Listen to Him! - Matthew 17:1-9

“5 While he (Peter) was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

Peter has been having a rough week.  It began with a simple question.  Jesus asked his disciples “13 Who do people say the Son of Man is”.  “14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.””[1] Jesus had been teaching, preaching, and performing miracles for over two years at this point and yet there was some confusion as to exactly WHO Jesus was.  Some, like king Herod, thought Jesus was John the Baptist brought back to life, after all they both preached a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Others, likely thinking of the mighty miracles He performed, thought, perhaps Jesus was the second Elijah that was prophesied to appear before the great and dreadful day of the LORD would come.  Most had no idea who Jesus was, but they recognized, like the prophets of old He spoke the word of God. 

These were all rather flattering thoughts, but they paled in comparison to what Peter thought, no, to what Peter knew Jesus to be.  When Jesus pressed His disciples further, “But what about You?” “Who do you say I am?”[2]  Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[3] I imagine the other disciples in family feud style all clapped their hands and said, “ohhhh, good answer, good answer.”  But it is what Jesus said that put a little wiggle in Peter’s waggle.  Jesus told Peter, his answer was so good that upon that very confession Jesus would build His church.  This was a pretty good moment for Peter.

Sadly, Peter must have misunderstood what Jesus meant.  Peter somehow gets it in his mind that he is now in a position to give guidance and direction to Jesus.  Jesus explains to His disciples what it means to be the Christ the Son of the living God.  Jesus tells them that as the Christ “He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”[4] Peter doesn’t like the sound of that, so he takes it upon himself to rebuke Jesus.  ““Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” But instead of Peter putting Jesus in His place Jesus puts Peter in his place.  Jesus turned to Peter and said, ““Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me”. Ouch.  That had to sting.  Jesus’ rebuke of Peter is harsh, and it happens in front of all of Peter’s friends.

As Peter’s ego deflates like a punctured bounce house, Jesus explains to His disciples that being a follower of the Christ is not all rainbows and lollipops, in fact the followers of the Christ will often like the Christ, face ridicule, rejection, and possibly even persecution.  Jesus tells His followers, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”[5]  That was a bit of a downer for Peter and the boys.

Peter’s week started out pretty good, Peter made a rock solid confession.   But it didn’t take long for Peter to have a satanic slipup which necessitated a public rebuke and personal embarrassment that ended in a harsh reality check.  That’s how Peter’s week started.  We are not given the details, but I imagine Peter had likely been fermenting in his failure all week.  Which is why I suspect Jesus invited Peter to join him on a little hike.  Matthew tells us, “1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.” That had to be without a doubt the coolest experience of Peter’s life.  To see Jesus glorified like this, to meet Moses and Elijah; two of the biggest legends of the Old Testament, was exactly what Peter thought he needed to put the events of the past week behind him.  “4 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.” This was without a doubt the highlight of Peter’s week and Peter wanted this moment to last.

Have you ever had a week like the week Peter just had?  Have you ever gone from rock solid confession to satanic slipup to public rebuke to personal embarrassment and harsh reality check all in the span of a week?  Maybe your failures have not been as public and as spectacular as Peter’s.  But on any given week I imagine spiritually speaking you have had some good moments.  Maybe you actually read your bible or did a devotion or remembered to say your bedtime prayers.  But I also imagine on any given week those good moments were quickly overshadowed by some sort of satanic slipup.  Maybe your pride and arrogance made you question God, maybe in weakness you gave into a temptation, maybe you did something sinful that made you look like a fool in front of your friends.  Whatever it was I am going to guess, more often than not, your weeks are not all that different than the week Peter was having and I imagine you … spend a fair amount of time festering in your own failures.

Which is why I am glad you made the hike to be here this morning.  I hope and I pray that, at least spiritually speaking, this is the highlight of your week.  I know this is pales in comparison to Peter’s experience atop the mount of transfiguration.  Instead of visiting with legends like Moses and Elijah, you have me and vicar.  Instead of the glory of the Lord radiating from the face of the sinless Son of God, you have Hannah pounding out glorious melodies on the piano while joyful noises emanated from the lips of your fellow believers.  I know this is not as cool as the mount of transfiguration, but I still hope and pray that you are able to say, “4… it is good for us to be here”.

