Sermons 2026

Text: 2 Peter 1:16-21 

Theme “Being Witnesses of Majestic Glory” 

Outline 

1. Peter proclaims not a thought, but what he has seen with his own eyes. Saw Majestic glory of JC on Transfiguration mount. 

2. Proclaims for good of people living in darkness as bright light has dawned! 

3. Still proclaimed by Pastors around the world today. 

4. Christ transfigured in glory that the beloved Son does the will of the Father for us men and for our salvation. 

Sermon 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the second letter of Saint Peter the first chapter verses sixteen through twenty-one. 

Beloved lambs, I pray that you are doing well today. Do you know what this is? It is a kerosene lantern. In the days before electricity and lights, people would put kerosene or oil at the bottom of this, a wick at the top. When they lit the wick, it would provide light to the house so people could see and do housework. In our Epistle, Peter says something similar about the Bible. He says that it is a lamp lit in a dark place. That the light of the Bible shows us the way to go and helps to protect us in this world so that we can see. How can we continue to use the Bible as a light today? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

 1. Majestic Glory 

Peter is writing his letter to combat false teachers. He is defending the true faith against the twisted versions of Christian truth being taught. Twisted versions teaching false doctrines such as Jesus is not God in the flesh. Jesus is not truly human but only appeared to be. Jesus is not coming back visibly but in a secret and hidden way. To all of this, Peter vehemently argues from his own eyewitness account. He points to what he himself saw and heard on the mount of Transfiguration. “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. ” 

Jesus is fully divine and fully human. In the midst of the darkness of the sin filled world, a bright light has dawned. The brightness of God in the flesh for us. Peter, James, and John upon the mountain saw Jesus’ glory shining fully for a brief moment. They heard the Father’s voice declare, the same that they had heard at Jesus’ baptism, that Jesus is the beloved Son with whom the Father is well pleased. Peter testifies that Jesus is no mere man, that Jesus is truly God for us. To use the words of Saint John, the disciples touched His glory. 

2. Bright light has dawned 

Jesus is the Beloved Son because of what He is going to do for us men and for our salvation. In the midst of the darkness of the sin filled world, a bright light has dawned. The brightness of God in the flesh for us. Peter does not record the words of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, but the Gospels do. They were talking of Jesus’ Exodus, everything that He was about to do in Jerusalem. There, Jesus enters in humility, riding upon the donkey, to the cheers of the people. The same people who a few days later will call for His death before Pilate. Jesus will be crucified, died, and be buried. Why? Because of us. The Law of God, which we have often broken in thought, word, and deed, calls for death. Either you die, or one dies in your place. In grace, and mercy, the Father sends the Son, in your place and mine, to die our death in our place. He takes our sins and gives us His life everlasting. Jesus undergoes suffering on your behalf, He takes our sins so that we might share in His everlasting glory. 

3. Word as Lamp 

The glory of Christ was revealed upon the mount of Transfiguration. It still shines brightly today. In the midst of the darkness of our sins, the light of Christ shines brightly upon us with His grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love, in and through His Word. As Peter continues in his letter, 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ” As the Psalmist puts it in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” In the midst of the darkness of our sins. 

Our thoughts of lust, murder, and hatred. The words we have spoken in anger and frustration when we do not get our way. The deeds we have done in the dead of night when we think we are alone. Those times when we have doubted and fallen for the twisted false teachings that go against Christianity’s true doctrine. The attacks of Satan that lead us into sins and doubts. What do we do? We hold fast to the light that we have been given in the Holy Scriptures. It is a lamp to our feet that lights our path. God’s word keeps us in the true faith, even in the midst of false doctrine and error. 

It shines brightly that we may walk steadfast in the faith we have been given, even when surrounded by darkness, sin, and death. We can hold fast to the Bible because Holy Scripture is not myths or the imagination of men. It is from the Holy Spirit who carried men along as they wrote down His words. The Lord God supplied and controlled the content, using the prophet’s own unique vocabulary, style, and life situation. True prophecy never had its origin or interpretation in the will of man. So where did the prophets receive their information? “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” We can rely, the same as we would in a court of law, upon the witness and testimony of the eyewitnesses of Holy Scripture because it is the very word of God, seen, written down in time and space, of everything that God has done for us men and for our salvation in and though Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 

4. Christ’s Glory is our glory 

We could stop at the words of God in Holy Scripture, that is certainly enough to strengthen us in our faith as we go through out this world. However, we have something even greater given to us. We have Christ Himself given to us, in, with, and under the bread and the wine of the Holy Eucharist. That same body that Peter saw glorified upon the mountain, the same body that was crucified and risen for our salvation, we feast upon in this miraculous way. It is given and shed for us, that as we feast upon our Lord’s body and blood, our faith is strengthened until that day when we too will see Jesus physically in glory unto life everlasting. 

What do you have to fear in the midst of sin and death when Jesus shines like the sun for you and is white as light to enlighten you to what He has done on your behalf? There is nothing to fear in life or death when you compare it to the future life our Father has in store for you through Jesus Christ, our Lord. In the Transfiguration, the resurrection of the dead and the future glory and brightness of our bodies are shown. For this was something very remarkable, that Christ was transfigured while yet in the mortal body, which was subject to suffering. What then shall it be, when mortality shall have been swallowed up, and nothing shall remain but immortality and glory? 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.