Listen to Jesus

Text: Luke 9:35
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ (NRSV)

Today’s text is taken from the end of the “Transfiguration” text found in Luke’s Gospel.  Peter and James and John have seen Jesus in his glory and Moses and Elijah had appeared and spoke with Jesus.

Moses, of course, represents the law of God and Elijah the prophets of God.  There is no greater source of counsel from God for Judaism than the Law and the Prophets.  If you want to know what God is saying, doing, or going to do, the place to look would be the books of the law and the books of the prophets.

The importance of what God says from the cloud on this day cannot be overstated.  In the presence of Moses and Elijah, God announces that Jesus, his Son, his Chosen is the one to listen to.  We in Christianity have always respected and maybe even revered what we would call the “Old” Testament (testament meaning witness or covenant).  But we recognize that we understand God most clearly and most correctly when we listen to God through the voice of Jesus.

Everything we hear from the Law and the Prophets needs to be seen through the lens of Jesus’ declaration of who God is, how we are to live in relationship with God, how we live in relationship with others, our purpose for living, our responsibility as those who become part of Jesus’ church the Body of Christ on Earth, and everything else.  Neither Moses or Elijah or all that they represent, overshadow the testimony of Jesus given to us in our Gospels.

Are you listening to Jesus when you react to the world around you?

Pray with me:

God of Love and God of direction open my ears to the words of your Son, the Chosen that I might listen to him in all that I do.  AMEN.

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