Listening to Jesus

Hearing Jesus in the moment is important, but it’s what we do afterwards that makes a difference and proves we really listened.

Currently, the most popular and — in the minds of many — most well-done video portrayal of Jesus is the streaming series The Chosen. It has so captured a loyal audience that many people have contributed money for the ongoing production through a crowdfunding arrangement.

Many viewers feel invested in the show more than just financially. They want to see the biblical story of Jesus retold on the screen in ways that emphasize not only his humanity — which The Chosen does remarkably well — but also his divinity. The series does that well, too, but some fans were taken aback when Dallas Jenkins, the show’s creator, director and writer, mentioned in a YouTube interview that he was not planning to portray the transfiguration. He had previously said that the series is intended to support Scripture rather than simply reenacting its events. And in the interview, Jenkins added that showing the face of Jesus glowing, as the transfiguration scene would require, seemed too much like Return of the Jedi to him.

Jenkins is not skeptical about the transfiguration, but he is unconvinced that depicting it visually would contribute to either the cinematic or faith goals he has for the series. (There is a lot of interaction between Dallas and the show’s fans, so don’t be surprised if he reverses that decision. But at the time of this writing, he maintains he has no plans to include that scene.)

 

The Unchanged Disciples

Many of the show’s fans pushing for the inclusion of the transfiguration scene say it’s important because when God says, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” it confirms Jesus’ divinity for the three disciples who were there (and thus, would confirm it for the viewers of The Chosen as well).

On that point, however, a continued reading of the events that follow suggests that the three disciples weren’t changed by witnessing the transfiguration as much as we might expect. It is after the transfiguration that James and John ask Jesus to be seated on his right and left when he comes into his glory, which shows how much they misunderstood the intent of Jesus’ ministry (Mark 10:35-45). It is after the transfiguration that Peter denies Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62). And we have no reason to believe that our viewing of this mountaintop experience on-screen would suddenly make us better disciples either.

There are some threads online about why only three disciples were invited to witness the transfiguration, and at least one article tries to explain why Judas was not invited, suggesting he was not worthy to be there. That leads us to wonder how Judas’ story might have turned out differently if he had witnessed how Jesus was transfigured and if he had heard God’s voice in an audible way. But given how little the three disciples who were there were changed by the experience, it’s probable Judas wouldn’t have been changed by it either.

Peter’s proposal to set up three tents — one each for Elijah, Moses and Jesus — and stay on the mountaintop reveals Peter’s wish to stop time and live in the radiance of that moment. But that’s not what being a follower of Jesus entails. Discipleship means continuing on and doing the tasks the Master lays out for us.

 

Listen to Him!

It’s possible that the primary audience for the transfiguration was not the disciples, but Jesus himself. The account says that Moses and Elijah talked to Jesus during this radiant experience, though it doesn’t tell us what they said. It’s likely they were preparing Jesus for the suffering and death he was soon to face in Jerusalem. And God’s voice — the same voice Jesus had heard at his baptism — confirmed for him that he was indeed God’s Son, with all the glory, pain and responsibility encapsulated in that relationship. Given that Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51) following this encounter, the transfiguration clearly had its intended effect on him.

Nonetheless, when God spoke on that mountaintop, his words were addressed to both Jesus and the disciples. When he said, “This is my Son, my Chosen,” that confirmed for Jesus his divine identity. But God’s addition of “listen to him!” was an obvious direction for the disciples. In the Bible, the word “listen” implies both trust and obedience.

When we say we are listening to Jesus, we usually don’t mean we are literally hearing an audible voice. Sometimes we are experiencing discontent that we come to understand is a call from Jesus to follow him in some new direction. Or we might mean we have received an inner assurance or comfort from Christ, or we have witnessed an occurrence that seems to be an answer to prayer.

It’s also possible that some have had an encounter with Jesus that seems so otherworldly that you don’t go around talking about it for fear that others wouldn’t take you seriously or that you might appear too easily dazzled. It’s your own version of “too much like Return of the Jedi,” to paraphrase Jenkins. But that doesn’t mean you are wrong.

