New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

Luke Lesson 30
JESUS IN HIS GLORY
(Hard of hearing)

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.’”

A man went to the doctor and complained that his wife couldn’t hear well. “How bad is it?” the doctor asked. “I have no idea. But it’s terrible”, said the husband. The doctor told the man, “Please test her. Say something 20 feet away, and if she doesn’t hear you, get closer and say the same thing until she does. That way we’ll have an idea of her range of hearing loss.” So the man went home. When he saw his wife in the kitchen chopping up vegetables for dinner he said from 20 feet away: “What are we having for dinner this evening?” No answer. So he went closer and asked. No answer. From 10 feet and 5 feet, the same thing. Finally he was standing right behind her. “What’s for dinner?” he asked. His wife turned, looked at him and said, “Beef stew! I’ve already said it four times!” Hard of hearing! Even though God always speaks to us loud and clear, many of us seem to be hard of hearing. If God speaks His words loud and clear, why are we still hard of hearing? While Jesus and his disciples were on the mountain, the appearance of Jesus was changed. When a cloud appeared and enveloped them, a voice came from the cloud, saying “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Let’s go up onto the mountain of transfiguration and think about why it is so important for us to listen to Jesus.

Look at verse 28. “About eight days after Jesus talked about his upcoming suffering, rejection by the religious leaders, death and resurrection, which were very surprising (9:19), Jesus took three of his disciples, Simon Peter, John and James, and went up onto a mountain to pray. Luke did not mention the name of the specific mountain. But what happened on the mountain was very unusual.

Look at verses 29-30. As he was praying along with his disciples, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. This reminds us of Moses on the mountain in Exodus 34:29-34. When Moses went up Mount Sinai, he had spoken with the Lord face to face and received the two tablets of the Testimony – the Ten Commandments. When he came down from the mountain, he was not aware that his face was radiant. But when people saw his glowing face, they were afraid to come near him. Likewise, while praying, the appearance of Jesus’ face was changed and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. This might be implying that the whole body of Jesus was shining with the glory of God. Hebrews 1:3 introduces the original glory of Jesus as the Son of God, saying, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

Look at verses 30-31. What is more interesting is that at that time two Old Testament Prophets, Moses and Elijah, also appeared in glorious splendor. They were talking with Jesus. Luke is the only Gospel narrator who mentioned the topic of their conversation. They were discussing the upcoming departure of Jesus in Jerusalem through his sacrificial death for the atonement of our sins, which is the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan. Luke made no specific comments about the meaning of their appearance at this particular time and the meaning of their discussion about the matter of Jesus’ departure. We can have reasonable speculation based on our knowledge about Moses and Elijah. There were numerous prophets in the Old Testament. But why were Moses and Elijah chosen? It’s because they represent the Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. Jesus’ death on the cross is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Therefore, the appearance of Moses and Elijah at this particular time is appropriate.

God who made Jesus’ face and clothes shining and dazzling white sent these two men of God to Jesus as moral support. Obviously, Jesus’ disciples should’ve done the job with their supporting prayers at this time. Perhaps that was the very reason that Jesus took them along with him to the mountain. Yet, instead of praying, they fell asleep while all these awesome things were happening right in front of them.

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. This reminds me of one of my classmates in high school. At that time, many young people stayed up late at night, listening to popular songs, sometimes until 3 in the morning. Obviously, due to lack of sleep many of them dozed off or fell asleep during class time. One of my classmates fell asleep after lunch and didn’t wake up even though the class had already started. The teacher noticed that the guy was sleeping. So he called the student’s name “Such and such! Wake up!” Then the student suddenly woke up and began to shout, “Mom, don’t worry. I already woke up!” He thought his mom was calling him to go to school in the morning. You can imagine how embarrassed he must have felt. Apparently, when the disciples woke up, they were embarrassed and shocked. As they saw Moses and Elijah leaving Jesus, Peter hurriedly said something inappropriate, “Wait! Wait! 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. I am sorry I didn’t mean to sleep.”

It’s embarrassing because he had just previously confessed that Jesus is the Christ of God, the Son of God. But now by saying that he wanted to put up three shelters – one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah, Simon Peter was putting Jesus on the same level as the mere men, Moses and Elijah. Actually, the shelters he suggested putting up might have been like the booths that the Jews set up at the Feast of Tabernacles annually to commemorate their wanderings in the wilderness after the Exodus and to anticipate the coming of the messianic kingdom on earth. (Lev. 23:42-43; Zechariah 14:16-21) Seeing Jesus in glorious splendor, along with such national and spiritual celebrities – the great Prophets Moses and Elijah, Simon Peter might have been momentarily hypnotized and said what was in his subconscious mind. He was saying that since the earthly messianic kingdom had already begun, there was no reason for Jesus to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. Luke commented that Peter did not know what he was saying. However, what was hidden in his mind was actually exposed by his accidental remarks.

