J. Albrecht…Transfiguration…Jan 25^th, 2026…John 5:39-47…Jesus Unveils Access to the Father

³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life. ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from people. ⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

INJ who pulls back the veil to reveal the Scriptures are fulfilled in Him for the sake of sinners, DFR:

Just about everyone who has grown up watching cartoons since 1969 would immediately recognize the name Scooby Doo. The beloved dog, along with the gang, has been solving mysteries for 56 years. What does Scooby Doo have to do with Jesus’ words in our sermon text this morning? To be honest with you, not much. But the overall theme of every episode does. You know the gist: Bad guy wants something, and so he dawns a disguise, usually a ghost, monster, or creature of legend in order to scare people away so they can get what is theirs. It works, until the Scooby Gang comes along. They see through the ruse, capture the ghost, and reveal its true identity.

This is a lot like how the Pharisees operated. They would put on a façade, a mask if you will, to fool people into thinking they are more righteous than anyone else – that they found the secret to keeping God’s Law perfectly. Live like them and you can do it too. But, then, along comes Jesus, who points out that the Old Testament Law was really written about Him since He is the only one who could keep it perfectly. Just like the Scooby Gang pulled back the mask, revealing the true identity of the culprit, so also did Jesus pull back the mask and expose their failures and unrighteousness. Because the Pharisees failed to understand the meaning of God’s Law, they also did not see Jesus as the fulfiller of the Law in their place – losing out on eternal life.

Transfiguration Sunday is the apex of the Epiphany season. It is when Jesus revealed most clearly His divine nature to the witness of Peter James on John. This morning, we see Jesus most clearly once again in His dealings with the Pharisees – how they failed to see what God had clearly laid out in the Old Testament Scriptures. But today is not about those Pharisees. We will see their example laid out before us, but their time of grace has come to an end. God’s magnifying glass is directed at you, and me. He lays out a straightforward formula to see Jesus clearly as our access to the Father: Reject Jesus, and access to the Father remains hidden. Believe in Jesus and access is not only revealed, it is yours. May the Holy Spirit bless our study of His Word this morning.

Let us pray: May the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer.

The more you dig into the Scriptures, the more you stand in awe of God’s wisdom. When He sent Jesus into this world, He knew the hearts of His people would not readily come to Him. Whether it was Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or the Children of Israel under Moses and beyond, a common theme had set in. Their sinful nature sought after itself despite clear warning, direction, and promise from God. So many times, God’s Word was forsaken until God, in His mercy, brought them back.

In Jesus’ day, things seemed to be better. The leaders of the church appeared to have a desire for God’s Word and earnestly keep it. But there was a different problem that arose – Jesus of Nazareth.

³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life.

Yes, those people searched the Scriptures diligently, but they did so as blind men. Last week we considered how Philip and Nathanael were proficient in the Scriptures. When they read Genesis 3:15, they understood the Offspring of the woman to be talking about Jesus. Those who reject Jesus don’t see Him, Leviticus 19:2, “You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy.” They didn’t read Deuteronomy 18:15, ¹⁵ “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers– it is to him you shall listen—” and see Jesus. They only saw Deuteronomy 27:26, ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’

They could only see one reason for God giving them the Law and that was for them to keep it perfectly in order to gain access to the Father – eternal life. They saw Jesus offering salvation by another means: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. He offered forgiveness and salvation through His name and that totally spit in the face of salvation by the Law. Because of this, Jesus was a threat. If you remember, at the end of every Scooby-Doo episode, the bad guy always says, “I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids and that dog!” Well, the Pharisees lived that out.

God’s once chosen people did what every monster in Scooby-Doo wished they could do and got rid of their adversary. They crucified the Lord of glory. Not because He was guilty of any great sin, but because He had exposed their unrighteousness and had excluded them from the gates of heaven.

⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Desperate for a leader, God’s people ignored every warning sign and followed after anyone who preached anything but God’s Word. For every prophet God sent, there were false prophets there to counter-prophecy. Desperate is mankind to follow anyone who comes in their own glory, who offers the glory of self, rather than Jesus who comes in humility, to offer the glory that comes from God. Too often in our day, men, women, and children, forsake the clear teaching of Scripture to follow that which appeals to their sinful heart. They forsake, “Thus says the Lord” for, “God hates the sin and loves the sinner – it doesn’t matter what you do, God will love you anyway.”

We cannot pick and choose which Scriptures we want to follow. And yet, such is the desire of our heart! Take the Law. The 10 Commandments and the rest of God’s moral Law. Why do we need it? If we have forgiveness, life, and salvation through Jesus anyways, why do we need this part of the Bible that only offends people? Let me answer that by asking you two questions: Would you ever come to church if it didn’t matter what you did? Would you even care to listen to Jesus’ words if you have a righteousness before God by being good enough? The answer is no. You would not be here, nor would I.

This flesh that you and I walk around in is a ruse. I can do all sorts of good. I can offer food to the poor, clothes to the needy, I can show up to church functions, I can, I can, I can…But inside the walls of my home, my heart, God is the lowest priority. And boy oh boy do I wish I could get away with it. That is the desire, isn’t it, ever since we were kids? You push the boundaries with your parents and do what YOU KNOW is wrong, but in the hopes that we can get away with it. God’s Law pulls back our mask. He reveals what is truly hiding underneath, and it is ugly. God’s Law condemns us and it rightfully should. We do not deserve to have access to the Father – eternal life.

⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me.

Ultimately it was Moses who stood in judgment over the Pharisees and those who followed them. They couldn’t see the Ceremonial Law was meant to come to an end. Paul laid it out clearly in the Epistle Lesson this morning: ¹² Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, ¹³ not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴ But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

When Moses talked with God on Mount Sinai, his face would shine because it reflected God’s glory. Moses put a veil over his face so that the people would not see the glory fade, but would hold God’s presence as a reverent thing. It was also proverbial – a reminder that the Law God was giving Moses – that is the ceremonial Law, not the Moral Law of the 10 Commandments, would fade away. Its purpose was not to save them, but to reveal their inability to keep the Law and point them to the Messiah who would fulfill the whole Law (ceremonial, moral, and civic) in their place. So long as people reject Jesus, the Messiah who did come and did fulfill the whole Law, there is a veil covering their eyes.

What about you? Will Moses stand in judgment over you too? No. Paul continues, ¹⁶ But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. One word: Grace. God’s undeserved loved has poured itself out on each of you. You and I stood condemned under God’s Law – forever destined for a life of rejecting Jesus and spending eternity separate from Him. Instead, Jesus took your place completely. He subjected Himself under the Law that He established, becoming obedient to every letter God prescribed. Jesus’ perfect life is the key that has opened the gates of eternal life. His perfection has made it possible to know God, to have access to Him in His Word, and to give you freedom from the burden of keeping God’s Law perfectly.

But Jesus’ work did not stop there. Jesus stepped under the judgment seat of God. The Pharisees and Jewish people were the ones who shouted, “Crucify Him!” But it was God who slammed the hammer of justice down. It was God who charged Jesus with every sin you and I have ever or will ever commit. It was God who declared Jesus to be the one person in all of creation deserving of death because He was punished for the word’s sake. Finally, it was God who threw the final blow of death. Jesus died to pay for every law broken and every act of rebellion against God.

Because of Jesus, God has forgiven our failures to be faithful Christians and every time our hearts have turned away from Him. Instead of condemning us as we rightly deserve, God offers us eternal life. He opens the Scriptures so that we may see Jesus as our source of hope and salvation. And, on the Day of Judgment, when God pulls back the mask to reveal your true identity, you don’t have to worry or try to escape the sins that might still haunt you. For God will not see this ugly, sinful nature, but Jesus’ perfect life and pure holiness. That is yours by faith. Faith that not only sees God, but is guaranteed a place in heaven. Jesus unveils access to the Father. It is by the Law, that is, being perfect. But do not be afraid, the Law is done for you. Rejoice in the hope of your Savior Jesus and inherit eternal life prepared for you. Amen.