the pain of the cross now. It’s okay to go down the mountain and face the pain that awaits below, as long as you’re walking behind Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Keep following Him to the cross and the grave, and you’ll also follow Him into glory and life everlasting. Amen.

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An epiphany of Christ’s saving purpose

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for the week of Epiphany 2

Luke 19:1-10

What a beautiful little story we heard this evening, the story of Zaccheus, one that we don’t hear in our regular lectionary, so I’m glad we have the chance to ponder it tonight. We see here, really, the same thing we saw on Sunday in Jesus’ miracle of changing water into wine, that Jesus came, not to condemn sinners, but to bring joy to sinners. To bring salvation. To seek and to save that which was lost.

We’re introduced to this man named Zaccheus—the only time he shows up in the Bible. We learn that he’s not just a tax collector, but a chief tax collector. He has likely participated in and overseen more theft and fraud in one year than most people could commit in a lifetime. Imagine how many lives of his fellow Israelites he has damaged and maybe even ruined! But now, at the end of Jesus’ ministry, as He’s approaching Jerusalem for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, Zaccheus finally has a chance to get a look at Jesus. But he has to climb up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because Zaccheus is a short man, and the crowds are blocking his view.

The fact that Zaccheus is so keen to see Jesus tells us something important. Clearly it isn’t just raw curiosity. It’s hope! Because Zaccheus has heard, over the past three years, that this Jesus doesn’t just write off tax collectors and sinners, like so many in Israel. He has time for them. He’s been giving them hope that, on the other side of repentance, there is a gracious God who will gladly have them back in His good graces, who will forgive them all their many trespasses and welcome them back as His children. And so Zaccheus, spurred on by hope, climbs that tree to get a look at this Man whom many are calling the Christ who has come from God.

And he is not disappointed.

Not only does Zaccheus catch a glimpse of Jesus, but Jesus looks straight at him, and knows him—knows his name, knows his profession, knows his sins. But He also knows that Zaccheus is not up there in that tree because he wants to throw apples at Jesus, or because he intends to go on living in his sins. He’s up there in that tree hoping for redemption. And that’s just what he finds. Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today!

Stay at the house of a tax collector, of a man who is despised by everyone who knows him in Israel? That’s what grace looks like, Jesus reaching out to a sinner, eager to spend time with him, unashamed to be associated with him. And so Zaccheus hurried and came down and received him joyfully.

And you and I rejoice together with that sinful man, because we know that it’s the same grace and forgiveness that we have received from Jesus, the same acceptance of us, not as we stubbornly remained in our sins, but as we sought a way out of our sins, as we sought in Him redemption.

But the crowds did not rejoice. They all grumbled and said, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Oh, what a tragedy! These people still didn’t know Jesus, didn’t know the grace of God, and they certainly didn’t know themselves, because if they had, they would have rejoiced instead of grumbling. You only grumble at Jesus’ kindness when you think you deserve it, while other people don’t. But that’s never the case. There isn’t a soul on earth who deserves Jesus’ kindness or God’s acceptance. All have sinned and earned for themselves the wages of sin, which is not kindness or acceptance, but eternal death.

How to silence the grumbling of the crowds? How to prove to them that this man has been changed and is no longer the greedy, thieving sinner he was before? Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will restore it fourfold.”

Look at the power of the Gospel—the promise of free acceptance through Christ! Look at the New Man step forth, revealing the faith that lies beneath! Does Zaccheus sound reluctant to give up his former sins? Does he sound like he’s being forced to make restitution to those from whom he stole? Hardly! Zaccheus is simply doing spontaneously what John the Baptist told the crowds to do: Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. He shows the truth of what Jesus would soon say to His disciples in the upper room on Maundy Thursday: If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. A person who comes to Jesus unwilling to mend his evil ways is not coming in faith but still in unbelief. A person who is truly converted does what Zaccheus does here—seeks to mend his ways and make up for the things he’s done wrong, not before God, but before men. Before God, the blood of Jesus is the only thing that can make atonement for evil deeds. But before men, if it’s in a Christian’s power to make atonement, to make restitution, to give back what was stolen or to mend what was broken, he will do it, gladly, as Zaccheus did, out of thankfulness to God for His free acceptance in Christ.

Having shown his faith through the good works that flowed from it, Zaccheus heard an even sweeter sentence from Jesus. Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. Now, genetically speaking, there was never any doubt that Zaccheus was a son of Abraham. He was a Jew by birth, like everyone else in Israel. But once again Jesus reveals that to be a true “son of Abraham” is not a matter of genetics, but a matter of faith. Those who share the faith of Abraham in the God of Israel, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, are sons of Abraham and will inherit the heavenly Promised Land.

That title, “son of Abraham,” given to Zaccheus by Jesus, is also a reminder to the rest of those who call themselves “sons of Abraham” that Zaccheus is their full-fledged brother, and they ought to receive him as such and treat him as such, no longer “a man who is a sinner,” but “a man who has been forgiven through faith in Christ, just like the rest of us sons of Abraham.”

The same lesson applies to us Christians. If a person shows himself to be a believer in Christ, then social status and past sins no longer define that person. Christ now defines that person, who has become our brother in the family of Abraham.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. And there’s the beautiful truth. Jesus, the Son of Man, didn’t come to praise those who are doing well on their own, nor did He come to tell the lost that they’re doing fine in their lostness. He came to go looking for those who are lost, like Zaccheus had been for much of his life, and to save, to rescue those who are lost from the guilt of their sins, and from living as slaves to their sins, and from the eternal death they (we!) have deserved because of our sins.

And so, in this beautiful little story of Zaccheus in the sycamore tree, we see again the truth so clearly expressed in John chapter 3, God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Take comfort in this epiphany of Christ’s saving purpose, and rejoice in His eagerness to come searching for you. Amen.

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