As Christians we are people of the Word. It is God’s Word that created us. It is God’s Word that sustains us and upholds all things. It is God’s Word which declares us to be righteous, clean of the guilt of all our sin. And that precious, life-giving, comforting, and strengthening Word is not just found in the books of Matthew through Revelation. From Genesis to the prophet Malachi, this same Word is spoken to us. One of the great blessings of our Lord’s Transfiguration is the confirmation of the testimony of Moses and Elijah, the two great prophets of the Old Testament. By their appearance when our Lord’s divine radiance was revealed to the apostles, it was made unmistakably clear that the Word of God which was spoken through them was about Jesus. They were looking forward to the very same salvation which we now rejoice to know in all its fulness. The Old Testament is not a different word from God which we are now free to ignore because we have Jesus. Rather, we are to rightly treasure the Law and the Prophets as the very Word of God which testify of Christ, and which are filled with rich and full comfort and mercy for sinners. It is a tremendous blessing that as part of the Divine Liturgy we hear the testimony of those who were looking forward to the coming Messiah. May God mercifully grant that we devote ourselves to the testimony of Moses and Elijah and the rest of the Old Testament so that we may share in the same comfort as together we have our life in the Lord Jesus Christ. I look forward to seeing all of you this coming Lord’s Day.
Pastor Ulmer