Reflected Glory — Part 1: 01/22/2024

Broadcast

                       Reflected Glory - Part 1
                             Exodus 34:29
                              01/22/2024


        29   When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the
             two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he
             came down from the mountain, Moses did not know
             that the skin of his face shone because he had
             been talking with God.  (ESV)

        The weeks following Christmas are called the Epiphany Season
   in the churches which follow the liturgical cycle of the Church
   Year.  From the visit of the Wise Men as they gave their gifts of
   gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus, to our Lord's
   baptism in the Jordan River, to His first miracle of changing
   water into wine, the season focuses on revealing Jesus as true
   God.  In keeping with an older practice, in the congregations
   where the historic series of readings are used, this past Sunday
   was the last Sunday of Epiphany.

        Lutherans, from around 1525, have celebrated the
   Transfiguration of Jesus as the ultimate revelation of His
   divinity.  The Father's voice which declared Jesus as His beloved
   Son at baptism makes the same proclamation while Peter, James,
   and John looked in awe at the shining face of Jesus.  Therefore,
   we have moved this commemoration from August 6 to the end of the
   Epiphany Season.

        Sunday's Old Testament lesson shows how Moses reflected the
   glory of being in the presence of God on Mount Sinai.
        When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two
        tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down
        from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of
        his face shone because he had been talking with God.


        Being in the presence of God, seeing the glimpse of God's
   glory as He hid Moses in the cleft of a rock, caused Moses' face
   to shine.

        May our Lord grant us the wisdom to see His glory revealed
   in the Word of God, and give to us the blessings of His grace.
   Amen.