Listen to Him.
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.
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