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2010 Luke’s Gospel

This is My Son; Listen to Him

Luke 9:28-36

Key Verse: 9:35 “A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’”

In Last week’s passage, Jesus asked us a critical question of our lives. He asked, “What about you? Who do you say I am?” How did you answer this question? Or who is Jesus really to you? Is he your good friend? Is he just one of the prophets? Or is he the Christ of God. Amen. I pray that our JBF members can boldly and proudly confess who Jesus is with our hearts and lips every day so that we can start building a close relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. In this passage Jesus' glory is revealed during his time of prayer on a mountain. This event is widely called, “the transfiguration.” This event helped the disciples realize who Jesus truly was: the Son of God. And God gave them further direction, saying, "Listen to him." Although the disciples now were following Jesus for years, they still had a listening problem of their own. That is a serious matter especially for Jesus’ disciples. When we do not listen to Jesus, we cannot grow spiritually. If we do not grow, we become miserable and unhealthy. Finally, we die. Some of us have a listening problem. We’ve got to know that it is a spiritual problem. Jesus helped his disciples by showing them a vision of his glory. Jesus showed them who he really was. When our eyes open to see his glory, our hearts will also open to hear his words. Open the eyes of our hearts Lord! Open our ears! Help us see your vision and listen to you today.

I. Jesus is transfigured on the mountain (28-31)

Look at verse 28. "About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray." It had been about a week since Jesus told his disciples that He must suffer, die and rise again. Jesus also told them that they must deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow him. However, as Jesus was determined to teach them the truth of the cross and resurrection, and they were determined to reject Jesus’ message. They were simply not interest in the spiritual matter, which was the actual reality. Jesus tried to discipline his disciples, and train them one by one especially his top disciples. But they closed their hearts and minds towards Jesus’ words and directions. Things were not going as Jesus wanted. When things are not going as you planned, what do you do? Do you feel downcast? Do you cry out of frustration? Do you eat or sleep until the problem is forgotten? Those are not what Jesus did. He went up onto a mountain to pray. In an overview of Jesus’ life, He always solved the problem through sincere prayer. You probably know what it means to reach our limit. We have all been there. Human beings have limit because we are all imperfect. The important thing is the reaction to the problem. How do we find the way out? We can see how Jesus dealt with the problem. We learn from Jesus to pray to God at such times. Then our Father God surely answers our prayers, and provides us with the clear and best direction for us. What happened when Jesus prayed? How did God answer his prayer?

First, Jesus' appearance became glorious (29). Look at verse 29. "As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning." Luke simply says, "the appearance of his face changed." We can guess that, prior to this, Jesus had been crying out to God with passion, anguish and tears. When Jesus began his prayer, he was crying. He was crying for God's help to save him from death. He was crying for God's help to open the spiritual eyes of his disciples. He was crying for the salvation of the world through his suffering, death and resurrection. Although Jesus was strong and courageous before any human being, he wept before God with all his heart.

When Jesus began to pray, his face must have looked painful from taking the burdens and sorrows of mankind. He might have had huge dark circles under his eyes from intense prayer and lack of sleep. His face was totally covered with much tears and dirt. But as he prayed, the appearance of his face changed. Matthew says, "his face shone like the sun" (Mt 17:2). All the traces of darkness vanished, and a radiant light began to shine from Jesus. This light was so bright that no one could look at it directly. At the same time, his clothes, which had been dusty and ragged, began to radiate in such a powerful way that they looked like flashing lightning. Amazing power was coming from within Jesus. Here Jesus revealed his glory and identity as the holy God. Until now, Jesus' glory had been veiled by his human flesh. But at this time, Jesus' glory was clearly and brightly shown in such power that nothing could be more glorious than his image. We must know that this is Jesus’ real appearance as our God almighty that we must choose to adore and worship him with our all.