Over the centuries since the time of Jesus — and right up into our own century — many people have claimed to have had visions of Jesus and heard him speak in an audible voice. The Roman Catholic Church even has an established procedure for evaluating such claims. It has endorsed only a fraction of them, but it doesn’t rule them all out.

If, by listening to Jesus, we mean something other than hearing a voice we can perceive with our ears, how do we do that? We could start by reviewing the things Jesus said in the gospels — which is not difficult if you use a readily available New Testament with the words of Jesus printed in red.

But beyond that, listening to Jesus today means seeking to apply what we know about Jesus to the circumstances of our lives and our relationships with other people. If we’ve had some kind of mountaintop experience with Christ, it’s what we subsequently do because of that experience that gives it reality and qualifies it as listening to God’s Son. Or, as commentator R. Alan Culpepper puts it, “Faithfulness is not achieved by freezing a moment but by following on in confidence that God is leading and that what lies ahead is even greater than what we have already experienced.”

 

How to Listen

We shouldn’t get hung up on whether we’re hearing from God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. If there’s one thing the Trinity communicates, it’s that, as Frederick Buechner says, “Father, Son and Holy Spirit mean that the mystery beyond us, the mystery among us, and the mystery within us are all the same mystery.”

Religious leaders rightly tell us that we can listen to the triune God not only through the reading of Scripture, but also through praying and even by paying attention to our thoughts and our consciences. The Lord speaks through those sometimes. The Persons of the Trinity also speak through the circumstances of our lives. C.S. Lewis famously wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

If we stop this sermon now and you take seriously what has been said to this point, we can all go home and feel guilty that we aren’t better listeners or that we have selective hearing when it comes to listening to the Lord.

But an Old Testament passage helps us understand that God is a partner in the listening process. The prophet Isaiah credits God with providing the ability to listen. As the prophet phrases it, “Morning by morning [God] wakens — wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear …” (Isaiah 50:4-5). Our English version says, “opened my ear,” but the force of the original Hebrew word there is more like, “The Lord God has caused sound to flow to my ear.”

So, for hearing what Jesus has to say to us today, our prayer can be “Open my ears, O Lord,” and then doing our best to pay attention.

—Stan Purdum and Carl Wilton contributed to this material.

 

Sources

Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking (Harper & Row, 1973), p. 93.

Frew, Cameron. “The Chosen fans are worried we won’t see Jesus’ transfiguration.” Dexerto, February 22, 2024, www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/the-chosen-fans-want-jesus-transfiguration-2546424/. Retrieved September 1, 2024.

“Interview with Dallas Jenkins - creator and director of The Chosen.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsPaPW2xli8&t=2285s. Retrieved September 1, 2024 (Jenkins’ comments about the transfiguration start at about minute 37).

The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol IX, p. 207.

“Reflections: God’s Megaphone.” C.S. Lewis Institute, October 1, 2021, www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/reflections-october-2021/. Retrieved September 3, 2024.

Ukhtomsky, Andrew. “Why Did Only Three Disciples See the Transfiguration of Christ?” The Catalogue of Good Deeds, https://catalog.obitel-minsk.com/blog/2020/08/why-did-only-three-disciples-see-the-transfiguration-of-christ. Retrieved September 2, 2024.

“Visions of Jesus and Mary.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visions_of_Jesus_and_Mary. Retrieved September 2, 2024.

