Listen To Jesus

Did you hear what God said about Jesus in today’s reading, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” That’s right , Listen to Him… Listen to Jesus. When was the last time you listened to Him?

Well most of you have been hearing Jesus speak this morning and you hear him at least every Sunday. We hear in the Bible readings, in our singing, prayers, even in your conversations with other people, in the sermons and in fact we hear Him throughout worship.

But listening involves more than just hearing noises. Let me illustrate this. How many times have you had your mind focused on something and your spouse speaks to you and you hear the jaws flapping but you don’t hear the words. I might hear my husband’s voice but I am not actually listening to him. I heard the noise….but not what he said. Ever experienced that??

One thing I have learned over the years is that listening is essential, for a good marriage. Likewise, it is essential for our relationship with Jesus. And when we listen to Jesus, he has some wonderful, and some exciting things to tell us.

Now let’s listen to him, from Matthew 28:20 Jesus says, “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age”

from John 10:9 I am the gate whoever enters through me will be saved

And in John 6:35, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me, will never hunger, whoever believes in me will never thirst

John 8:12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Aren’t these wonderful words! There are heaps more where they came from… So how about listening to Jesus? Pick up a bible and start listening to Jesus by reading, say, Matthew or by following Daily devotions.

But why does God say Listen to Him? Well for a start He is truly the Son of God. God wants Peter, James and John to know this and he wants you to be sure of this.

So, in today’s Gospel reading he gives us four images that say no matter what happens. No matter how successful, how ordinary or even how hard up you are. Jesus is always truly the Son of God, God’s chosen one and He will always be God.

Today I want us to take a look at the four images.

Image one: The mountain top Jesus says, “come on Peter, James and John come up on this mountain and pray with me”

Mountains are not just wonderful places, away from the hustle and bustle of the world. They are also good places to pray to talk and to listen to God. Have you noticed that frequently when Jesus prepares for a difficult time he spends time in prayer?

But the mountain is important. In the Old Testament we discover that God had a habit of appearing to people on mountains. Where did Moses meet God?? On a mountain. Where did Elijah hide? In a cave on a mountain. So, for people who knew the Old Testament when strange things happened on a mountain, it was most likely God at work.

Image two: Jesus began to look different. As Jesus was praying to God his clothes began to change, they became extremely bright. The word translated as transfigure is “Matamorpho” which is where we get the English word metamorphosis. The idea is of something drastically changed like a butterfly that changed from a worm into a new creature.

Something very similar happened to Moses when he saw the Lord on the mountain, except that Moses face glowed.

Image three: the appearance of Old Testament prophets who had a history of pointing to a Messiah.

The appearance of Moses and Elijah, here was no mistake. We all know that they are major characters in the Old Testament, but here is the interesting part: both have met God on a mountain, both represent the Law and Prophets, and both pointed to the Messiah. However, this is not the most important part of their ministry. They were both good listeners of the Lord. Then they lived this out through what they did and spoke.

Image four: The Lord appeared in a cloud. The Lord appearing in a cloud, was something the Lord had a track record doing. In Exodus 34:5 we read Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD

But so what you might be saying, don’t we know that already??? I learned that in Sunday school.

Here is where the rubber hits the proverbial rubber hits the road. We know that Jesus is the true Son of God, But do we really know that in our hearts? Do we always remember it? Of course, when things are going well, and when life is great it is easy for us to say that God is present in our lives. It may be easy to listen to God during those times. For many when life is good, it is easy to listen to Jesus. In many cases when life is good, God comes through loud and clear. But it’s easy to listen to any leader, when things are going well.