Dear Christian friends:

The Lenten Season begins Wednesday, Ash Wednesday. The chief message of Lent is this: "God's Son died!" God die? Can God die? We answer "No! God is life! God is the Maker! God cannot die." Death and God do not seem to go together. Life and God, yes! But not death and God. But the Bible teaches us that in Jesus God died.

When people think about this and try to understand it they often make two mistakes, One mistake is this: If they accept that Jesus is God's Son, they often think His death was not necessary! The second mistake is this: If they accept His death as necessary, they do not believe that He is God's Son. People either accept that Jesus is God's Son and reject His death, or they accept His death and reject that He is God's Son.

What happened in our text corrects both of these wrong ideas. What happened on the holy mountain shows that God's Son must die, and that the man who dies is God's Son.

This story about Jesus' transfiguration shows that God's Son must die.

The disciples, especially Peter believed and accepted that Jesus was the Son of God. (verse 20) But they refused to believe and accept that He must die. One week before His death Jesus told the disciples that He must soon go to Jerusalem and there suffer many things and be crucified and then arise from death. (verse 22) But Jesus' disciples refused to accept His dying. Peter said to Jesus, “Don't say that! This can't happen to You!" (Matthew 16:23)

To help Peter to accept His death Jesus took him and James and John up on the high mountain and was transfigured before their eyes. Then also Moses and Elijah appeared in glory with Jesus and they were talking to one another. "They talked about Jesus' death that will happen in Jerusalem." (verse 31)

What does this prove? It proves that Jesus' death on the cross was not an accident. God planned it long before it happened. Moses and Elijah, yes, the whole Old Testament prophesied about it. God planned that His Son die to save the world! "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) Yes, death and God are joined in Jesus Christ.

In the history of the Christian Church from time to time, some people have rejected the value and necessity of Jesus' death on the cross. They perhaps accepted that He was God's Son, but they did not accept or believe that His death was God's plan and necessary for man's salvation. They said Jesus' death happened because of politics or other reasons They praise Jesus' courage, but they do not believe that God sent Jesus to die. They call our teaching of Jesus' blood a "bloody and crude religion."

Also we Christians today maybe are tempted to think that way about Jesus' death. We become angry against Judas and the Jewish leaders and against Pontius Pilate. We boast and say, "I would not have done what Judas did. I would not have done what the Jewish leaders did. I would not have done what Pontius Pilate did." We blame them for nailing Jesus on the cross. We fail to see that God was using Judas, the Jewish leaders, Pontius Pilate and the soldiers to execute His eternal plan. Not only Pilate and the Jews condemned Jesus to death, but God condemned Him. God made Jesus die on the cross. It was God's plan and God's decision. Pilate, the Jews, Judas and the soldiers were God's tools to do His eternal, good and merciful will. God wanted Jesus to die, and Jesus accepted that death. Why? Jesus answers: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have ever- lasting life." (John 3:16) Really, we should not blame Judas, or Pontius Pilate or the soldiers, or the Jews for Jesus' death; we should blame ourselves. Because of our sins God let Jesus die for us. God put on Jesus the sins of everyone of us and of the whole world. Let us not reject Jesus' death, but accept it and trust in it for our salvation.

When we confess our sins and accept Jesus' death as payment for our sins then we have the true faith and we see death and God meet in Jesus.

The transfiguration shows that God's Son must die; it also shows that the Man who dies is God's Son.

During the history of the Christian Church some people have from time to time accepted Jesus' death, but they rejected that He was God's Son. They say that Jesus was a good man and a wonderful teacher, but they reject His miracles and that He was God's Son.

We Christians today also are tempted to reject that Jesus is God's Son. Many Protestants and some Catholic ministers and theologians today reject Jesus miracles. They say, that Jesus did not walk on the water; He did not change water to become wine; He did not raise the dead, etc. They say Jesus is a man like us. Many church members today think that. Do you?

But here in our text we read what happened on the mountain. A cloud came on them and they feared. And they heard a voice in the cloud saying, "This is my dear Son; hear Him" (verse 35) God Himself calls Jesus "His Son!" Do you need more proof?

It is important that we believe that the man, Jesus, is God's Son, Otherwise His death can't help us. Our Savior must be holy, without sin! The Passover lamb which prophesied about Jesus' blood and death had to be a lamb without spot or blemish. So Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world must be without fault of any kind. Our Savior must be the holy, perfect, mighty Son of God. Nothing else will do! Jesus is that holy, perfect Son of God. His death is precious. It is good for the whole world! He can pay for all people's sins; He can die and He can arise from death!

What happened on the holy mountain shows that death and God meet in Jesus Christ and death is swallowed up in victory. Believe and rejoice!

Amen.