The Other Texts

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

God, His Holiness. The inscription for this psalm is: “Praise to God for His Holiness.” “His Holiness” is an official title used to designate certain humans who occupy a high religious position. These include the Roman Catholic pope and Eastern Orthodox patriarchs. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has the title of His All-Holiness (abbreviation HAH). Can’t get much holier than that! You can even be “His Holiness” if you’re an ex-holy man, like Pope Benedict XVI, who still retains the title. The title also refers to religious leaders from other traditions. The Dalai Lama is known officially as “His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.” Without disrespecting these traditions, one might suggest that the holiness of human beings is probably derivative. It comes from the source of holiness, God, the Supreme All-Holy Beyond Any Other Holiness that Can Be Conceived. But when the psalmist writes in verse 3, “He is holy,” what does he mean? Is this a reference to God’s sovereignty, to being “exalted over all the peoples”? Or does the word “holy” mean that God is a “lover of justice,” someone who “established equity … [and] executed justice and righteousness” (v. 4)?

What Does the Text Say?

Psalm 99 is an ascription of praise to the Lord God of Israel. God is called “king” in verse 1 and “Mighty King” in verse 4. God is called “holy” (qadosh) in verses 3, 5 and 9. God is “great” (v. 2) and his “great and awesome [to be held in awe/revered] name” is to be praised (v. 3). There is a connection between the trembling and quaking of verse 1 to holding our holy God in awe (v. 3). God loves justice (mishpat); further, “You have established equity [fairness]” and “You have executed justice and righteousness.” Also prophetic is an emphasis on obedience to God’s law and corresponding forgiveness or punishment (see vv. 7-8). In verse 1, cherubim (a Hebrew plural) were carved representations of scary winged beings who, in covering the ark of the covenant, formed a throne for the Lord’s glorious presence with the people of Israel. “Pillar of cloud” (v. 7) is another allusion to God’s protective and guiding presence. An inference the original hearers of the psalm likely drew is that, just as God answered the prayers of faithful ancestors, so those who now praise and call upon God can anticipate God’s similar presence and provision. The psalmist suggests that the only appropriate response to our mighty God is to praise and worship him at his footstool or his holy mountain, i.e., Zion or Jerusalem.

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Get Your Glow Going. It’s quite common for people to comment about a person’s cheerful appearance or sunny disposition by saying that they are positively glowing! Women with child are said to have a certain glow. When actors or athletes win an important award, they appear to be glowing with understandable pride. Parents glow with pride as they watch their children perform in a schoolhouse play. So, while “glowing” is perhaps a figurative way to express the joy on one’s face, could it be literally true? Yes. According to one source, “the human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day. … Past research has shown that the body emits visible light 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive.” Use the search words, “Can people glow?” You will find many articles in respectable journals about this subject. What you want to do is suggest that spending time in the presence of God gets a glow going. A Christian without a glow is a Christian without God — or without much time with God. Suggest some divine qualities that are transferred to a person’s inner being that will cause them to positively glow in beatific beams of joy.

What Does the Text Say?

In Exodus and Deuteronomy, the people of Israel were afraid to be too close to God’s viscerally overwhelming presence at Mount Sinai/Horeb, so they wanted Moses to be their intermediary when God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel. Medieval artists often depicted Moses with horns, based on the Latin Vulgate’s use of the word cornuta to translate part of Exodus 34:29. Accordingly, in the early 1500s, Michelangelo carved a marble statue of Moses with horns. While in certain Hebrew verbal- and noun-forms the consonantal root q-r-n can mean “(to have) horns,” few biblical scholars or translators understand Exodus 34:29 in this way. The most likely meaning of the Hebrew qal verb qaran, especially in context, is that Moses’ face shone (as in NRSV, NET) or had become radiant (as in NIV, NLT). So, although he was at first unaware of it (v. 29), Moses’ face shone when he was face to face with God (vv. 29, 30, 35) and when he was conveying God’s message to the people. Matthew 17:2 says, “And [Jesus] was transfigured before [Peter, James and John], and his face shone like the sun [emphasis added], and his clothes became dazzling white.” Artists sometimes depict light emanating from the faces, heads and/or bodies of people who are made holy through being in the presence of God; this can be in the form of halos and in other ways. The face/presence of God is associated in Scripture with the overwhelming weightiness of God’s glory, often depicted as a mysterious combination of (sometimes thunderous) clouds and bright (sometimes fiery) light. Sometimes the intensity of “seeing” God’s presence is frightening to the point of being potentially deadly; often it is transforming; on all occasions it is enlightening. Note that Moses’ face was shining with rays because he had been in the presence of God, talking with him about what God wanted him to say to the people of Israel. So, the purpose of Moses’ being with God and listening to God was to prepare him to convey God’s covenant-commandments, written and otherwise, to God’s people. Exodus 34:34 and 33:7-11b strongly suggest that Moses spoke with God on a regular basis and then passed on to the Israelites what God had commanded him to say. Exodus 33:11 says, “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp.” Notice the back-and-forth alternation between Moses speaking with God and Moses speaking with the people. Every time Moses spoke face to face with God, he conveyed the substance of that conversation when he was again face to face with God’s people. Moses’ face was unveiled, visibly shining brightly when he was speaking with God and with God’s people. But he veiled his shining face on more routine occasions (vv. 33-35). The apostle Paul cites our Exodus passage in an exegetically curious way in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 (note that 2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2 is a lectionary reading for this week).

