Although
Matthew 17 begins with the Transfiguration of our Lord, in a larger way, it’s a
fitting reading for Good Friday. This section of the Gospel is the turning
point in the story. From Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, through
Jesus’ first prediction of His suffering and death, the transfiguration account,
and on to Jesus’ second prediction of His passion, everything changes. The time
of miracles is more or less over. (There are a couple more miracles in Matthew’s
story, but the summaries of Jesus healing many are past.) Now we are on to the
serious business of the cross.
Remember
last week when we read Matthew 11 about John’s doubts? There I said that John
was reading the wrong portions of the prophets and that’s why he was expecting
fire and judgment from the Messiah. Part of Jesus’ genius was the way He
re-read the Old Testament. He saw Messiah’s work centered around Isaiah’s
visions of healing and restoration. And when He accounted for those passages
about judgment, He saw them fulfilled in the suffering of the Messiah. He read
Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and He understood that ultimate healing came through the
death of the Messiah. No one else in Jesus’ day was thinking like that.
So,
to steal Luke’s phrase, here in the middle of the Gospel, “Jesus set His face
resolutely toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:52).
Today
is Good Friday. The readings we’ll hear in our services, especially tonight, we
won’t cover in these devotions for several days yet. However, the story is already
pointing that way. The goal of Jesus is the cross and the empty tomb beyond it.
Just
a reminder: we’ll have a recorded service on our website (divinesaviorlutheran.com) by
noon today. We’ll also be livestreaming our Tenebrae service on Facebook Live (facebook.com/divinesaviorlutheran/)
at 7 pm. Easter service will be posted to our website and linked to our
Facebook page early Sunday morning.
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