Rev. Dr. Jonathan Blanke, Senior Pastor
Pastor’s Corner for February 15-21
Eyewitness Testimony
(2 Peter 1:15-21; Luke 9:31)
Every so often, as I read the Bible, I get a little glimmer of something that gives me goosebumps. Most recently it happened as I read the first chapter of 2 Peter. I am used to reading the first chapter of 2 Peter starting at verse 16…the beginning of the appointed Epistle reading for this weekend, the Sunday of the Transfiguration. It is a reading that comes around once every three years. We close out the season of Epiphany every year with the account of Peter, James, and John on a mountain with Jesus, watching as He talks to Moses and Elijah and as His clothes gleam brighter than any 1st-century laundry detergent could bleach them. Every year we hear, from one of the gospel accounts, that voice of God the Father saying “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him!” But this is the year that Peter, in his second epistle, emphasizes that this event really happened. He really saw what the gospel accounts describe. He really heard what the gospel accounts say God said. It is no fairy tale story! Peter wants us to know and take confidence in the fact that he was an eyewitness. And because his story is True, it is our story too!
To be honest, 2 Peter is not a book of the Bible I read often. This year, I thought I’d read the section that comes just before this appointed reading…a verse where Peter tells the recipients of the letter that he will do everything he can to ensure they will remember this Word of God after his “departure.” What he is referring to with that word “departure” is his death. It is an unusual word—both for his day and ours—when used in this way to describe death. That word “departure” is the English translation of a significant and theologically rich word in the original Greek language: the word “exodus.”
So here is where my goosebumps get going: This unusual word Peter uses to refer to his death, the word “exodus,” is the same word used to describe the conversation Moses and Elijah are having with Jesus when all three of them are on the Mountain of Transfiguration. “Two men,” Luke writes, “Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure (“exodus”) which he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). So Peter is using the very language overheard by the disciples in this conversation on the mountain between Jesus, Elijah, and Moses to describe that future day when he, Peter, will be called to glory!
I don’t know what part of the Scriptures get you the most excited. But isn’t it worth celebrating the message the Scriptures bring—that because of Jesus, death is no longer a defeat? And that because of Jesus, the end of life is never the End? What He was about to do in Jerusalem would change life for Peter AND for all of us! We therefore have something better than mere so-called “mountaintop experiences” here below. We have been set free from sin and death. Death is no longer an end, but an exodus. Our “mountaintop” in both the highs and lows of life is Mt. Calvary. Our banner in every battle is the cross of Jesus.
As we enter the season of Lent and find ourselves called to repentance and the sober reality of our own mortality this Ash Wednesday, we never forget the eyewitness testimony of the saints and the gift of faith in the Lord of Life we share with them. Alleluia to our beautiful Savior!
Peace and joy,
Pastor Jonathan
Pastor Jonathan Blanke grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He received his Bachelor's degree from College of William and Mary in Virginia and attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, where he earned a Masters of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biblical Studies, Book of John. He served as a Vicar at Messiah Lutheran Church in Richardson, Texas.
The Blanke family lived in Japan while he served as pastor and missionary to Okinawa Lutheran Church and taught Biblical Studies at Japan Lutheran College in Tokyo.
Pastor Jonathan lived in southern Maryland from January 2014 to November 2019 and was thankful to have served as the Sole Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lexington Park, Maryland.
He and his wife, Juli, have two grown children. In his free time, Jonathan likes to travel, "play around" on the piano, and enjoy the outdoors.
Click HERE to view a brief video from Pastor Jonathan.