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."

The title of the message for today is “Listen to him.” Here “him” of course refers to Jesus Christ. The question then is, “Are you a good listener of Jesus or a bad listener?” If you are a good “listener”, you do not need to study this passage; you can sit back and relax. But just in case you are not a good listener, but a very stubborn sheep of Jesus, you need to study this message, and study it attentively and prayerfully.

Now, when one is asked to listen to someone, one may be tempted to talk back saying, “Why should I listen to anyone? I follow my own feelings and judgments. This is my life, and I can live how I want. And I listen to myself.” But still the key verse says, “Listen to him!” Why? The answer is obvious. If you do not listen to Jesus and obey His words, God cannot work on you; God cannot fulfill all he had in mind. Thus, please do not say, “God can do anything.” Yes. “Nothing is impossible with God. All things are possible with God.” But, as far as the work of salvation goes, God can fulfill his work on you only to the extent that you listen to Jesus and obey His words. With this in mind, let us think about the passage in two parts.  

Part I. Peter, John and James

The passage for today begins with the words, “About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.” Eight days before what did Jesus say? Look at the previous passage. In Luke 9:21-27 Jesus laid down the way of salvation, that is, his sufferings, death on the cross, and then resurrection. In view of this way of salvation Jesus set forth the way of a disciple such as denying oneself, taking up the cross daily, and following Jesus all the way through. 

But the disciples did not listen to Jesus carefully. It was particularly true with Peter. Upon hearing Jesus’ words, Peter did not like what Jesus said. He especially hated the idea that Jesus whom he loved so much had to suffer, be rejected, and killed. Although Jesus’ words were hard to understand much less to accept, as a disciple of Jesus, he should have listened to Jesus. If he does not listen to Jesus he is not Jesus’ disciple, for a disciple is the one who learns from a teacher, and obeys his teacher.  

John and James were more or less the same as Peter. It looked like they were good listeners. It seemed particularly so with John, for John stayed very close to Jesus. On many occasions he even leaned against the bosom of Jesus. And like a small baby listening to a mom singing a lullaby, he gave careful attention to Jesus’ words. But did he really listen to Jesus? Indications are that he still held onto his own dreams such as the dream to become the prime ministry of the Messianic kingdom ahead of Peter. In this way, he still remained his own man.

Luke’s gospel can be divided into two parts: the first part is from the first verse of Luke’s gospel to the end of the previous passage; and the second part begins with the passage for today. We can call the first part; Jesus’ teachings during the first semester, and the teachings on the second part; the teachings during the second semester. During the first semester, Simon Peter listened to Jesus’ words and garnered considerable success. His first encounter with Jesus during the first semester took place on the seashore of Galilee. There Jesus asked him to go into deep water and let down the net. It was not an easy command for him to obey. But he listened to Jesus and obeyed him. He went out to deep water, let down the nets, and made a huge catch. 

But towards the end of the first semester Jesus began to ask him to do something far more difficult to obey than the commands he gave during the early part of the first semester. First, Jesus asked him to deny himself. But he was not willing to listen to Jesus. When Jesus said that he had to suffer and die in Jerusalem, Peter dragged Jesus to a corner, and rebuked Jesus saying, “No. Don’t do that.” Yet, Jesus did not back down. He rebuked him back saying, “Get behind me, Satan.” Wow! How can Jesus call him Satan? But when Simon did not listen to Jesus but rather confronted Jesus, trying to even correct Jesus, Peter was acting exactly like Satan, for Satan does not listen to or obey God. 

In our day to day struggles as Jesus’ disciples, it is not easy for one to deny oneself all the time. It is not easy to take up one’s cross daily and follow Jesus continually. Maybe one can do it for one or two weeks after receiving a baptism, or for one or two years, or even for one or two decades, but not all the time. Maybe one can say many Amen’s when he feels good such as while at a Bible conference. But after the conference, it may not be easy to always submit one’s own will to the will of God and follow Jesus. Perhaps when everyone is watching you, you may pretend to obey God’s word. But what about when no one is watching you? When it seems like everyone is obeying Jesus, one can be motivated to follow Jesus. But what if it seems like no one is following Jesus? What if it seems like everyone is doing their own thing?

Soon the fall semester will begin. Already for some schools, the semester has started. In the U.S., the fall semester is seen as the first semester, where we can meet new students on campus. So, we pray that the Lord would enable us to invite new students to Bible study. In order to help new students to meet Jesus, we prepared a conference program. We also pray that more than seven students would be invited from each fellowship to the conference. But in order for Jesus to bear fruit within us, there is one thing which each of us must do: we must submit our own will to the will of Jesus. We must listen to Jesus saying, “If anyone comes after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” 

Part II. Jesus went to a mountain to pray

In Part I we saw Peter’s problem: his problem was that instead of him listening to Jesus, he wanted Jesus to listen to him. In fact, instead of him being a disciple, Peter wanted Jesus to be his disciple. 

