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# Listen to Him.
- URL: https://www.belonging.house/listen-to-him/
- Published: 2026-03-02T20:03:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-25T00:49:55.000Z
- Description: Hearing and doing are one.
- Author: Christ John Otto
- Tags: Jesus, Lent, transfiguration, Podcast, #Migrated-1784940061448, #Import 2026-07-25 00:49

Listen to Him.

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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedThe Transfiguration  
Matthew 17:1-9 (RSVCE)  
  
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Eli′jah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli′jah.” He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  
  
And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead.”  
  
  
This is my beloved Son  
in whom I am well pleased  
Listen to him.  
  
Today I want to talk about listening to God.  
This is a theme in today's readings.   
More than any time in the year  
the readings in Lent  
comment on one another.  
If you are only reading the daily gospel  
I would encourage you to read all of the readings.  
  
The readings for the Transfiguration  
happen this week  
because this is a turning point in the gospels of  
Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  
Jesus changes direction from ministry in Galilee  
to a long, slow march toward Jerusalem,  
and ultimately to the cross.  
And we, through the readings,  
are also moving to the cross and resurrection of Jesus.  
  
You have heard me say   
"context is everything."  
We cannot understand the Transfiguration  
unless we back up.  
A lot of these ideas  
come from Michael Heiser's book  
The Unseen Realm,  
but they are not unique to him,  
you also find some of this in the  
early Church historian Eusebius,  
and Josephus,  
and some of the early fathers.  
  
The context for the Transfiguration  
requires us to ignore our chapter breaks,  
and the uninspired subheadings.  
The story of the Transfiguration  
begins at Matthew 16:13.  
This is a new story.  
Jesus is taking the disciples to a weird place.  
You wouldn't know it was a weird place,  
because we read the text in a vacuum.  
  
The district of Caesarea Philippi  
is the northern most boundary of what was ancient Israel.  
It is at the base of Mount Hermon.  
  
Going further back in time  
Mount Hermon  
was the center of Baal worship  
and the opposition to the God of Israel.  
The ancients believed that this was where the pantheon  
of the ancient gods of the nations  
ruled and reigned.  
Mount Hermon wasn't a nice place.  
  
At the time of Jesus  
the worship of Baal had been supplanted  
by the worship of Pan.  
The name was different,  
but the activities were the same:  
substance use to create euphoria  
sexual orgies  
human and animal sacrifices  
and divination.  
  
And at the base of Mount Hermon  
there was a cave  
and a spring that produced a pool of water  
where sacrificial victims were drowned  
as an offering to Pan.  
It was called the Gates of Hades.  
  
So Jesus brought the disciples to this   
religious center  
with all of this bad stuff going on.  
This was a place all good Jews would never go.  
Jesus was invading enemy territory.  
  
And here,  
Jesus asks,  
"who do you say that I am?"  
  
Context is everything.  
  
Jesus is asking,  
if baal is god, serve him,  
if Hashem is God, serve him.  
  
And of course,  
Peter makes his proclamation.  
And Jesus says,  
here,   
at the gates of hell  
I will build my church,  
and I am going to give you   
authority  
on earth.  
Human tradition has influenced the translation,  
and changed the meaning of this text.  
The Greek reads this way:  
  
And the gates of hell   
will not be able to withstand  
the church.  
  
The church, in the Greek  
is on the offense.  
In our translation  
the church is trying to defend against  
the attack of hell.  
Big difference.  
  
Then Jesus gives us the heart of the gospel.  
  
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”   
  
As I said,  
context is everything.  
The context of the Transfiguration  
is the coming of the Kingdom   
to the high place above the gate of hell.  
Jesus is laying down the foundation of the Kingdom.  
And then after six days  
Jesus took Peter, James, and John,  
and led them up a high mountain.  
From the context,  
it seems obvious,  
that the closest high mountain  
is Mount Hermon.  
And this is a nasty, desolate, and cold place.  
And this is where the council of the spiritual beings  
who were opposed to the True God  
were believed to meet and hold court.  
  