Peter thought some time with a transfigured Jesus and a couple of legends was exactly what he needed to forget about the failures of the past week.  Which is why Peter thought it was a good idea to interrupt the conversation Jesus was having with Moses and Elijah so that they might discuss Peter’s plan to extend their stay on the mountain.  But God had something even better in mind for Peter.  Matthew tells us “5 While he was still speaking” while Peter is babbling on about shelters “a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”  With a firm but loving voice the heavenly Father tells Peter to stop what he is doing and listen to Him.  The heavenly Father knows what kind of week Peter has had.  The Father knows how Peter has been festering in his failures.  Which is why the Father tells Peter to Listen to Him.  Listen to what He has been trying to tell you, listen to what He has been talking about with Moses and Elijah. Listen to Jesus!

From Matthew 17:5, the Heavenly Father says the same thing to you.  The heavenly Father is fully aware of your failures.  He knows about every single satanic slipup; He knows how in arrogance and pride you have questioned God, He knows about the moments of weakness which caused you to give in to temptation, He knows about the sinful things you have done to make a fool of yourself before your friends.  The heavenly Father knows what kind of week you have had… and He knows how long you have spent festering in your own failures.  Which is why with a firm but loving voice the Heavenly Father say to you, “Listen to him!”  Listen to what Jesus has been proclaiming from the pages of scripture for well over 2,000 years now.  Listen to what your pastor and vicar have been instructed to proclaim to you from pulpit and classroom.

I know for you it is different than it was for Peter.  For Peter this was all new and shocking.  For you it is old and familiar.  I know you have heard this all before and I know how easy it is to let it go in one ear and out the other but I beg you and your heavenly Father commands you to “Listen to him!”  Believe me, you will want to hear what Jesus has to say, indeed if you have spent any time festering in your own failures you need to hear what Jesus has to say.  Because what Jesus had been talking about with His disciples, and what He was talking about with Moses and Elijah, (before He was so rudely interrupted,) is the same thing about which He wants to talk with you.  Jesus wants to talk with you about your forgiveness and salvation. 

Jesus was not being a Debbie downer when He told his disciples that the Christ “must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed”.  Jesus was telling them that He was going to go and make payment for all their sins AND make payment for all of your sins as well.  Jesus was declaring that He was going to pay for every single one of our satanic slipups.  The wages of our pride and arrogance, of our stumbling into temptation, and sinfully making fools of ourselves, the wages of all of our sins were going to be, and indeed have now been, paid in full by the suffering and death of our Savior Jesus.  Jesus wants to talk to you about the forgiveness of your sins, which is why today the heavenly Father so firmly and lovingly commands you to “Listen to him!”  

When Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah on the mountain of transfiguration they weren’t reminiscing about the good old days.  In saint Luke’s account of the transfiguration, he tells us Jesus, Moses, and Elijah “spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.”[6].  They were talking about Jesus victorious resurrection from the dead and what that would mean for you.  They were talking about how His victory over sin, death, and the devil would become your victory over sin, death, and the devil.  They were talking about your salvation; about the future you will spend before the throne of God and surrounded by the saints.  Jesus wants to talk to you about your eternal salvation, which is why today the heavenly Father so firmly and lovingly commands you to “Listen to him!”  

I know this is no mount of Transfiguration, but I hope and I pray you still feel that It is good for you to be here.  I hope spending some time visiting with some lesser legends like me and vicar and singing along to the glorious melodies that are echo from our piano is, at least spiritually speaking, the highlight of your week.  But more than that I hope and I pray that you who have spent any time at all festering in your own failures stop whatever it is you are doing and take some time to “Listen to him!”   Your savior Jesus is talking to you about your forgiveness and salvation.  Don’t let yourself get distracted, don’t let that go in one ear and out the other.  Rather, do respond to the heavenly Father’s firm but loving command and, “Listen to him!”  Your God knows exactly what kind of week you have had.  Which is why through me your Savior Jesus say to you, ‘there is no reason for you to fester in your failures.  Your debt of sin has been paid in full on a blood stained cross, and your salvation has been secured in an empty tomb.’  Amen.

[1] Matthew 16:13-14

[2] Matthew 16:15

[3] Matthew 16:16

[4] Matthew 16:21

[5] Matthew 16:24

[6] Luke 9:31