The Confirmation of Jesus' Deity
February 15, 2026. Mathew 17:1-9. Pastor Leslie Nolin
Jesus had recently asked His disciples who do people say the Son of Man is (Matt. 16:13-17) and Peter proclaims He is Messiah, the Son of God. Then Jesus showed the disciples how He must suffer, die and be raised up on the third day.
v.1/ He took three disciples; Peter, James and John, with him up a high mountain, there He was transformed before them, revealing His true nature. The disciples would surely have been wrestling with Jesus being crucified and dying. This gave the disciples an opportunity to see beyond the cross, confirm that Jesus is the Son of God. With the appearance of Moses and Elijah, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. The cross is not end but that there is life beyond the cross.
We see Jesus deity when He appears to John on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:13-18) and when He appears to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3). When Paul stood before King Agrippa (Acts 26:13), he said that Jesus shone brighter than the noon-day sun, this is in the desert of the Middle-East.
John 1:14; “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John later wrote, 1 John 1:1-3; “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched- this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”
Peter wrote (2 Pet.1:16); “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” This fulfilled what Jesus said, Matt.16:28; “Truly, I say to you there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The description that Matthew gives is the true representation of who Jesus truly is, otherwise, while He walked and ministered on earth, His true nature was veiled and could only be seen as He decided to reveal Himself. As Moses was in God's presence (Ex.34:29-35), his face reflected God's glory. This is also described by Paul in 2 Cor. 3 and we too can reflect God's glory (2 Cor.3:18) as we are transformed into His image.
vs.3-5/ Moses and Elijah appear with them on the mountain, I'm not sure how Peter recognized them but it was obviously understood that it was them.
Whenever the gospel was preached before the New Testament was written, the Law and the Prophets were used to point to Jesus as the fulfillment. In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them, that anyone who sets them aside or teaches others accordingly, is least in the kingdom of God.
The appearance of both Moses and Elijah confirms that Jesus is the fulfillment and that only in Him can they be fulfilled in us.
While Peter was still speaking, wanting this moment to last, a voice spoke from the bright cloud that covered them, “This is my Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased, listen (attend to, understand, perceive, give ear) to Him.”
This also elevated Jesus to be a higher authority than Moses and Elijah. 1 John 5:1-5; “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commandments. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
By faith, our lives reveal that the requirements of the law are written on our hearts (Rom.2:15). Proverbs 3:1-4; “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.”
vs.6-7/ When the disciples heard God's voice, they fell face-down in terror. Jesus, in His compassion, touched them and told them to get up and not to be afraid. Jesus temporarily removed the veil that hid His true nature, this is who He truly is and not to lose heart when He is tortured, dies and rises again.
vs.8-9/ As Jesus led Peter, James and John down from the mountain, he instructed them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after Jesus was raised from the dead. We can only speculate why. Was it possible it could cause jealousy among the other disciples or provoke the Jews to further rage. Or, was it just wise to cherish this experience as Mary did when she was told she would give birth to the Messiah, she treasured this and pondered it in her heart (Lk.2:19).
1 Peter 1:3-9; “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
The time will come when we shall see Him face to face (1 Cor. 13:12), we will truly see Him in His full deity.
Copyright © 2026 St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Kamloops
View this sermon presented live here: https://youtu.be/Z6VPA94KS4M
Lent
February 18, 2026. Mathew 6:1-21. Richard Senum
Lent is a time for Christians to spiritually and physically recognize the depth of love and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When we see him on that cross we are reminded of our own mortality as a consequence of our sinfulness. In the eyes of God - sinfulness is lawlessness against his perfect – life sustaining commands – laws and precepts. And yet - we continually violate one or more of His laws each day of our lives -- even though we try not to.
This dilemma was recognized by Paul in Romans 7:15; “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” On this side of Paradise – we are spiritually and physically incapable of living up to God standards. Or – again Paul says in Romans 3: 23: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
So during Lent we are called to repentance – prayer – fasting or abstinence and charitable giving of our time and talents. Charitable giving because of God’s gracious gifts of life – love - grace and mercy in our lives - we are charged to share those divine gifts with those around us.
