December 16, 2023  

Today’s Reading: Introit for Advent 3

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 32:1-20; Revelations 4:1-11

Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It’s easier for me to imagine the saving face of God that saves us as something brighter than the sun.  Transfigurations are always appealing, even to those who know better than to try to build tabernacles on mountains.  The Good Shepherd, enthroned upon the cherubim that guarded the Ark of the Covenant seems to demand awe and wonder.  

But if the cherubim guarded the real presence of God in His true glory, wouldn’t they circle the cross where God-made-man came down to die?   The hour for the Son of Man to be glorified left Him with no throne but a cross.  The radiance of the transfiguration gave way to streaks of blood and sweat.  But this is how we are saved.  Don’t look up the mountain for a glowing God of might.  Look to the cross for the dying God of mercy.  Here, we are restored.  Here, we are saved.  Here, all of your sins are atoned for, and you are given a shepherd that leads you through death to life again, not one who calls to you from the other side of the veil.  

In fear and in danger, we want the face of the transfiguration, but God gives us the face of the cross, crowned with thorns instead.  And it’s a gift.  Peter, confronted with a shouting sky and a glowing God, only realized what he was not, and fell down in terror.  A centurion saw the same God die and realized what happened.  Pray the psalms for mercy, not power, and God doesn’t ever seem so far away, because we finally start to measure Him in the things that actually work to answer our prayers.  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus, author of salvation, Shared in our humanity; Crowned with radiant exaltation, Now He shares His victory! From His face Shines the grace Meant for all our fallen race. (LSB 462:3)

-Pastor Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ’s words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.