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Paper Bag Christians. It’s a familiar sight in the stands of professional sporting events where the home team habitually loses. Some fans who do not want to be recognized as being a fan of a lousy, stinking team, will put paper bags over their heads with eye holes for viewing the action. In the past, the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Giants and other sports teams have had fans who’ve donned the paper bag, to express not only their displeasure, but also their embarrassment at continuing to support such hapless and hopeless teams. The apostle Paul doesn’t talk about paper bags. He refers to veils. Moses wore a veil. The reason Moses wore a veil is because his face shone with the glory of God. Paul says that the Corinthians should wear paper bags, as it were, over their heads, not because their faces are so bright with the glory of God, but because they aren’t. Put a bag on your head, Paul says, so that no one will see that the glory is gone. The sermon is about how and when to take the bag off.

What Does the Text Say?

This is Transfiguration Sunday, and thus this Corinthian text. But the text is less about Moses’ transfiguration than it is about the moral and spiritual disfiguration of the Corinthian church. The text is an elaborate argument suggesting the Corinthians are wearing a veil over their hearts that keeps them not only from appreciating Paul’s apostolic credentials, but from seeing Jesus. As an example, he cites Moses, who, after his encounters with God, was physically transformed by God’s glory. The Israelites asked him to veil his face so they couldn’t see the change. Paul says that the Corinthians were the ones wearing the veil, masking the fact not only that their “glory” was gone, but that they could no longer see spiritual things.

Worship Resources

“Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy.” Jesus, we want to go with you on that mountain to pray. We want to be changed forever through your love. May these gifts and offerings be used to change both our hearts and the hearts of those in need. May we pledge to stay on the mountain with you, working side by side to show others both your glory and your great mercy. May we continue to be always astounded at the greatness of our God. Amen.

—Adapted from Luke 9 and Psalm 99

Transfiguration Sunday

Leader: The blessing of God
People: Rests on our shoulders.
Leader: The love of God
People: Dwells in our hearts.
Leader: The word of God
People: Inflames our speech.
Leader: The compassion of God
People: Stirs us to care.
Leader: The word of God
People: Compels us to sing.
Leader: The mystery of God
People: Leads us to worship.

Transfiguration Sunday

We have spent this hour together in the presence of our Holy God. As you depart, remember that you are the face of Jesus to everyone you encounter. Live and love as he would. And may the world be changed because they have met Jesus face to face.

Hymns
Shine, Jesus, Shine
Christ, Upon the Mountain Peak
Dear Shepherd of Thy People, Hear

Worship and Praise*
Speak to Me (Walker)
I’m Listening (McClarney, Hollyn)
Turn Your Eyes (Lemmel, Romanacce, Winebarger, Stiff, Trout)

*For licensing and permission to reprint or display these songs on screen, go to ccli.com. The worship and praise songs suggested by Homiletics can be found in most cases on Google by using the title as the search term.

COMMENTARY

on Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)