Second, Moses and Elijah appeared in glory (30-31a). Jesus was not alone. Verses 30-31a read, "Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus." Moses and Elijah are spiritual giants in God's history. They indeed share something in common. In the first place, they both suffered a great deal to deliver God's people. Moses received eighty years of training to prepare for his mission. At last, he became a truly humble man. Then God used him powerfully to deliver the people of Israel out of the land of slavery and train them in the wilderness. While working hard, he was the target of bitterness and complaint. When people were tired or hungry or thirsty, they grumbled against Moses, and even talked of stoning him. On one occasion, when Moses could not take it anymore, he prayed to God, "If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now..." (Nu 11:15). Elijah lived in a time when Baal worship poisoned the hearts and minds of all Northern Israel. Elijah fought against Baal worship as a matter of life and death. God gave him a great victory on Mount Carmel that helped turn his sinsick and wayward people back to God. After working to the point of exhaustion, he was threatened by evil Jezebel and became so discouraged that he prayed, "I have had enough, Lord, take my life" (1 Ki 19:4). Indeed, Moses and Elijah suffered much to deliver God's people. And Jesus was about to do something like so.

In the second place, they both saw the glory of God in the midst of suffering. Moses once asked, "Now show me your glory." The Lord hid Moses in the cleft of a rock. Then the Lord passed by Moses in all his glory. Moses saw only the Lord's back, as the Lord proclaimed: "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness..." (Ex 34:6). Strengthened by the vision of God's glory, Moses could carry out his task as a shepherd for Israel. When Elijah was deeply discouraged, he ran away to Mount Horeb. There the Lord displayed his glory before Elijah. It was not in a powerful wind, or an earthquake, or a fire, but in a gentle whisper (1 Ki 19:11-12). Then the Lord gave Elijah a plan to continue his work in history by raising Elisha as his successor and anointing kings of the nations according to his will and purpose. This encounter strengthened Elijah to finish his race to the end until he went up to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire. To sum up, both Moses and Elijah had suffered much to deliver God's people and were strengthened by visions of God's glory. At last, they entered God's eternal glory. They appeared in glorious splendor. Here we find a principle of God's work: first participate in his suffering, and then enter his glory. Sufferings last for only a season. The glory of God lasts forever. So Paul said, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Ro 8:18). We must have this conviction. Then we can have a healthy attitude toward suffering.

Third, Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus (31b). Look at verse 31b. "They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem." We find two key words here: "departure" and "fulfillment." Jesus was getting ready to make his departure from the world through his suffering, death, and resurrection. This departure would restore God's righteous reign over all creation once again, fulfilling the promises and prophecies of God that were given in the Law and the Prophets. Jesus would liberate mankind from the awful bondage to sin, death and the devil and restore those who believed in him to be children of God. Moses and Elijah must have helped Jesus to see the vision of God's everlasting kingdom, filled with people from every tribe and nation and language, who would worship and serve God forever. Moses and Elijah must have testified that Jesus was the one, that Jesus would fulfill all of God's promises and prophecies. Through this glorious vision, Jesus found the absolute meaning of his death and was strengthened to obey God's will to the end.

Here we can learn that God gives his vision to those who are willing to endure the sufferings. Isaiah had to share God's word with people who were hardened and stubborn, and watch his nation decline until it disappeared. But God gave him a vision of the holy Lord Almighty, seated on the throne, high and exalted. God opened his spiritual eyes to see the whole earth full of God's glory; he could see the coming Messiah, and the new heavens and the new earth. With this great vision, Isaiah served God to the end. Daniel had to serve God in a foreign land, under the rule of world powers Babylon and Media-Persia. It was a time when his people mourned over the loss of their abundant blessings. But the Lord showed Daniel a great vision: the kingdoms of this world would be smashed and turn to dust, but the Lord's kingdom would fill the whole earth. What is God’s vision for you? God has a clear and great vision in you, and he wants you to fulfill his vision. I pray that we all could find God’s vision even through the sufferings and hardships that we face every day.

II. A voice from the cloud said, "Listen to him" (32-36)

When this spectacular event was going on, what were the disciples up to? At first, they were very sleepy. Of course, they must have been tired after climbing up the high mountain. But the real reason for their sleepiness was because they did not have interest in neither the word of God nor the work of God. They did not like to hear about suffering and death--neither Jesus' nor their own--and they did not want to participate in it. So they tried to ignore Jesus' words. But the more they did so, the more feelings of rebellion rose in them. Gradually they fell into sorrow and then depression. So, as Jesus began to pray, they began to nod their heads, and slept. When the glorious event was almost over, the disciples began to wake up. At first, they thought they were dreaming. So they pinched each other until they became fully awake. Then they saw Jesus' glory right in front of them. Jesus, who had been so familiar to them, suddenly looked dazzling and majestic and awesome. They became aware of Jesus' spiritual bearing. It was the bearing of the holy God Almighty, in whom there is nothing impure, but who is full of light. This vision of Jesus drove all the darkness from their hearts. They no longer felt conflict or strife. They felt that God was in control and that everything was going to be okay. Peace and joy filled their hearts.

