{"id":1553,"date":"2022-04-11T08:42:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T12:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1553"},"modified":"2022-04-11T08:42:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T12:42:41","slug":"listen-to-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/11\/listen-to-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen to Him"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.\u00a0 Because he\u2019s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus.<\/em>


\u201cJust do what the Bible says.\u201d\u00a0 That seems straightforward.\u00a0
\u00a0
But sometimes the Bible\u2019s guidance appears muddled \u2013 even contradictory.\u00a0 Consider a few cases in point.
\u00a0
According to Leviticus 20:10, a couple caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death.\u00a0 But Jesus tells a woman caught in adultery, \u201cI don\u2019t condemn you.\u00a0 Go and leave your life of sin\u201d (John 8:11).\u00a0 The Mosaic Law forbids, among other things, eating ham sandwiches and shrimp cocktails.\u00a0 But Jesus declares all such restrictions null and void (Mark 7:19).\u00a0 David says concerning his enemies, \u201cDo I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?\u00a0 I have nothing but hatred for them\u201d (Psalm 139:21-22).\u00a0 But Jesus counters, \u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.\u2019\u00a0 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you\u201d (Matthew 5:43-44).\u00a0\u00a0
\u00a0
These are not trivial issues.\u00a0
\u00a0
If we stand with orthodox Christians of every generation who have affirmed the validity of all that we find in Scripture, how in the world do we go forward?
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
There\u2019s a fascinating moment recounted in three of the four Gospels that helps us answer that question.\u00a0 It\u2019s a Jesus story.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also a Peter story \u2013 one of those moments where Peter just can\u2019t resist saying something, even though it would have been so much wiser for him to stay quiet.\u00a0
\u00a0
As Mark 9 opens, Jesus says, \u201cI tell you the truth, some of you who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
This must have electrified the disciples.\u00a0 At last \u2013 the Messiah is going to do something<\/em> instead of making sad predictions about his own fate. \u00a0But they could hardly have expected what happens next.\u00a0\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cAfter six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone.\u00a0 There he was transfigured before them.\u00a0 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
The Greek word for \u201ctransfigured\u201d is the verbal form of metamorphosis.\u00a0 <\/em>Jesus undergoes a dramatic change.\u00a0 Mark emphasizes the brightness of his clothing.\u00a0 The word for \u201cdazzling\u201d was commonly used to describe the blinding glare of light reflected off polished metal, or of sunlight shimmering in the water.\u00a0 Mark says, essentially, \u201cNo same-day-service dry cleaner could ever have gotten clothes this white.\u201d
\u00a0
The mystery immediately deepens: \u201cAnd there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
Suddenly we have a biblical Who\u2019s Who.\u00a0 Scholars have long wondered why Moses and Elijah were invited to this party.\u00a0 The best guess is that Moses, as the supreme lawgiver in the Old Testament, represents the written commands of God.\u00a0 Elijah, as the first and greatest of all the prophets, represents God\u2019s in-breaking voice.\u00a0 In a vivid scene that sears itself into the memories of the disciples, Jesus is presented in lively conversation with the Law and the Prophets.\u00a0
\u00a0
In other words, this is the New Testament standing in solidarity with the Old Testament<\/em>.
\u00a0
And Peter simply has to say something.\u00a0 \u201cRabbi, it is good for us to be here!\u201d he says to Jesus.\u00a0 \u201cLet us put up three shelters \u2013 one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.\u201d\u00a0 This is crazy.\u00a0 What prompts this sudden outbreak of Foot in Mouth Disease?\u00a0 Mark observes, \u201cHe did not know what to say, they were so frightened\u201d (Mark 9:6).\u00a0
\u00a0
Perhaps Peter has camping on the brain because God\u2019s people had been instructed in Old Testament times to build a tabernacle for face-to-face meetings with the Lord.\u00a0 Or perhaps, in the middle of this literal mountaintop experience, he\u2019s proposing a means of making it last a bit longer.\u00a0
\u00a0
Suddenly the experience becomes even more extraordinary. \u201cThen a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: \u2018This is my Son, whom I love.\u00a0 Listen to him!\u2019\u00a0 When they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
God\u2019s voice is heard audibly only three times in the New Testament.\u00a0 All three times, God tells those present to pay attention to Jesus<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cThis is my Son\u2026 Listen to him!\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
God does not spotlight Moses and Elijah and say, \u201cListen to them<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s not to say that followers of Jesus should dismiss the Old Testament.\u00a0 Jesus himself was committed, heart and soul, to the Hebrew scriptures.\u00a0 And Jesus clearly doesn\u2019t repudiate Elijah and Moses on the mountain.\u00a0 They share a positive conversation.\u00a0 His story is both the continuation and the fulfillment of their story.
\u00a0
But when it comes to wrestling with Bible issues today \u2013 when we assess what God said in the Old Covenant versus what Jesus says in the Gospels \u2013 the resolution is clear.\u00a0 First and foremost, we are to listen to God\u2019s Son.\u00a0
\u00a0
That\u2019s because, in a way the disciples can never forget, Jesus is left standing alone<\/em> on the Mount of Transfiguration.\u00a0
\u00a0
This means that the days of \u201choly wars\u201d like those in the Old Testament are gone.\u00a0 Nor should we rejoice in the destruction of those we identity as God\u2019s enemies.\u00a0 Today we read the Old Testament through New Testament eyes.\u00a0 The words and the way of Jesus must always rule the day.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0
\u00a0
Which brings us back to Peter.\u00a0 And to that oh-so-crucial word spoken by God the Father:\u00a0 Listen<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0
\u00a0
It was hard for Peter to listen.\u00a0 His impulse was to do something.\u00a0 To build something.\u00a0 To be preoccupied with something \u2013 the feeling that overwhelms so many of us when we\u2019re afraid or confused or quite simply don\u2019t know what to do.\u00a0 As the bumper sticker says, \u201cJesus is coming soon.\u00a0 Look busy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\u00a0
But our call is not to \u201cdo things for God.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s to develop a lifestyle of listening to the One who was specifically honored by his Father on the mountain.\u00a0
\u00a0
Author Richard Foster observes, \u201cSuperficiality is the curse of our age\u2026 The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.\u201d
\u00a0
By God\u2019s grace, may this Holy Week become a gateway to listening<\/em> to the Lord we love \u2013 so we can grow deeper in him.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.\u00a0 Because he\u2019s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. \u201cJust do what the Bible says.\u201d\u00a0 That seems straightforward.\u00a0\u00a0But… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[209,421],"class_list":["post-1553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-listening","tag-peter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1555,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553\/revisions\/1555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}