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“Arise and do not be afraid.”

᛭ INI ᛭

(1. Literal: Hear what happened on the Holy Mountain.)

What a sight it would’ve been—Christ, Moses, Elijah. Peter, James, and John saw it all, for “they were eyewitnesses of His glory, for [they] were with Him on the holy mountain.” They saw His clothing bleach white. They saw His face, bright as the Sun, bright as light itself. They saw the pillar of cloud come around them. Then they saw ΙΗϹ only.

They weren’t just eyewitnesses of His glory, they were earwitnesses. They didn’t just see; they heard! “The voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ [they themselves] heard this very voice borne from heaven.” But that is not all the Father said. He doesn’t just say, “Hey, look! Here’s My Boy!” He enjoins you and me to even more hearing. “Listen to Him,” the Father says. There’s no “Lift up your eyes and see,” but rather “perk up your ears and hear.” So, then, let us perk up our ears and hear! Let us listen to Christ.

(2. Practical: CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD.)

To listen to Christ is the way of faith. He speaks; faith listens. If Christ gives a Word, faith seeks out that Word wherever it is given. Faith is as Psalmist says: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” His Word is refreshes and gives life. “For as the rain goes forth and waters the earth, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me void, but shall accomplish the thing for which I sent it.”

To turn a deaf ear to His Word is the way of unfaith. It is to deny Christ. It is to break the 3rd Commandment. It is to ignore the Voice of the Father who commands each and all: “Listen to Him!” Everything that silences Christ’s gets in the way of this Commandment. How often His Word falls on deaf ears! Bibles grow dusty to silence His Word. Catechisms suffer the same fate to silence the teaching of His Word. Men fail to take up the preaching office, and so many a congregation is vacant. (Christ still speaks even there, they still have preaching. There are stand-ins, often retired, but no full-time shepherd.) The command baptize goes quiet. The Lord’s Supper is ignored, not just the eating and drinking, but the other most important thing about it—His Words. Absolution is ignored and not sought out.

And now you can see that listing to Christ isn’t just a matter of proper and good obedience. It is life itself. We hear this from Christ Himself on the mountain of Transfiguration. We always remember the Father’s booming voice: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” But the still small voice of Christ falls forgotten. But if we were to attune our hearing according to the Father’s command we should perk our ears every time the Scriptures says, “Christ said.” So we hear from Matthew those attention grabbing words, even as the Father’s Voice still echoed. “But ΙΗϹ came and touched them and SAID, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.”’

In that first sentence of Christ we hear the why behind the Father’s Command, but we also hear the great blessing of listening to Christ, trusting Him and His Word.

The Father commands “Listen to Him!” not to pile on, but rather: “I do not desire the death of a sinner but that he repent and live!” And living is really the true benefit of Christ’s Word, and that’s what His sentence tells us. He “SAID, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’” This tells us why Christ speaks:

CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD.

Isn’t that a summary of everything Christ says. He raises you, repents you from the death of sin; He raises you, enlivens you unto new life. Baptism is truly that gift: to bring you from death to life, alienation to adoption, sin to forgiveness, Old Adam to a daily new Man. So it is with all of Christ’s Word. Absolution restores you to the newness of life. Holy Communion gives the medicine of eternal life, through the forgiveness of all your sins. His Holy Word also enlivens you, strengthens you, makes you holy.

We all want to be better people, better spouses, parents, or children, better friends and neighbors, better workers or retirees. And that’s also why Christ speaks: CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD. Indeed, “He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Yes, He died as the propitiation of your sins, and now when He speaks He works death and resurrection for you. He does this daily in your heart and life.

And His Word not only gives resurrection to new life now, but His Word on the Last Day will also do that. CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD, like from actual death and grave. His command on the Last Day will be very similar to the disciples on the Holy Mountain. To everyone who trusts Christ He will says, “Arise, do not be afraid. Enter into the joy of your master.”

(3. Symbolic: The Holy Mountain reveals Christ’s resurrection and eternal glory.)

You see clearly, no, you hear clearly how CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD. And of course He would do that on the Holy Mountain, for the mountain of Transfiguration reveals and foreshadows His resurrection glory, and also His eternal, everlasting glory. His face in heaven shines like the sun, no wonder John reveals that in eternity “the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Rev 22) Indeed Christ will reign forever because He lives also forever. He rose from the dead.

(4. Heavenward: The Holy Mountain reveals your own resurrection and eternal glory.)

Finally, the Holy Mountain also reveals your own resurrection and your own eternal glory. When CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD, it means that you will share in His glory. You will bask in the light of His presence forevermore. Yes, Christ may shine like the sun, but the faithful, “those who are wise”—wise through listening to Christ—“shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Dan 12)

CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD at His altar. His Word always gives life. His Word created the life of wheat and grapes in the beginning, now His Word enlivens bread and wine to be His body and blood, as He promises: “This [bread] is My body; this [cup of wine] is My blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” It indeed raises you again to new life, but it is the promise and down payment of resurrection. For, as Christ Himself says, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will resurrect him on the Last Day.” (Jn 6)

“The Lord ΙΗϹ Christ,” who was transfigured on the Holy Mountain, “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to himself.”

After all, CHRIST SPEAKS TO RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD.

᛭ INI ᛭