This was not a small challenge to Jesus. Simon Peter was a fisherman. Usually fisherman have strong will power; they come with strong muscles and strong mouths. Furthermore, Jesus called him “Satan”, so it turned out that Satan, who is strong, was working in Peter. John and James were more or less the same as Peter. After all, they always competed with Peter for first place. Like the politicians in Washington D.C., they established their own pact, and were always on the lookout to push Simon Peter aside, and grab the first position for themselves.

How could Jesus make disciples out of these hard-headed Galileans? How could Jesus help them repent of their own ideas, listen to him, and follow Jesus even to the point of suffering martyrdom? Jesus is the Son of God. Yet, even Jesus who is God himself, did not force them to deny their own ideas and listen to Jesus. So what did Jesus do? 

Look at verses 28-32. Here Jesus held a special Bible conference. The conference site was on a quiet secluded mountainside such as Big Bear Mountain. The audience consisted of only three people – Peter, John and James. In order to make the program interesting and appealing, the Lord God came up with multi-media services. God also came up with special speakers which consisted of Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and God himself. The program included prayer, video presentations, messages, testimony writing and sharing, and then rebuke. Let us see how the program proceeded. 

First, prayer

At that time, at least Simon Peter could have served the program as a prayer servant or as the one presiding. But, Peter, John and James were still young. They were spiritual infants. So, Jesus just let them remain on the receiving end. Thus, Peter, John, and James sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the program. 

And the program started with Jesus praying. We do not know how long Jesus prayed. We do not know how he prayed either. Did Jesus pray crying out loudly making lots of noise? Or did he pray quietly, so that no audible sounds came out of his mouth? If he prayed intently,  in what position did he pray? Did he kneel down, and lean on a rock? Did he pray underneath a tree? Or did he fall prostrate on a flat surface and pray? Or did he stand and pray? We do not know for sure. But the important fact is that he prayed. It is also certain that Jesus prayed for a prolonged period of time. It also appears that once Jesus started out praying, he got himself fully immersed in prayer. No doubt that there was a beginning point and an ending point. And during prayer he gave himself fully to the Lord. 

“When sore trials came upon you, did you think to pray?” asks one hymn song. To Jesus, the time of prayer was the time to pour out his soul to the Lord and listen to him. It was the way for him to draw comfort, pleasure, and contentment. Because no disciples, not even one, listened to him, he must have felt greatly frustrated. He could have felt like giving up on all of them. He could have desired even dropping the business of making disciples out of these irksome Galileans altogether. And he could have wanted to vent all of his bad feelings on the disciples saying, “I am sick and tired of you!” But Jesus bottled up all the ill feelings. He then came to the Father’s side. In prayer, he poured out all of his heart, soul, mind, and bad feelings. 

Then what happened to Jesus? He was changed. His clothes became dazzling white. When we combine this transformation with the fact that Jesus prayed, we can rest assured that it was while he was praying ever so intensely that the Lord God worked in his life that his body changed, inside out, from a haggard condition to a glorious state.  Most likely as the Prophet Isaiah described, Jesus must have looked like a root out of dry ground. He must have looked like even one of the refugees walking out of the disaster area in New Orleans. People in disaster stricken areas looked so unsightly because of the flood waters that poured through the broken embankment. But in case of Jesus, he became so poor in appearance all because of his sacrificial services for the flock of God thus far. Foxes had holes, birds had their nests but he did not have a place to lay his head. But in prayer Jesus withdrew comfort, pleasure, and contentment. In prayer, he experienced God’s glory in his life. As he tarried in prayer, God the Father gave him true relief and true comfort. 

Second, the video presentation

While Jesus was in a transformed body, which was as glorious as the resurrected body described in the book of Revelation, suddenly two servants appeared: Moses and Elijah. They were in majestic glory. We do not know how they must have looked. Did Moses have gray hair? Did he wear a long robe? If so, what color was it? Purple? Red? All white? What must his face have looked like? Were there any wrinkles on his forehead? We do not know for sure. But one thing is clear. In the past, while he was in a physical body here on earth, he must have looked weary and burdened. In addition, in view of all the hard feelings he had towards his sheep, it is certain that by the time he finished his life, he must have looked scrawny. But now he appeared in glorious splendor. 

What about Elijah? Did he have a long beard? What was his attire? What must his face have looked like? We know that after suffering so much in serving the Lord, especially in fighting battle after battle against the idolatrous woman Queen Jezebel, he too was tired and worn out. But, eventually the Lord God rewarded him by carrying him to his side in a whirlwind, so he would not have to suffer physical death. Now, he too appeared before Jesus in glorious splendor. And they were talking about Jesus’ departure, which Jesus was about to bring fulfillment in Jerusalem. 