Look at verse 34. While Simon was speaking nonsense, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and the disciples were afraid as they entered the cloud. A few weeks ago, Air France’s passenger airplane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Thorough investigations will be done after collecting all possible information to find the cause of the tragic event. But some experts initially speculated that the air plane might have been hit by lightning that caused electric problems while flying through the clouds. Yet, nothing is for sure. It’s scary when an airplane goes through the dark clouds because there are severe shakes and bumps when you are in the airplane. However, the appearance and envelopment of the clouds in this passage refer to God’s presence in a specific location – which is called “the Shekinah glory.” (Ex 13:21-22; 16:10; 24:16; 40:34-38)

After the people of Israel came out of Egypt, the Egyptian army chased after them. The Israelites were scared. But God showed His visual presence through the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to make sure that He was with them. (Ex 13:21-22) And the Shekinah glory was present while Moses and Aaron were speaking to the people of Israel who were complaining for food and water in the wilderness. (Ex 16:10) When the tabernacle was completed the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, and even Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting. (Ex 40:34-38) One of the main reasons of the appearance of the cloud was to get people to listen to God’s message. Obviously, the cloud appeared and enveloped these three disciples to get them to listen to the important message from God.

What was the message from God? Look at verse 35. “A voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’” This was not the first time God spoke from heaven identifying Jesus as His Son. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus was baptized by John. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (3:22) It was the message for Jesus. But this time the message was for the disciples. “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Jesus is the God’s chosen one, the Messiah. Therefore, the disciples did not need to put up three shelters. They needed to listen to one voice – that of Jesus the Messiah. This event is the climax of all the testimonies concerning the identity of Jesus as the Son of God in Luke’s account. Jesus is not just a great prophet, like Moses and Elijah. He is the Holy Son of God. He is unique – fully human and fully divine.

Even though we think that we believe in Jesus, we often make similar mistakes to Simon Peter who said something so unbelieving. As a result, we fail to listen to Jesus. Instead of listening and following God’s will, we follow our own ideas, thinking that we are following God’s will. Actually, we end up following our own understanding of God’s will, not necessarily God’s will itself. When an airplane pilot navigates the air, he must have enough skills and knowledge about flying the airplane. Before the take-off, he must make sure all the equipment is intact and that there is enough fuel. While flying he has to continually check his status with the control tower through radio communication. The pilot should always be alert. Otherwise, the plane might head to a totally unintended and wrong direction. Listening to Jesus and God’s message is not easy at all. We are to listen over and over again, carefully and profoundly. If we think that we understand and know the will of God perfectly, we presume too much.

Why are we so hard of hearing when it comes to the word of God? It’s not because God’s message is not loud and clear enough. God always speaks to us through the Bible, sermons, our conscience, friends, Bible teachers and family members, through the Holy Spirit, nature and many other things. But our minds are so packed with so many useless things that we fail to listen to God’s words. The parable of four soils illustrates it very well. (8:1-15) Some people’ minds are like path, too hardened due to bitterness, anger or hatred that the word of God just bounds back and find no place in their hearts. Some people’s minds are like rocky soil, too shallow that they don’t listen carefully enough. If they feel good, they stop listening. Some people’s minds are like thorny soil, too many worries and anxieties that the word of God is choked. Therefore, in order to be able to listen to God’s message loud and clear as it is, we need to cultivate our minds, breaking the hardness of our hearts, removing rocks and thorns and thistles through sincere repentance based on God’s words.
Simon Peter’s experience on the mountain of transfiguration was very special to him and yet, at the same time, very embarrassing. He said something he should not have said. So he later said to his fellow brothers in Christ in his letter, “We (Apostles) ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, until the day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place.” He deeply realized that he had to listen to one voice – that of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hebrews 1:1-3 reads, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
Jesus is God’s final revelation. He is the completion of God’s revelation. When we listen to Jesus, it does not just mean only the letters of his words. It means his whole person and ministry as the Son of God. The wholeness of Jesus includes his love, faith, hope, humility, openness, genuineness, faithfulness, gentleness, and kindness. We can come to know God through Jesus who is full of grace and truth. John 1:16-18 reads, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

Why do we often remain the same even though we go to church all the time? One of the reasons is that many of us are not able to hear God’s words. We are hard of hearing. If we think we already know everything, we stop hearing God’s words. If we have no desire to hear God’s words, we cannot hear God’s words. Jesus said that we should not throw pearls to swine. Therefore, we need to listen to God’s words over and over, freshly and profoundly, while meditating on it as much as we can.
We should also never overlook our subconscious mind. Our mind is very mysterious. It’s more complicated and bigger than any laptop computer. It consists of conscious mind and subconscious mind. The conscious mind is the part of our mind that is responsible for logic and reasoning. The subconscious mind is the part of our mind which is responsible for all of our involuntary actions like our emotions, our heartbeat or our breathing rate. In fact, our subconscious mind is also the storage room of all our beliefs and memories. As a matter of fact, our lives are controlled more by our subconscious mind than by our conscious mind. Therefore, when we listen to God’s words, we need to make sure that the word of God is deeply planted in our minds. No wonder the Psalmist said that we should meditate on the word of the Lord day and night. (Ps 1) To hear God’s word fresh, we need genuineness, humility, patience and, most of all, the illumination of the Holy Spirit. This reminds me of an old hymnal, “Open my eyes, that I may see. Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me; Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free. Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my god, Thy will to see. Open my eyes (ears, heart and mind), illumine me, Spirit divine.”
If we fail to listen to God’s message, we fail to obey God’s will. Listening is crucial to our day-to-day lives. It is crucial to the future of our family, church, community and the world. Are we hard of hearing when it comes to the word of God? Let us learn to listen to God through Jesus. Let us listen to God together and listen to each other more and more until we see Jesus our Lord coming in his glory from heaven. “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him!” (35)