Then they noticed some movement on either side of Jesus. To their surprise, it was Moses and Elijah! The remarkable figures in the Israel History! They read about them from the old testament! And now they were actually there in front of their eyes. But they were leaving. Peter did not want them to leave. He appealed to Jesus to make them stay, saying, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." The parenthetical comment says, "(He did not know what he was saying.)" This indicates that Peter was speaking not only from his conscious mind, but from his subconscious mind. He was revealing the deep thoughts of his heart. He wanted to stay on the mountain and enjoy glory with Jesus forever. Peter had completely forgotten Jesus' words that he must suffer, die and rise again. He forgot Jesus' words that whoever would come after him must deny himself and take up his own cross daily. From Peter, so called one of Jesus’ top disciples, we can see our spiritual sickness.  It is part of our sinful nature that we want to enjoy great glory and blessing without the cross. We wish for great success without hard work; straight A's without studying; successful weight loss without moving even a finger. We only want material blessings while ignoring Jesus’ holy words and the spiritual training, through which Jesus intended to make us strong. This self-centeredness and self-glory-seeking desires block Peter and us from accepting Jesus' words. We need to change our attitudes towards the word of God, and truly know who Jesus is.

This time, God himself intervened in Peter's life. Look at verse 34. "While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud." Here the cloud represented the presence of God Almighty. God had appeared to the Israelites in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire (Ex 13:21). The disciples were suddenly surrounded by the Holy God Almighty, and they were afraid.

Look at verse 35. "A voice came from the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.'" With these words, God Almighty affirmed Jesus' identity in the presence of his disciples. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus, whom they were resisting in their hearts was not just another man. He was the Son of God. Jesus is in very nature God. Jesus' thoughts are God's thoughts; Jesus' words are God's words. God is the Creator and we are the creatures. God is the source of life and we have no life without him. God is the Lord of all things, and we need his provision daily. God is the only Savior and we need his salvation. God is the Judge and we will stand before him to be judged. That is why we must accept God's words from our hearts when he speaks to us. At this time, Jesus' disciples had to repent of their own ideas and accept Jesus' words because they were the very words of God.

Jesus taught us the necessity of his suffering, death and resurrection. It was the only way of salvation that God prepared for mankind. Our salvation was so costly and so difficult to obtain that it required the death of God's one and only Son. Jesus alone can save us from our sins, heal the wounds in our souls, restore the image of God in us, give us eternal life and take us to his everlasting kingdom. Jesus is the only way of salvation. And he taught us that we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily, and follow him. We must listen to this.

We all must wake up from our sleep, from our ignorance, and from our selfishness and pride. Let us see and feel who Jesus really is. He is not another man among several billion people. He is the one and only son of God who came down to forgive our sins, and give us new life. Let us put aside our human and greedy thoughts, and come to him as we are. And let us listen to him, listen to what He has to tell us today. We have many voices around us: the voices of teachers, of parents, friends, brothers, and sisters. And also, there are voices of the world, and evil. But the voice that we must listen is the voice of our Lord and friend Jesus Christ. Listening does not mean listening without any thoughts. It is paying every attention and heart we have in order to hear and put the words into practice. You might think this is not as fun as watching movies or spending time with friends. But this will change your life, and I mean it. It will change your life from tasteless to delicious, and from meaningless to meaningful. I pray that we may listen to him.

After the voice of God spoke to the disciples, they found themselves alone with Jesus. The heavenly vision was gone. The mountain-top experience of glory was over. But Jesus remained. In the end, we are alone with Jesus, Jesus who became flesh to be with us.

The disciples kept this experience to themselves, without telling anyone at the time what they had seen. It was meant to be a secret in their hearts that would enable them to obey Jesus' teachings throughout their lifetimes.

Today we have seen Jesus' glorious image as the Son of God who reveals himself as the almighty God. Let's hold this image in our hearts and see his kingdom vision so that we may listen to him, especially his gospel message and his challenge to follow him. We all have at least one word that Jesus gave us this year. Are we listening? Let us listen to his words daily, and experience the greatness of his words because his words are the words of God.