Good Morning Friends,
Sometimes God asks us to make sacrifices we do not want to make. It was true for Abraham and Isaac and for Jesus and the disciples too. But if God is for us and we obey anyway, it seems as if God always provides a way for us to see the love in the response to what most certainly was not obvious at the onset. At the core of it is understanding who Jesus is. Thankfully, the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of the mystery. We like the disciples need to see Jesus in glory on a mountain between two revered teachers of Israel so we can look beyond Jesus in misery crucified on a mountain between two criminals with insight into what is actually happening. The problem is that most people just do not get it. If a Gallup poll were conducted by asking the public who Jesus is, we would get a wide range of answers. Some would say Jesus was an ancient philosopher. Others, that He was a powerful religious leader or an influential social reformer. A few might even deny that He ever existed or is just another Avatar. But the Lord conducted His own poll by asking his followers what others thought. Not surprisingly, Jesus got a wide range of answers. But Jesus was most interested in what His followers thought. So, we begin this devotional by asking you the question against the backdrop of the evidence of the transfiguration and the story on a mountaintop where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son. You see, when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, Jesus shone with the love and radiance of the glory of God’s son slated for the sacrifice spared Isaac. Peter, James, and John were so astonished by the presence of God’s glory that they were nearly stupefied. Maybe Abraham had a similar experience on his mountaintop experience. Perhaps they all tacitly knew, though they could not altogether understand it or articulate it, that they were in the presence of God even before the crucifixion and the resurrection.
So, this morning we contemplate the idea of faith related to who Jesus is even as we ask today’s question:
Do We Appreciate Jesus’ Sacrifice As An Act Of Love?
Scripture: Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10, 13-14 (NRSV)
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
2 Peter 1:16-19 (NRSV)
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.
Mark 9:2-10 (NRSV)
Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’ He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone,
Luke 9:18-21 (NRSV)
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Genesis 22: 1-18 (NRSV)
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Romans 8: 31b-34 (NRSV)
I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”; I said in my consternation, “Everyone is a liar.” What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 116: 10-19 (NRSV)
Message: It is hard to consider something so violent as a sacrifice to be an act of love. The story of Abraham’s call from God to sacrifice his only son, the son of the promise, can be confusing if we do not see the larger picture of God’s love for humans through the sacrifice of Jesus. A surface reading of the Abraham story could lead to the conclusion that God is crazy. But there is something else going on here that is crazy only in its love. There is meaning upon meaning in the storyline that must be read within the context of the problem in the garden with Adam and Eve’s sin and how God was going to resolve it in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Now some might think that the test of Abraham is the focus of the story but what is perhaps even more amazing than his obedience is the willingness of Isaac to obey. Such trust and love he had for his father that he was willing to die. But God did not require a completion of the act. He gave a lamb as a substitute. The blessing of Isaac would stand even in the midst of what had to be a terrible emotional crisis for Abraham. The beauty is that Abraham kept the faith, and his son trusted his father not unlike Jesus trusting his. The difference is that Jesus was sacrificed. And our only sacrifice is to be thankful for what it makes possible for us. For everyone believing in Jesus’ love and sacrifice resolving our sin is a spiritual descendant of Abraham. Thankfully when we have Jesus’ faith in his Father’s love much like that of Abraham and Isaac, we lay claim to the faith in God’s promises as they did. Of course, God spared Abraham’s son, but He did not spare His own Son, Jesus. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten into the hands of men, who murdered Him and unintentionally set Him on the path to Resurrection to our benefit. And by God’s grace we look forward to our own Resurrection into eternal life and joy. That is the kind of loving God we worship.
And So, we have a certain freedom as humans but too often darkly abuse it. Some of us have grown up in a church all our lives and still get the priorities wrong and really do not know the love of Jesus. The Transfiguration should open our eyes to the glory of God and remind us that Jesus is not only 100% human but also 100% God. Here in the story of Abraham and Isaac and in the Transfiguration, we get a glimpse of Jesus glorified. Contemplate these mountaintop experiences in contrast to the valley promises of healing that follow. Be reminded of who God really is, and that in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. See Jesus throughout the Bible sometimes in the flesh but sometimes as in the Transfiguration wearing His pre-Bethlehem and post-Resurrection wardrobe in the storyline. There is a metamorphosis here that has implications for us. The proposition for us is to believe that Jesus is more than just a good teacher. He is more than an influential leader. He is more than a superb role model. He is more than a profound ethicist. He is a prophet, a priest, and king…the culmination of the law and the prophets. But he is first and foremost … God in human form. Jesus is God as love incarnate. What is revealed here is Jesus’ power but also that Jesus is to be the priority. There is no longer to be a focus on Elijah or Moses. The focus is to be on a powerful, personal, and passionate Jesus that heals us if we would just make him the priority. This makes it clearer what we are to think of Jesus. This helps us to understand that God is love and that we are heir to its promise.
Pray we appreciate Jesus’ earthly life, death, and resurrection but also His pre-Bethlehem and post-Resurrection existence in the Word made flesh. Pray we understand the price paid for our redemption and are thankful for its love. Pray we believe that Jesus is powerful, personable, and passionate about us, for he is God and cares about us and desires all of us to be saved. Pray therefor that we make Jesus the priority…that Jesus would be preeminent in our life. Pray we realize that there is no other way to God than through Jesus. Pray we realize that this relationship is not based on being good and following rules and regulations but rather making Christ the focus of our attention, not just in reading scripture but in living our lives. Pray we listen to Christ in the mountain top experiences of our lives as well as the valley visions. Pray the Holy Spirit reveals to us the divinity of Jesus as a provision by the Father of a solution for our sin that separates us. Pray we know and believe the truth about Jesus. Pray in our hearts we can say that Jesus is the Christ of God and provides us a solution even when and perhaps especially when we are in crisis.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 