Listen to God's Son

He took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke to his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they came fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men stood with him.

The event is Jesus goes on the mountain to pray. This is normal. He's regularly going away and praying. He's taken these three men by themselves again. There's an inner circle among the 12 disciples. But the unique thing that happens is Jesus is transformed. Now, he appears glorious and his clothes become white, but I want to be very clear, he's revealing himself for who he truly is. For 30 years, he's been walking, having added to himself humanity. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. The glorious son of God became incognito. He hid himself with our likeness. He didn't just appear as a man, he became a man. But here, the mystery is pulled away, and he's seen at some level who he truly is. The glorious, majestic, worthy of all worship, Son of God. Now, Jesus' appearance is here in the glory, and they get to see it, and the other thing that's happening is Moses and Elijah. Now, what is a little confusing is they appear glorious with him. Now, they've died, they've been glorified, and the glory of Jesus is reflected in them. What's interesting, Moses and Elijah, Moses, he's the prophet. The great prophet who gave us the Pentateuch. He's the first great prophet who, even in Deuteronomy 18, God said, someone will come like you, a prophet will come after you. Okay, Joshua was kind of the fulfillment of that, but not the real fulfillment. Even Elijah is kind of the fulfillment of that, but not the real fulfillment. No, Jesus, the final, absolute prophet. God has spoken in many ways and many times through the prophets, but now through his own son. And Elijah, he's the last prophet. Not chronologically necessary, but how does the Old Testament end? The promise that a prophet like Elijah would come as a forerunner. Here I believe we see Moses and Elijah bookending the promises of God, ready to be now fulfilled fully and absolutely in Jesus. And just look at what they're talking about. the things that he would accomplish, his departure, his departure from this earth to go back into the right hand of the Father, the heavenly places where the angels are glorifying him, where he belongs. And even more precisely here, the things he would accomplish in Jerusalem. Now, wouldn't it be incredible just to have the footnotes or the bullet points of this conversation? Moses and Elijah and Jesus, talking about how they had made promises and Jesus has fulfilled them. It would be incredible to hear the theological understanding, and much of the New Testament is actually unpacking this for us. Now, the importance of Jerusalem, and if you're walking with us through Luke, we cannot miss the importance of Luke 9.51. Look down in your text and notice, when the days drew near for him to be taken up for his departure, His face was set on Jerusalem to die, to suffer for us. Luke 9.51 is a significant turning point. That's where we'll go next week. But here, the disciples are getting prepared. They've already been told by Jesus he's gonna suffer and die. Here, they get to hear the prophets talk about how he's going to suffer and die. Moses, being the first, Elijah being represented by John the Baptist, the last. Here's a great event. They've seen the glory of God. Peter and then James and John, they wake up and as they wake up, they see this event and notice as Moses and Elijah, they're departing, Peter gives us the first interpretation of this event. Verses 33. Peter wakes up. As the two men were parting, verse 33,

Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah, not knowing what he said.

How would you like to have that eternally declared as scripture about you? Peter regularly is speaking Kind of partially, now sometimes we have those who are prophesying without realizing it. I believe here Luke is helping us understand Peter doesn't know what he's talking about. Peter, who had just professed Jesus is to Christ, but he's looking for the wrong kind of Christ. Peter has said this important declaration for us to consider. Master, okay, there's an authority he gives to Jesus. Rabbi, you're the teacher. It's good for us to be here, Good call, Peter. Pretty obvious. Jesus brought you here to see this. This is where it goes sideways. Let us make three tents. Okay, we can hypothesize. What if he's saying, let us make us three tents for the three of us, because we just want to live here. You're in your glory. I don't want to go anywhere, Jesus. Let's just stay here. That's not what he says. Let's make a tent, a tabernacle. Possibly referring back to the tabernacle where we're gathering in worship. Let's put a tabernacle here for Moses, for Elijah, and for Jesus. Three of you, all in glory, three tents. And notice, as they're departing, the wrongness is twofold. One of these is not like the other two. There's not three tents, there's not three tabernacles. There's one God, one Son of God, in all of His glory, who's truly glorious. Secondly, they're wanting, again, it's important that they're departing. It seems like Peter, again, is trying to have some unhelpful control. Let's keep this. Let's not lose it. Then we have the second interpretation, God's interpretation, which is always right.

