Seeds for 10/20/2023 - Matthew 17:1-5
Scripture: After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
Observation: “After six days…” This is an interesting detail that carries a note of historical authenticity—the Gospels are peppered with them. I don’t know that it has any particular significance to the narrative except that someone remembered how long it was between the episode with Jesus at Caesarea Philippi—Peter’s confession, the beginning of Jesus’ predictions about His impending suffering, death, and resurrection, Peter’s rebuke, Jesus’ response, and the call to discipleship. As Vladimir Lenin of all people said, “There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.” This was one of those weeks. Jesus produced quite a few of them!
The transfiguration of Jesus is wild to imagine. Matthew’s narration is straightforward. It was on a mountain, Jesus’ face and clothes shone blindingly bright. Moses and Elijah (icons of the Law/Torah and the Prophets) are suddenly on the scene too, talking with Jesus… What?!?
Here’s my observation for this scene.
Peter gets excited, then quickly starts brainstorming and talking through plans for how to capture the moment — Let’s build shelters for each of you! An older translation calls them “booths,” which I always imagined as the advice booth from the Peanuts cartoons with Lucy offering “Psychiatric Help” for five cents.
“While he was still speaking,” God breaks in. That seems like an important point.
We’ve heard most of what God has to say here already, as it turns out. It’s what He said at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” Fascinating that these two moments are marked with the same affirmation of the Father. The beginning of Jesus’ ministry at baptism and the distinctive turn toward the cross here.
Then this: “Listen to Him!”
At this remarkable, barely describable event, Peter goes into chatterbox mode. (I’m not pretending I would do better!) God interrupts to mark the moment with a blessing, then reminds Peter and anyone else within earshot how they should respond. Not with their/our words but with their/our attention.
“Listen to Him.” Are we?
Application:
What makes it hard to listen to Jesus? What helps you listen to Him?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me slow down and give my attention to you. Shut my mouth and open my ears, my mind, my heart to what you have to speak into my life. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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