The even more dependable prophetic word

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.