Amy C Walters

The Transfiguration | Luke 9:28-36

During the Transfiguration, a cloud descends and covers the top of the mountain. And out of that cloud, a voice says, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” The application to seeing Jesus’ glory and recognizing his identity is to listen, even when what he has to say is difficult.

In the previous article, we talked about how this story shows us Jesus’ glory and that Jesus himself is the glory of God. This is important to understand because so often we try to bring Jesus down to our level. We talk about him as if he were just a good teacher or our buddy.

Now, the incarnation does mean that he is fully man. We know that he experienced the suffering and the trials and the weariness and exhaustion and heartbreak and temptations that we also experience. He is fully man, but he is also fully God, and we must not lose sight of that.

So what do we do with this knowledge of Jesus’ glory? Well, God the Father actually gives us that application right here in the story.

We see God the Father represented in this story in the cloud. Remember, throughout the Old Testament, God uses a cloud to represent his presence, his glory, his power. When the cloud is on the tabernacle, God’s presence is there. 

On the top of this mountain, as Peter is rambling on about building shelters, a cloud appears and covers them. The disciples are afraid as they enter this cloud. 

Then a voice speaks from the cloud and tells us something very important about Jesus. The voice says, “This is my son, whom I have chosen. Listen to him.” 

This may sound familiar. Back in Luke 3:22, when John the Baptist baptizes Jesus, a voice from heaven says, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 

Let’s compare these two statements. In both places, God calls Jesus his Son. Son does not literally mean someone who was born, but of the same essence of the Father.

The story of the Transfiguration includes an additional description of who Jesus is: the one God has chosen. And if you remember, this story is connected to the previous story, where Peter has confessed that Jesus is “the Christ of God.” Christ is another word for Messiah and means anointed one or chosen one. So Peter, in a sense, has said, you are the chosen one of God. 

Now, Peter is standing on the mountaintop, witnessing Jesus’ transfiguration, and hearing the voice also call Jesus the chosen one. But the voice continues and says, “Listen to him.” That’s the application. It’s like he’s saying, “If you believe him to be the chosen one, you must listen to him.” 

In the immediate context of the story, Jesus is talking with Moses and Elijah about his “departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” This is a peek into what’s going to happen in Luke 23 and 24–Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. 

Also, if we look back at the previous passage, Luke 9:18-27, after Peter confesses that Jesus is the chosen one, Jesus tells the disciples that he is going to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and raised again. 

Does that line up with what people in those days thought the Messiah would do? No! Many expected a military leader who would free them from Roman occupation. They expected a political figure who would rule over Israel. 

This doesn’t line up with their ideas of who Messiah would be. But this is what Jesus is telling them. And this is what they need to listen to.

Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that his followers must deny themselves and take up their cross. Jesus says this before the cross has come into the picture, and so it’s probably really confusing to the disciples. Why is Jesus talking about execution? He also talks about how those who follow him must lose their life in order to save it, and that they must not be ashamed of Jesus and his words. 

How do you think it felt for the disciples to hear that Jesus would suffer and die and that they, too, must be willing to suffer? It would probably be confusing and uncomfortable. It would be scary to hear those words and to not know exactly what that’s going to mean. 

When Matthew recounts Peter’s confession and Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 16:13-23, he tells us that Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him for saying these things. He tries to tell Jesus that’s now how things are going to go. 

The audacity of Peter! But if we’re honest, a lot of us can relate to him. How do we react when we read things from Jesus that we don’t want to? We’re probably like Peter and say (at least to ourselves), “No, I think you’ve got that wrong. I’ve got a better idea of how things should go.” 

Even though this application of “listen to Jesus” sounds really simple, it is hard to live out. We have our own ideas about the way things should go. And sometimes those ideas are contrary to Jesus’ plan and his work and the way he’s working things out in our lives. We don’t always like the direction things take. 

Or sometimes there are things that God’s Word says that are difficult to follow and make us uncomfortable. 

Or sometimes we’re just really distracted. We have a hard time listening because there are so many things going on. And we grow up learning to filter out the things that we don’t want to hear. 

Or sometimes Jesus just becomes background noise to us as we are listening to other things and other people, more than we are listening to Jesus. 

It’s interesting how in those previous passages, different people have different ideas of who Jesus is. When Herod asks, he hears some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say some other prophet. When Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They respond with some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say some other prophet. 

Are we going to listen to those other voices telling us things about Jesus that actually aren’t right? Or are we going to listen to Jesus himself? Are we going to read the Bible carefully to see what Jesus has to say? 

Our key truth for today is listen to Jesus. 

It’s the same truth that God himself spoke from the cloud. You have seen Jesus’ glory, now listen to him. Even when he says things that are difficult to hear, even when things are not going the way that you expect, and you would rather tell him a different way to do things. Instead, listen to what he’s doing. 

Listen to him more than you listen to others. We go to so many other sources to find answers and help and encouragement. And there are things that can help us in those other sources, but ultimately we must be listening to Jesus. And if those other sources don’t point us back to Jesus, then there’s a problem.

Today as you go, read Luke 9:18-27 out loud. Pay special attention to Jesus’ words about who he is and what he’s come to do. Focus, too, on what it looks like to be a follower. Make sure you are listening to Jesus.