Third, the message

It has been said that a picture is worth more than thousand words. Indeed the video presentation that was being presented before the eyes of the three people, Peter, John, and James, was worth more than a thousand messages. What is the message? The message is obvious: Jesus is the Savior of the world, which the Lord God promised to send. Moses was a law-giver. Elijah was a representative of all prophets. So, Moses and Elijah refer to the law and the prophets. The law and the prophets are synonymous of the whole of Scripture. Both Moses and all prophets testify that Jesus is the Messiah. Indeed as these servants testified, Jesus came to fulfill what the Lord God had promised to fulfill, that is, offering Jesus the Son as the Lamb of God, the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Then by giving the disciples the preview of Jesus’ resurrected body, Jesus proved that what he had said in the previous passage, that is, his sufferings, his rejection, his death, and his resurrection will all come true, all in accordance with the Scriptures. This is what Moses and Elijah meant by “his departure, which Jesus was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.” In short, we can say that the point of the video presentation is “the gospel in a nutshell” as Jesus mentioned in Luke 9:20-22. 

Fourth, testimony writing and sharing

Now came the hours for the disciples to write testimonies and share what they learned. What did they learn? Look at verses 32-33. “Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "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." (He did not know what he was saying.)” This passage indicates that they did not do a good job. They were not good Bible students. Of course, Simon Peter wrote a testimony, but his testimony was totally missed the point. His testimony had nothing to do with the point of the message God had in mind. And John and James did not even write a testimony at all. 

Why did they do such a poor job? The answer is obvious. They slept through the conference program. They were so sleepy that all the while they dozed off, and they woke up only when the program was about to end. Again, this episode indicates that they were not good listeners. 

This incidence makes us to stop and think about the deeper reasons why they were not good listeners. What was wrong with them? They were closely linked to Jesus in thought and heart. Yet, why were they so slow in listening to Jesus? We find an immediate answer to this question from what Simon Peter said. “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.” Let us combine this statement with the comment the author Luke put in parenthesis: “(He did not know what he was saying.)” In other words, Peter ‘blurted out’ what was really inside of him. Jesus wanted to go to Jerusalem, suffer, die and rise again. But Peter did not want to go there. He wanted to stay on a mountainside, and live in peace forever. What a nice idea!? 

On many occasions, I also had the same desire to disappear from Downey, go to a quiet place where no one could find me, and live there in seclusion. And in my shelter, maybe in a small mountain hut, I wanted to have some animals like two dogs, 12 chickens, and every once in a while go out for gathering woods, for a camp fire. When you think about it, Peter’s secret dream which he blurted out in his three second testimony, is what most (if not all) Americans are cherishing in their hearts. And Peter’s dream to build a shelter and spend eternity on a mountainside along with great servants of God (who were so pleasant to spend time with), represents the American dream to retire and retire early.  It is the dream to build a white house on a hill, with a three-car garage, two cats, and a dog, and retire there perhaps in one’s early forties, if not late thirties. See how many young Americans are working hard to fulfill this dream. When you think about it, Peter’s secret dream is cherished not just by Americans alone, but by all peoples on earth. See, each and every day, how many people from all over the world immigrate to the U.S., the land of opportunity, with a rosy dream to make enough money to retire early.  Then, in their retirement home, they could wake up as late as 11 a.m., go out to a nice restaurant, eat a late brunch, play golf at a nice place such as Pebble Beach, then go to the Black Angus, enjoy the New York Steak for dinner, come back home, take a shower, and then watch a good movie, such as, Gone with the Wind. If such a dream is not that appealing to you, then you also have the option of looking into a nice tour package such as the Mediterranean cruise or a cruise around the world. Certainly, these are not bad ideas. And a lot of people, Christians included, are dying to fulfill such dreams. 

But the way Jesus teaches is quite different. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Here “deny himself” especially the word “himself” means denying “his own dreams, ideas, or opinions.” It requires denying one’s own will not once or twice, but every day, not partially but fully. In the case of Simon Peter, for example, Jesus’ will was not for Peter to retire at a log cabin on a mountainside, but to go down the mountain, take up the cross of mission, especially the mission to work for Bible Israel and Bible Rome, and suffer martyrdom. And then retire at a real home, that is, the kingdom of God. But this was the last idea Peter would accept. So, he said, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us build three shelters, maybe four, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for me, but not for John or James.” 

Fifth, rebuke

At first glance, because Simon Peter’s testimony was so poor, it seemed like the conference program the Lord God came up with yielded no fruit. Indeed, things seemed that way. But the Lord God did not give up on them. When sheep do not listen, the Lord God has a way to make them listen. What is the way? “Rebuke!” Yes. Rebuke! How did the Lord God rebuke them? Look at verses 34-35. “While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." 

In conclusion, let us look at verse 36. “When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.” The expression “kept this to themselves” indicates that they kept the rebuke, “Listen to him”, in their hearts. In other words, the Lord God planted in their hearts a message: “Listen to him.” This message kept ringing in their ears. Then, after Jesus died and rose again, they remembered Jesus’ words. Then, they fully understood the way of a disciple. With resurrection faith, they overcame the fear of death. They joyfully and willingly denied themselves, took up the cross of mission, and followed Jesus all the way through; and then after finishing their glorious lives of mission, they all received a rich welcome into the kingdom of God. 

One word: listen to him

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