But I sometime wonder – am I doing enough and am I giving enough – not just in church but in my life outside of church. In a way my Lenten response has less to do with doing and giving than the attitude of a humble – contrite and repentant heart. Remember Cain and Abel. In Genesis 4: 3-5 we read; “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” Abel showed reverence to God by providing the best of the firstborn from his flock where as Cain just gave some of his produce. Was it the best from his first harvest? Probably not. Y’ see God knows our heart and knows our attitude towards him. Abel was reverent – Cain was casual.
It wasn’t the offerings to God from Cain and Abel that was the issue but the attitude of their heart. Abel had the right heart attitude toward God – and sadly like so many in this world he paid with his life for it.
Similarly with Jacob and Esau – it’s the heart that revels our attitude toward God. Esau was only interested in his hunger to fill his stomach. But Jacob recognized the importance of a blessing from his father was like a blessing from God.
Jesus says in Mark 7: 20-23; that it is what comes out of our heart that defiles us. We read; “He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
So how much do our hearts value a right relationship with God our Father? How important is God to us? Do we view God with a reverent attitude or a casual attitude. In this post-modern world, we are probably a little of both.
So we are called to repentance – prayer – fasting or abstinence and charitable giving.
Our heart attitude toward God is related to how we repent of our sinful life.
The simple meaning of repentance is - to turn from a sinful life and turn to God. Simple enough – right. But real repentance suggests something far more dramatic than simply turning from sin and turning to God. It would mean a fundamental spiritual regret and remorse that we have deeply offended God our Father and grieved his Holy Spirit. It is more than simply being apologetic for something we said or did. It the thing that makes us sob and cry from the depth of our heart when we know we have deeply offended and grieved the heart of God.
And I’ll bet that everyone of us has had those moments of deep regret knowing we have offended God. Sadly it’s part of our life – and it’s a life long struggle between our sinful nature and our need to be right with God.
Hear again is some of what I read in Joel;
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
Rend is a perfect word to describe how we separate ourselves from a sinful life. Rend means to violently tear away with great emotional pain and anguish. I think of Lot’s wife. She could not rend herself from the life she must have enjoyed in Sodom. So – in this post-modern world – how do we – or can we - rend our heart and life from a sinful world.
In Psalm 51 - King David’s laments that he offended God. You can feel his sense of remorse as you read the words. He violated two of God’s ten commandments – adultery and murder. But – sometime I wonder – would he have been so remorseful if the prophet Nathan had not confronted him with his crimes. And don’t we try and hide those things and hope we are not found out. – What can we hide from God.
Fasting and Abstinence
Over the years I’ve heard some Christians say that during lent - they are going to give up chocolate or meat or wine or watching TV or whatever. There is no meaningful personal sacrifice – no heart felt submission to God. Heart attitude. Lots of people live with out those things all their lives – it is not a real repentant sacrificial fast.
As I go through the Scriptures there are several examples of fasting.
In the book of Ezra. Before he and some Jews returned to Jerusalem - he proclaimed a fast – with prayer. Asking God for a safe journey. We read in Ezra 8:21; “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.”
And Isaiah refers to fasting and we read in 58: 3a;
“Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
Clearly fasting and prayer go together. Luke tells us in Acts that Paul and others are praying and fasting. During their prayer time the Holy Spirit speaks to them. In Acts 13: 2 – 3 we read; “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
Our reading in the gospel of Matthew is part of Jesus’s – Sermon on the Mount. In it he speaks about giving to the needy – prayer and fasting. But he says we must be careful; “…not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.” But to be charitable – to pray and to fast in private. It is something we do for and with God not for the world or worldly. We are not to seek brownie points or accolades from the world - like showing people how good we are. But how do we define ‘good’?
When we do these things in private, we must be doing them with a humble and contrite heart. These things are private because it is a private conversation or action between each or us individually and our Father in heaven. And in doing so we are to be storing up treasures in heaven.
So during our time in lent – it is a time to focus our heart on our heavenly Father. To build on our relationship and our faith in God and the blood of Jesus.
So how do we rend our sinfulness for our worldly life and turn to God. Well – whether you fast or give to the needy – we must always pray. And pray as if our life depended on it – because – truly - it surely does.
AMEN
Copyright © 2026 St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Kamloops
View ths sermon presented live here: https://youtu.be/NzpNTNGIvTw
