栄光に輝くキリスト”Christ Glorified”（2023年8月13日）

ルカによる福音書9:28-36 Luke 9:28-36,

祈っておられるうちに、イエスの顔の様子が変わり、服は真っ白に輝いた。　　　　　　　　　　　（ルカ9:29）

この出来事には常識を超えたいくつかの神秘的な点があります。第一の点は、キリストの姿が変わったということであります。「山上の変貌」と呼ばれるこの出来事は、キリストが祈るために山に登って行かれたときに起こりました。29節によると「祈っておられるうちに、イエスの顔の様子が変わり、服は真っ白に輝いた」というのです。「輝く」にあたるギリシャ語のエクサストライプトーというのは「稲妻のように輝く」という意味をもつ言葉です。すると、キリストの体が稲妻のように強い光を放っていたために、服が真っ白に輝いて見えたのだということが想像されます。すなわち、永遠の命の輝きがキリストの体から現れたということでありましょう。

この出来事の神秘的な第二の点は、モーセとエリヤという旧約聖書の偉大な二人の人物が現れ、イエス・キリストと語り合ったということであります。30節には「見ると、二人の人がイエスと語り合っていた。モーセとエリヤである」とあります。そして、31節には「二人は栄光に包まれて現れ、イエスがエルサレムで遂げようとしておられる最期について話していた」とあります。「最期」とは、十字架につけられて死ぬことを意味していますが、十字架上の死に続く復活や昇天のことも含んでいると解釈することができます。

この「最期」という言葉は、ギリシャ語でエクソドスと記されています。エクソドスという言葉のもともとの意味は「ある場所から他の場所へ移動すること」です。そして、エクソドスは、旧約聖書に記されているイスラエルのエジプト脱出の出来事を表す言葉です。そこで、旧約聖書の出エジプト記は英語でエクソダス（Exodus）と呼ばれるようになりました。今日でもこの言葉は小説の題名として用いられたりすることもあります。また、出発という意味でも用いられ、「この世から出て行くこと」という意味で、肉体の死を現すこともあります。キリストの場合は、十字架の上で死んで、その後に復活し昇天するのですから、単に「死」というよりは「出発」という意味で用いられていると解釈するべきでありましょう。したがって、キリストとモーセとエリヤは、キリストがこの世から天の父なる神様の御もとへと出発することについて語り合っていたのでありましょう。　　　　　　　　　　　　（8月13日の説教より）

There was once a wealthy American named William Randolph Hearst. He was a man who bought many newspaper companies and reigned over the American media industry. This man enjoyed collecting paintings and works of art. One day, there was a work of art that he really wanted to acquire. So he sent people all over the world to find out where the work was. After extensive research, he found that the work he was looking for was lying in his warehouse, along with other works. In other words, this millionaire did not know enough about what he owned and wasted his efforts on wanting more of something else.

This is a lesson we should take to heart in our lives, because like the millionaire, we can waste our time in life seeking what we do not need to seek, and not seeking what we really need to seek. Especially in the case of Christians who are united to Christ by faith, they have been given the immense riches of eternal life, and they should use their strength to keep it and make it sure. In Colossians 3:1-4 in the New Testament, we are taught as follows.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

“Things that are above” is the eternal life of Jesus Christ. And “when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory,” means that when Christ appears in glory at the Last Day, you too will be resurrected and appear in glory in the body of eternal life.

In his earthly life, Jesus Christ lived in a body like ours and actually died as a physical being on the cross. However, there was an occasion when Christ’s earthly life also showed him to be a being with eternal life. Today’s Bible passages are just such a scene. These passages are so mysterious in its content that some critical biblical scholars say it is a mythological narrative representation of Christ’s divine nature and not a fact. Certainly, what is written in these passages cannot be scientifically corroborated. However, if the resurrection of Christ is a historical fact, then it must be said that the event described in these passages could also occur as a historical fact. Moreover, the story is recorded in the three Gospels, i.e., Matthew, Mark and Luke. All three gospel writers considered this event to be of such importance that it could not be omitted from their account of Christ.

There are several mysterious aspects to this event that defy common sense. The first is that Christ’s appearance changed. This event, called “the Transfiguration on the Mount,” took place when Christ went up the mountain to pray. Verse 29 says, “And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.” The Greek word for “dazzling,” ἐξαστράπτω, means “shining like lightning.” It can be imagined, then, that Christ’s body shone with the intensity of lightning, so that his clothes appeared to glow pure white. In other words, the radiance of eternal life would have appeared from the body of Christ.

The second mysterious aspect of this event is that two great Old Testament figures, Moses and Elijah, appeared and spoke with Jesus Christ. Verse 30 says, “And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah.” And verse 31 says, “who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” The term “departure” refers to the death by crucifixion, but can also be interpreted to include the resurrection and ascension that follow the death on the cross. The word “departure” is written in Greek as exodus (ἔξοδος). The original meaning of exodus is “movement from one geographical area to another.” And exodus is the term used to describe the events of Israel’s departure from Egypt in the Old Testament. Even today, the word is sometimes used as the title of a novel. It is also used in the sense of “departure,” meaning “going out of the world.” In the case of Christ, it should be interpreted as meaning “departure” rather than simply “death,” since he died on the cross and then rose again and ascended into heaven. Therefore, Christ, Moses and Elijah must have been talking about Christ’s departure from this world to God the Father in heaven.

