Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Our epistle reading today is from a letter that the apostle Peter wrote. No doubt the reason why this was chosen as the reading for today, Transfiguration, is because Peter speaks about his own experience when Jesus’s appearance was changed. He says, “We weren’t making it up when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. We, Peter, James, and John, were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We heard this voice, Peter says, which came out of heaven when we were with Jesus on the holy mountain.” Here we see one of the most important things that the apostles were given to do. They were to act as witnesses. They were witnesses of the signs that Jesus performed. They were witnesses of the words that Jesus spoke. In this portion of Peter’s letter he is giving witness both to what he saw and what he heard. Perhaps the most important testimony that the apostles were to provide was that they saw the resurrected Jesus. This was after he had been crucified, died, and been buried. He did not stay dead. His appearance was changed when he was resurrected also. His divine nature was no longer as hidden as it was before Jesus had completed his redemptive work. Perhaps something of his appearance at the Mount of Transfiguration is now apparent in the glorified and resurrected Jesus. The impression that Jesus made on these apostles was such that they were willing and eager to suffer the loss of everything just so that they could continue to tell people that Jesus is the Savior. Nearly all of these men died violent deaths because they refused to be quiet about what they had seen and heard. The reason why they were put to death, though, was not merely because they witnessed something unusual or some spectacle. We are witnesses to things that happen every day, and nobody gets upset about our witnessing events. It is when meaning is attached to our witnessing of something—that is when things can get dangerous. For example, if someone sees something that does not line up with the official story, then there can be trouble. If powerful people are saying one thing, and you witness something else, all of a sudden you are a threat to them. Their version of events is no longer taken for granted. Whistle blowers can end up dead, because their witness contradicts how powerful people might want the story to go. There is no other way to explain the deaths of the apostles except that they were contradicting the official version of reality that others wanted to impose on people. Some powers that be wanted the people to think, to believe, and to live in a certain way. The apostles were teaching people that they should think, believe, and live in a different way. The powers that be wanted to stop this alternate view of reality, and it seemed good to them that stopping these witnesses from testifying by killing them was the best way to do that. So what was the threat that Peter’s witness posed for the powers that be? Before we can answer this, we need to know what the meaning of Peter’s witness is. Our reading speaks to this. The whole letter of 2 Peter speaks to this. Right at the beginning of this letter Peter says, “[Jesus’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. Through these he has given us his precious and great promises so that through them you may share in the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that sinful lust causes in the world.” Let’s unpack this a little bit. Peter says that Jesus has divine power. Through that divine power he has given us everything we need for life and godliness. This is quite a claim, if you think about it and take it seriously. Salesmen, when they are trying to sell you something, might