Jan 18 Listen to Him

Matt 17:5, "While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen~~to him!" 

Peter, James, and John had just witnessed the miraculous transformation of Jesus’ normal human appearance into His heavenly glorified splendor as the bright Shekinah glory of the OT. Can you imagine being privileged to have witnessed this scene? They knew Jesus was extraordinary with divine powers, but now they saw His divinity that Jesus had chosen to cover with His humanity. Paul wrote, “But [He]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:7-8^NKJ).

The single glimpse into the reality of this amazing Person was when Jesus was momentarily transformed before their eyes. This revelation set the stage for the purpose of the moment: the only message to man given directly from God the Father: “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” The whole episode was to make sure His disciples continually took seriously everything He said.

Peter later described this moment of witnessing Jesus’ transformation as secondary to possessing the record of the words of God: “And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic Word made more sure [i.e., more certain than witnessing Jesus in His glory], to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place…” 2 Pet 1:18-19^NKJ. To Peter, who was there, it was more important for him to have the record of God’s messages to man in the Scripture than it was to have seen Jesus transformed. The lesson applied is to respect and listen to everything God says in the Bible’s instructions.

Everyone becomes like the one(s) to whom he listens! The most repeated command in the Book of Revelation is “he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…” Rev 2:7. This is repeated nine times in Revelation (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 20, 22; 13:9). These verbs forms mean a continuous and habitual practice of all the recorded instructions to the churches. Are we listening, as we read, for a command to obey today? Do we really want God’s Word to tell us what to do? Some prefer to be ignorant of what He says so they do not have to consciously disobey what they know to be right, in order to do what they want.

When a cohort or acquaintance asks for something, we can debate it and ignore it with little consequences. When a policeman asks us to do something, we had better do it, especially when we think he is watching. When a President or a king asks us to do something, men will die to obey it without question or hesitation. When the King of kings asks us to do anything, which of these three responses do we practice?

Psa 85:8“I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints—but let them not return to folly.” 

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