Interestingly, we read that the three disciples – Peter, John and James – “were heavy with sleep,” (v. 32) despite being present at this dramatic scene. Perhaps they were waiting by Christ’s side while he prayed, and became sleepy because of their daily fatigue. Also, the fact that they did not wake up immediately at the sight of the glorious Christ may be because they did not realise the gravity of what was happening. It is very important for human beings to be informed of the things concerning eternal life, and yet it is difficult for them to understand the significance of eternal life. When Peter said, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah,” (v. 33) perhaps because he did not yet understand that what was happening here was a glimpse of the glory of eternal life. The second half of verse 33 states Peter’s “not knowing what he said.”

The third mysterious aspect in this event is that a voice came from heaven, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (v. 35) “My son” is the term used by God to call out “You are my Son,” when a king is enthroned in the ancient kingdom of Israel, as in the verse 7 of Psalm 2. Therefore, the words “This is my Son” indicate that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the king of the kingdom of God. Next, “my Chosen One” refers to “the servant of the Lord” who will save the various nations, as in Isaiah 42:1. Also, according to Isaiah 53, “the servant of the Lord” is to save people by suffering on his own person. Furthermore, “listen to him” indicates that Jesus Christ is a prophet who proclaims the word of God. Thus, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” the heavenly voice indicates that Jesus Christ is the prophet and the king, i.e., an authoritative one whose word the people of God must listen to and obey. At the same time, it implies that he is the servant who bears the suffering of the cross on behalf of many, and a high priest who offers himself as a sacrifice to God.

The disciples seem to have been unable to grasp the significance of this mysterious event: the second half of verse 36 states that “they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.” So it is likely that it was only after the disciples had witnessed Christ’s resurrection and ascension that they understood that this event was a pre-indication of the glory of Christ’s resurrection and his second coming at the Last Day. As Colossians 3:4, quoted earlier, states, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory,” this event is a pre-indication of the glory of Christ’s appearing at the Last Day and of the glory that Christians will receive that day. The glory that Christians will receive at the Last Day may seem too distant to many people. But just because it seems distant does not mean that it does not exist. Christianity does indeed teach that Christ will reappear in glorified form at the Last Day, at which time the dead united to Christ will be resurrected in glorified bodies.

There was a famous German theoretical physicist and philosopher, Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker. This man was the brother of German President Richard von Weizsäcker, who is known for his excellent 1985 speech “Forty Years in the Wilderness” commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the End of War in Europe and of National-Socialist Tyranny. This theoretical physicist Weizsäcker, who had studied under such outstanding researchers as Nobel Prize-winning physicists Heisenberg and Bohr, felt a strong sense of urgency about the use of nuclear power as a weapon: in the middle of the 20th century, as Cold War tensions between the East and West were growing, in 1957, the West German nuclear Physicists issued a declaration called the Göttingen Declaration against arming West Germany with nuclear weapons in 1957. Weizsäcker is said to have played a leading role in drafting the Göttingen Declaration.

Weizsäcker was deeply distressed that he, as a human being, was serving in the research of a dangerous force called atomic energy. He consulted Karl Barth, a theologian who taught theology at the University of Basel in Switzerland, about whether he could continue his research in the natural sciences. The theologian Karl Barth gave a very interesting answer. He began by saying, “I know that the answer I am going to give you is not good enough. I do not know a better answer, so I will give you what I can give you.” He then said the following. “If you believe what all Christians talk about, and in fact almost none of them believe, namely, the second coming of Christ, then you may go on and do natural sciences.” Of these words, Weizsäcker later said, “They are like a riddle, but they have encouraged me.”

“What all Christians talk about, and in fact almost none of them believe” is a humorous expression, very much in the manner of the theologian Karl Barth. But it can also be said that this raises the question: “Do Christians really believe in the biblical teaching that Christ will come again at the Last Day in glorified form to make the final judgment?” And Karl Barth would have asked back: “If you really believe that, then can you believe that human history will not end in nuclear annihilation, but will be completed in the glory of Christ’s second coming, can’t you?” At the same time, Karl Barth must have meant the warning that if there is to be the final judgement of Christ at the Last Day, you must study the natural sciences in such a way that you will be able to make a defense on the spot.

Both humanity as a whole and each of us as a human being must continually adjust our way of life from the pursuit of more wealth, fame and pleasure to the pursuit of our glorification when the glorious Christ will appear at the end of the world’s history. The human mind is deeply rooted in the desire to fulfil its own desires, and this somehow warps our lives in the direction of pursuing vain things. Let us correct the direction of our lives one day at a time in prayer so that we live with the goal of being glorified with Christ when the history of this world will be completed. Let us read Colossians 3:1-4 one last time. And please take these verses to heart very carefully.

We want to repent and pray for Christ’s salvation, so that we may daily die to our old self and live by his life. And our salvation will be completed on the day when Christ will come again to us in glory.