Peter is no fabulist. He does not tell tall tales. Peter, James, and John witnessed the Transfiguration and heard the Father’s voice speak from heaven, claiming Jesus as “his dear Son” (vs. 17). The Israelite tradition ensconced in their legal code required the testimony of at least two witnesses to establish a matter (Deu. 19:15 & Jn. 8:17 and others). Peter conveys the truth regarding Jesus’ receiving honor and glory from God. Under Israelite tradition and law, the matter was established and true.
Furthermore, Peter goes on to demonstrate the truth of the prophetic word. It is reliable (vs. 19). It is a light amid dimness (vs. 19). The words of the prophet are not mere imaginings (vs. 20). Those words are from God. They are delivered to the prophet by the Holy Spirit (vs. 21), not by human impulse. Peter invokes the two-witness rule once again. Only this time, the witnesses are not Peter, James, and John but the prophet and the Holy Spirit.
At the time when the disciples replaced Judas (who had betrayed Jesus), the criterion for selection stated that the candidates be among those who had been with them accompanying Jesus (Acts 1:21). The candidate, one who would be chosen by the casting of lots, would be like the eleven remaining disciples: an official witness to the resurrection.
The Israelites… the Jews… had an established procedure for establishing a matter: the testimony of at least two witnesses. Peter appeals to this well-known procedure in his denial of conveying concocted fables. The other disciples, sent out by Jesus to bear witness to him, counted on the same procedure to establish the matter of Jesus’ resurrection. Your preacher, having heard the testimony of many witnesses spoken from one generation to the next, establishes the matter in your hearing.
Table Talk: Discuss how you establish a matter… establish it in truth… in fact… in reality… and under the law.
Pray: Heavenly Father, establish me in the reality of Jesus’ resurrection that I may know the truth of my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
2 Peter 1:16-21 (ESV)
16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.