Dan Herold | 2 Peter 1:16-21 | 2/25/2017
We all know what happened way back in the Garden of Eden. It was the perfect paradise that God had created. He created the sky, land, water, animals, birds, all that and then put his prized creation Adam (along with Eve) in charge of it all. He created this beautiful place for Adam and Eve to live and provided everything they needed. As we know, though, that paradise didn’t last forever—it was ruined by sin. Satan came to Eve and tempted her to break the one and only rule that God had given them to follow—not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now for a moment, think about how Satan went about doing that. What method did he use? Well, some might say that he tricked Eve. From Eve’s response it seems like she felt as though she had been tricked. So, what was the trick? It wasn’t really a bait and switch. Satan didn’t lead with a lie, in fact it was a question. With that question—“Did God really say…”—Satan planted the seed of doubt. He introduced one simple question that had some truth to it and caused Eve to start to doubt the words which God himself had spoken to her.
Obviously, Satan’s plan worked. That seed of doubt grew and manifested itself in sin—in rebellion against God. What do you think would happen if Satan had used a different method. If he would have led with an outright lie, instead of planting a seed of doubt with a question, do you think Eve would have given in so easily? If Satan had given Eve an order, would she have listened? When you hear the obvious voice of temptation telling you to do something do you immediately follow its directions or does your conscience jump into battle mode and fight back? Satan knows what works and what doesn’t and planting barely noticeable seeds of doubt is one of his most successful tactics—it has been since the Garden of Eden and it still is today.
The greatest practical enemy of our faith on a day to day basis is doubt. By nature we are skeptical creatures. We want to see proof and we have a hard time believing and accepting things we can’t make sense of. Satan and his followers are hard at work all around us trying to discredit what God says because Satan knows he can’t win a fight with God head on, but from time to time Satan is able to lure a few of God’s sheep to stray away from their shepherd. So, how can we deal with the doubt we naturally encounter?
To start, we can learn from one of Jesus’ disciple’s own experiences with doubt. We can learn from Peter how to deal with the doubt that attacks our faith. Peter had a couple of bouts with doubt that we can read about in the New Testament. There was the time when he refused to believe that he would ever disown Jesus and then he did three times that very same night. There was the time that he saw Jesus walking on water and Jesus told him to come walk on the water as well. Peter took a few steps and then began to doubt and needed to be rescued. There is also the time we read about in our gospel lesson this morning when Peter just couldn’t believe what he was seeing—that Moses, Elijah, and all three persons of the Trinity were there on that mountain.
That last situation is a very important one. That experience was one that began to teach Peter how to deal with doubt. He certainly didn’t understand what was going on when it happened, but from what Peter writes later on especially in 2 Peter 1:16-21 we can see that Peter has some valuable things to tell us about dealing with doubt.
Peter’s second letter was most likely written to Christians living under Roman rule in the outlying provinces which Rome controlled. From Peter’s two letters we can tell that the people to whom Peter was writing did not have an easy time being Christians. They were persecuted greatly and they struggled with doubt. The culture they lived in didn’t trust that God’s word was the truth and that tempted them to doubt as well.
More than likely each and every one of us can relate to that. Chances are that we all know someone who doesn’t believe that God’s word is 100% true and reliable. From time to time it might seem like they make a pretty good case…or at least they raise questions that we have a hard time answering. After a while that little seed of doubt can grow and it can cause us to have serious spiritual struggles.
In our second lesson this morning Peter tells us, in a clear and simple way, how we can deal with doubt. First of all he says,
“We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
That’s one of the most common ways that Satan tries to plant the seed of doubt in our minds. He tries to suggest that the Bible isn’t really God’s word, but that it’s just stories made up by men. Like all believable lies this one has a kernel of truth in it. The Bible was written by men. God used regular human people to physically write down the words which the Holy Spirit provided. Peter is going to go on and tell us how we can be sure of that fact and silence the voice of doubt.
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“For he (that’s Jesus) 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 ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.”
So, Peter gives two more arguments that disprove doubt. At Jesus baptism and at his Transfiguration, as we heard in our gospel reading, God the Father spoke from heaven and specifically identified Jesus as his Son who was carrying out his plan of salvation. Also, Peter was an eyewitness to that event. He was not reporting what he had heard from someone else…he was there! An eyewitness is always more reliable that hearing something that’s been passed on and on and on. We can put our full trust in Jesus because God the Father said so and because we have eyewitness accounts that back it up.
Peter didn’t stop there, though. Peter said that we can fully trust in God’s word because we don’t just have prophecies talking about the future…we have the word of the prophets made more certain. We have the fulfillment of the words of the prophets! We have Christ! Peter is making the point that we are no longer waiting for the promise of a Savior to be fulfilled because it has been fulfilled by Christ. But even still, Peter makes it clear that even the prophecies on their own were reliable and trustworthy because they didn’t come from man’s own mind either.
Peter says,
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Satan’s scheme depends on convincing us that God’s word is not reliable. Satan knows that he can’t convince us that God himself is unreliable so he tries to convince us that what we know about him is not reliable. Satan tries to get us to believe that for one reason or another the bible is not trustworthy. That is how Satan comes to us and says, “Did God really say that?” Just like he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden.
The way to guard against that temptation to doubt God is to simply look at the evidence which Peter lays out so nicely for us. There is an unbroken chain from God to you along which the Word travels. The word of God has been passed down accurately and faithfully from God himself to the Bible you hold in your hands. Satan’s best bet is to get us to doubt God’s word. Don’t let him win that battle. The seeds of doubt are being sown all around you everyday. Don’t let them grow. Guard your heart and run to God’s word to give you the tools to choke out the seeds of temptation that Satan plants.
You can see a big change in the way Peter thinks between those times we hear about in the gospels when he doubts and what he says to us in his letters 1st and 2nd Peter. What Peter saw on the mount of transfiguration was a major part of how Peter learned to deal with doubt. He himself was an eyewitness to Christ being glorified and he heard the voice of God the Father speak. At the moment it didn’t make sense to him, but that event prepared Peter for what was ahead.
After Jesus and his disciples left that mountain that day they set out for Jerusalem and they would spend most of their time in Jerusalem until Jesus would die on the cross. Seeing Jesus in his glory that day, and hearing the voice of God the Father, prepared Peter for what he would see in the near future. The seeds of doubt would still occasionally take hold in Peter’s heart, but he knew where to find the tools he needed to deal with doubt.
Likewise, these lessons are chosen to be heard on this particular Sunday of the church year for a very important reason. We read these specific lessons today to prepare us for what comes next. Just like Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem after Transfiguration, that’s where we are going as well. Transfiguration Sunday, today, signifies the end of the season of Epiphany and the beginning of the season of Lent. When we meet again for worship it will be Ash Wednesday—the first day of Lent’s 40 day pilgrimage to the cross.
Seeing Jesus suffer physical torment along with mockery and spiritual torment as well is a difficult thing. To see the promised Savior beaten and nailed to a cross like a common criminal goes against what we would expect from the savior of the world. Seeing Jesus appear to be weak can open the door for doubt to creep in.
So, take today’s readings to heart. Turn back to them when you feel doubt creeping its way in. Use the word which God has passed down to you throughout the generations to comfort your soul and prepare you to go to Jerusalem with your Lord. There you will see him, not as you might expect, but as you need him to be: humbly and faithfully carrying out his Father’s plan to bring you to heaven. I look forward to going on that journey with you in the next month and a half…Let’s go and see our Savior’s great love for us.
Amen.