And Jesus  
in enemy territory,  
becomes the person described in Daniel seven.  
The Son of Man  
appears in glory  
and the two men recorded in Scripture   
who died mysterious deaths appear with him  
and they hold a meeting.  
Moses,  
and Elijah,  
discuss with Jesus  
the big plan.  
He is going to die  
and he is going to rise again,  
and the Kingdom is going to advance  
and the earth is once again going to   
belong to God.  
And Peter, James, and John,  
have been invited to share in   
this governmental ministry.  
  
And then  
the Father  
joins the council.  
And the Father says,  
"this is my well beloved son.  
Listen to him."  
  
That was a lot of introduction.  
  
Peter,  
James,   
and John,  
are now going to have the authority  
to bring heaven to earth.  
They have been brought into   
the council of heaven  
to have influence on earth.  
That authority  
comes  
from Listening.  
  
We westerners  
are so formed by the Enlightenment  
and rational thought  
that we believe  
that listening means we sit,  
we hear information  
and we put it into our journal  
and go on with our day.  
And what we hear  
and what we do   
have no connection,  
because we live our lives  
as rational atheists.  
Sitting and doing what God says  
is not how the world works.  
I have been told this many times.  
  
The Hebrew mind  
has a completely different understanding.  
You have not listened   
if your behaviour stays the same.  
  
You have not listened  
if your behaviour stays the same.  
  
So Abram  
listened to God and he went to the land  
God showed him.  
  
Moses listened and went to Pharoah.  
  
Jonah heard God,  
but he did not listen.  
And so God threw him into the fish  
and spoke again.  
Then Jonah listened,  
and Ninevah listened,  
and turned back to God.  
  
And here  
in this episode on the mountain  
Peter,  
James,  
and John,  
heard the instructions,  
but they did not listen.  
They would struggle with listening  
right up to the crucifixion.  
They stumbled and they failed.  
And then  
after the resurrection  
and the ascension  
and the day of Pentecost,  
they listened.  
  
Hearing and doing together  
equals listening.  
  
You have not listened  
if your behaviour stays the same.  
  
All of us struggle.  
There are things God asked me to change   
twenty years ago  
that I am just now starting to see move.  
The call to listen and do  
is a call to relationship with God.  
It is all about relationship.  
  
We are in one of those times that happen  
in history  
when there are shifts  
and we come to the valley of decision.  
Are you on the Lord's side  
or the side of the spiritual beings  
who are in rebellion against God?  
  
It is amazing how these things return under new names.  
  
Many "Christian" artists that I know  
were so indoctrinated by the secular system  
in order to have credibility,  
that today  
they are quickly becoming allies of marxist  
communist ideology.  
Many don't even know it.  
These things happen slowly,  
and then quickly.  
There are many who do not understand that Islam is spiritual  
and your reason is not going to help you.  
Muslims declare the Anti-Christ into the air  
five times a day.  
Whatever you tolerate   
is going to dominate.  
You cannot reason with a demon,  
just ask Eve.  
  
We are walking into an epic moment.  
And as we walk toward Holy Week,  
we are called just like Peter, James, and John   
to Listen to Jesus.  
  
For some of us,   
that is going to mean  
changing your thinking.  
Some of us are going to be asked to do things that are uncomfortable.  
  
And all of us,  
are called to take our place  
as the governing  
community of saints,  
who declare  
come kingdom of God,  
be done will of God,  
on earth as it is in heaven.  
  
Where ever you find  
the gates of hell,  
in New York,  
London,  
your local community,  
your art class,  
gallery,  
theatre,  
or concert hall  
we are called to listen  
and build the church,  
and the gates of hell will fall.  
They cannot withstand the increase   
of his Government in the earth.  
  
And God's government happens when he speaks,  
and we hear,  
and we do.  
  
Listen to God.  

Thanks for taking the time to read and listen to my message from Sunday. If my work encourages you, please share it with friends and encourage them to subscribe. Thanks.