"Be Silent. Listen." The Transfiguration of Our Lord Last Sunday after the Epiphany February 9, 2014 Matthew 17:1-9
There was Peter again, acting in his usual way. It wasn't so much that he was wrong, it was his usual problem of too much talking. Not enough listening. Too quick to follow Jesus instead of slowing down and actually hearing what He says. That's usually why he was so wrong. Jesus brought him and two of the other disciples up on this mountain to give them a glimpse of His glory. And Peter as usual wasn't listening. He wasn't letting Jesus take him where Jesus wanted him to go. He continued to listen to his own heart, to think on the things of man, not on the things of God. Seeing the display of glory, he blurted out, "Lord, it's great that we're here! Let's stay! We'll just set up shop right here and enjoy this for eternity!" Now it's understandable that Peter would feel that way. Jesus did show him His glory, after all. But Peter should have known better. This wasn't the pinnacle of what Jesus had been telling Peter and the disciples. Jesus didn't just pop up on the earth. As if things were going along as they normally do, and then, poof!, Jesus appears. God is on the earth now! No, from nearly the beginning of time the promise was there. God would send the Savior. Mary giving birth to the Savior was the bringing about of what had been promised and prophesied for centuries upon centuries. Peter should have known. Listening to God means listening to His Word. He knew what the Old Testament said. But he wasn't listening. He should have known. Moses and Elijah were even up there on that mountain to remind him of that. But what can we say about Peter? He's just so impetuous and so ready and willing to do the right thing and so often sticks his foot in his mouth. Time and time again he reacted instead of hearing. Listening. Thinking upon the Word of God that he had heard his whole life. Taking to heart the Word of God that had been instilled in him from childhood. And then--and then--listening to the one in whom those very Scriptures are fulfilled. Listening. Hearing His words and taking them to heart. Not reacting against them. Letting them take you where they will even though that means going where you do not want to go. So God stepped in. This had happened once before, when Jesus was Baptized. Speaking the same words, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Kind of like a huge billboard along the way of Jesus' journey to the cross, "Hey, People, this is the one you should be looking to. I haven't sent Him for no reason!" Here at the Transfiguration, once again, God steps in. All the rest of the time in Jesus' three-year ministry it's Jesus doing the talking. He's the one telling us He came from the Father, He and the Father are one, He is the one who is the fulfillment of the Scriptures. Here at the Transfiguration we hear again the words of the Father of His Son: "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." And now He adds this directive: "Listen to Him." Two times this happens, God breaking in when Jesus is in His ministry. At Jesus' Baptism it was confirmation, it was a sign post, it was an anointing. Here it was a firm, "Be quiet. Stop talking and start listening." Here's how Matthew recounts it: "And Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good that we are here. If You wish, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.' He was still speaking when, behold, 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.'" God the Father had had enough of Peter's notions of who Jesus was. The Father had listened enough to Peter's outbursts of ignorance. So He interrupted Peter. This is My Son. He's the one. Listen to Him. In other words, you haven't! He has been telling you and you have been striving against Him! Jesus brought Peter and the other two disciples up the mountain of Transfiguration six days after Jesus made it clear to them what He was all about. Were they listening? Not a chance. Sinful human beings think the things of man, not the things of God. This was Peter's great confession of Jesus a mere six days before going up the Mount of Transfiguration: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." The Catechism expresses this way what Jesus said of that confession of faith: "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel." In response to Peter Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." Too bad he stopped listening. Of Peter's confession of faith in Jesus, Jesus spoke clearly and directly of who He is and why He came. This is Matthew's recounting of it: >From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You." But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." Jesus brought the hammer down on Him. You must listen. Yes, I am the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But what that means is that I must suffer, I must die, I must rise. This is who I am, this is why I came. When six days later Peter is still thinking in terms of glory and viewing his Lord and Christ as glorious and wanting Him to conform to his vision of Jesus as not weak and suffering, it's time for God the Father to step in. Listen to Him! The one you have seen transfigured before you is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He is the one who will suffer and die and rise. Thank God for Peter. Thank God He stepped in and spoke to Peter. He spoke those words to Peter, but they are for you also. Listen to God's Son. God sent Him for a reason. He sent Him in order to suffer and die and rise. When they came down the mountain from the Transfiguration, Jesus again emphasized that He would be heading to the cross. The glory Peter wanted was what he saw in the transfiguration of Christ. The glory Jesus came for was the suffering and dying of the cross. Listen to Him. He has told you what He wants you to know. Listen to Him. Matthew doesn't record any words of Jesus when He was being transfigured. Beforehand He had told the disciples who He was and what He was all about, that He was heading to the cross. After His Transfiguration, when the disciples were cowering in fear at the speaking of the Father, Jesus spoke the perfect words for them to hear and that they should listen to: "Rise, and have no fear." Then Matthew says this: "And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only." And that's exactly the way it would be on the cross. They would look up and see no one but Jesus only. Him alone, suffering for the sin of the world. But that command of the Father pointed them to the cross. At the Transfiguration Matthew doesn't share with us any of Jesus' words. At the cross, though, we are given words He spoke. Listen to Him. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Father, into Your hands, I commend My spirit. It is finished. Listen to Him. These are words spoken to you. They are for you and for your salvation. His forgiveness, for you, His commending Himself into His Father's hands, for you, and declaring that it is finished, your salvation, accomplished. His words the night before were spoken to you and for you. Take and eat, this is My body, given for you. Take and drink, this is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Listen to Him. His words He spoke in giving the Great Commission were spoken for you. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Listen to Him and all of His promises of Baptism for you in His Holy Scriptures: from 1Peter 3, Baptism now saves you. >From Titus 3, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. And there are many others where He says through His apostles that in Baptism you are clothed with Christ, you are united with Christ, you are a new creation, you are born from above. Listen to Him. His words He spoke to His apostles after His resurrection were spoken for you, when He commanded them to forgive the sins of repentant sinners. Listen to Him. His words of promise to you are numerous: I am with you always; I am the way, the truth, and the life; I am the Good Shepherd. Be silent. Don't rush to speak. Just listen. Listen to your Lord, for He has come to do what He came to do. He suffered, died, and rose, all for you. Listen to Him and rejoice that the true glory is not as Peter thought it was on the Mount of Transfiguration, but after that, as he says in the Epistle reading: "we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place." Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
