After six days, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to a high mountain by themselves. Like the six days which led to the culmination of creation, this sixth day leads to the culmination of Jesus’ earthly ministry. This is the peak, the highest he will go in glory in his ministry. After this, he heads to Jerusalem to suffer and die for our sins. As it was in Jesus’ life, so this Sunday celebrating the Transfiguration comes at the perfect time at the end of Epiphany and before Lent. We have heard of Jesus’ birth, the glorious angel hosts announcing. The arrival of the wise men bowing before the king. The baptism of Jesus, revealing the glory of the Trinity with a voice from heaven and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. Jesus miracle of new creation – turning water into wine. Finally the Transfiguration – Jesus showing His full divine glory in the presence of Moses, Elijah and the three apostles! Certainly as Peter says “Lord, it is good that we are here.” And then we head to Lent.

“This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” In this final sentence of our gospel reading, we get the full summary of this lesson and why Jesus performed this miracle. Jesus, coming in humility, being God in human flesh, had not performed any miracle before this or shown his divine nature. Here at Cana he did so to show His glory – make manifest, give an epiphany. Therefore, his disciples believed in Him. Ultimately Jesus does this work to create faith, that we may be saved.

The baptism of Jesus is recounted in three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and in John it is mentioned after already having happened. You can be sure that when an event in Jesus’ life is in all four gospels, it is important. Obviously it’s an important enough event that we have a whole Sunday dedicated to it. The Baptism of Our Lord is a key day that has many aspects that connect the other parts of the church year as well. We are brought back to the work of John the Baptist that we heard about in Advent, bookending the Christmas season. We also hear of a glorious revelation of Jesus in the Holy Trinity, which we will hear again on Transfiguration in a couple weeks when the Father yet again says, “This is my beloved Son.” Most importantly, in His baptism Jesus takes the place of sinners, pointing to Good Friday and Easter: His death and resurrection for you.

Who were the wise men? Well, traditions around the wise men seem to have filled in a lot more of the story than we actually hear in scripture. The Bible calls them “magi” meaning magicians or astrologers. The idea of them being “we three kings” came about 500 years after their lives and is influenced by our Old Testament reading in Isaiah 60:3 “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” They fulfill the roles of these kings of nations who were to come bow to the promised Messiah as prophesied in the Old Testament. It was not until another couple hundred years that they were known as “wise men,” on account of being pious and godly rulers who come and worship Jesus. We can also say that we don’t actually know if there were three, there are three gifts, but that’s all we know. That’s ok, scripture doesn’t give all the details about everything because it is not written to give a detailed step by step account or police report, but to teach us from true history about Jesus.

While you should not consider this a law from God, it is usually best to baptize a child as soon as he is able to come to church. His need is great – despite innocent appearance every child born is corrupted by original sin and under the dominion of death and the devil unless Christ frees him. The good news is that Christ has died for us and taken away all our sin. In baptism, all the benefits of Christ are given to him - It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare (SC IV). Here in baptism, we are delivered from the reign of death and the devil through the work of Jesus applied to us by water and the Word. Our old man of sin dies and a new man rises in us, the beginning of our resurrection unto eternal life. Just as we would give medicine to a sick child when needed, we should be willing to bring baptism, and therefore Christ, to them as soon as we can.

There is no need to dwell on such things that we hear every day, but no doubt practically everyone here had some kind of disappointment or loss this year, if not just stress from the constant bad news that people love to report in the media and social media. Along with this, there is an odd trend of people treating the year 2020 itself as if it were a person who brought about all these problems. As if something inherent in the year brought about the various troubles, and if we just get to 2021, we will be ok. It is true enough that each day has troubles of its own, but take this too far and we begin to lose focus on the actual problem and Who the solution is. The world groans as in birth pains because it anticipates the coming of Jesus. It is not the year that causes our problems, but sin, often our own sin. It is not the passing of time that saves us from the evil day, but Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should rest our comfort for today and hope for the future new year on Christ, the one who rules all of creation.

“Fear not!” Cries the angel appearing before the shepherds. Why does the angel cry this? What is there to fear with angels? Aren’t they pretty feminine creatures in robes? Or cute chubby babies? Aren’t they just the spirits of our lost loved ones?

God sent a man named John to bear witness about Jesus. He was not Jesus, but he came to bear witness about Jesus. God sent John into the wilderness to preach and to baptize. John preached, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” Many came to John. They repented of their sins and were baptized. John gained a following. He preached and baptized. He did not waver in his mission.

Here in Isaiah we have the Law and the Gospel given in clear terms as the Lord speaks through the prophet. As we just spoke in the Ten Commandments, the Law tells us what we should do and what God’s eternal will for us is. The Gospel, as we spoke in the Creed, tells us the Good News of what God has done for us, especially that He has forgiven us, as we cannot keep the Ten Commandments on our own. How is this possible? What is the connection between the law and the gospel? The very death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is Christ who is the center of Scripture’s message, as we will hear in this passage from Isaiah today.

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Why does John the Baptist send his disciples to ask Jesus this question? It is a question of doubt from the very one who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. Could the very one who baptized Jesus, who saw the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descend like a dove, who heard a voice from heaven saying “This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) really be wondering if Jesus is the Coming One? Or is John sending these disciples in order that the disciples’ faith may be strengthened? Scripture isn’t clear on this, but it doesn’t matter either way. Jesus Christ gives assurance for those who doubt through His word and work.