As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them.

Remember back in Exodus 19, we just heard that. God shows up in a cloud. Throughout the Exodus, God is represented as a cloud. In Acts, whenever Jesus is taken up into heavens, he's taken up into a cloud. The cloud represents the Shekinah glory. A cloud comes, overshadows them.

And they were afraid as they entered that cloud. And then a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen one, listen to him. When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what had happened.

Let's just focus in and hear how God corrects Peter so clearly. There's no need for a tabernacle. The cloud is God's representation. God is providing his own place to come into his holy presence. This is my son. Moses, Elijah, there are prophets who are promising the son. This is my son, my only son, God himself, the word by which the father created all things. He is not created, he is part of the creator, he is the creator. He is not part of the creation. And then the next declaration is so important because it's not three, it's the chosen one. And then Jesus is found alone. It's very clear that there's only one. This is why, as Daniel and Chris are proclaiming the gospel to Muslims, it's not that Jesus is just another prophet who does great things and says great things. No, he's the one and only Son of God, chosen, who dies on the cross, who rises again. He's the only one. We can't lump him in with other possible prophets. No, the prophets only proclaim him the Son. He's unique in every way because of who he is. Now, what are we to do with this? There's a command for us. Listen. That's pretty simple, isn't it? Listen. Now, have you ever started answering an essay question and you get halfway through and you think, all right, where am I going next? Let me go back and read the instructions and realize everything you just wrote did not answer the question. Glad I'm not alone in that. If you don't listen to what is expected of you, you're gonna give the wrong answer. We're constantly hearing. We're designed to hear. We're designed to listen and understand what somebody's saying. The solution to the lack of understanding, the problem in this text is Peter in verse 33. He did not know what he was talking about. What's the solution to not knowing something? He did not know who Jesus was fully yet. He did not know what he was even talking about with Jesus. He knew it was a great moment. He was trying to respond properly, but the solution is to listen to Jesus. Who's better at telling somebody who you are than you? If we don't know who Jesus is, who's better at telling us who Jesus is than Jesus? What an incredible command, blessing, and invitation. Listen to the glorious Son of God, who created you, who knows you, who loves you, who demonstrated that love by dying for you, who has the power to love you in His resurrection. We're designed to listen, and the problem is, we typically are listening to all kinds of things. There's a zeroing in in that there's a unique, specific way in which we're called to listen. Praise God, knowing who he is and what to believe, what to do, isn't a mystery or something we do by solving like a Rubik's cube. He speaks. We listen. He speaks so clearly. He speaks so that we would know him. He speaks and the command is listen. Listening is different than hearing. We hear all kinds of stuff. Listening is an intentional activity. Giving your attention. Right? We can think about different ways in which we actively listen. You look at some of the eyes, you participate, you nod, you try to interact. Something you don't do while you're listening is talk. Assert yourself. To listen and understand who God is is to receive Him. I keep questioning for believers, how well are we listening? Maybe even a step further, today might be a good opportunity to just reflect on what am I listening to? Is it helping me know Christ? Is it distracting from Christ? Is it taking away from Christ? How good of a listener are you? This is not mystical. Jesus has come as the true word of God of the flesh, And as we just read from 2 Peter, the Word is sure. He's given us these words so we can read, meditate, read it together, read it again, prayerfully read it. Be students of the Word. Two challenges or two warnings. Don't be isolated. God's Word is meant to be read in a way that it's heard. That is why we publicly read God's word. We believe that it was designed to first and foremost be heard with other believers. It's designed to be talked about and shared with one another and may be built up together as we hear it together. You're also not doing this independently because as we'll see here in a moment, as Peter regularly demonstrates for us, without God's help, we will not understand it. But God's desire is for you to know him and to understand it. The Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts and minds so that we can see it, read it courageously, full of faith, knowing God wants to teach us. Are we teachable? This morning, Zach and Nathan, in your baptism, you've really committed to saying, I want to be a lifelong learner of Jesus. I want to be a lifelong listener to my Lord and Master. Our second section, believe, believe. The next day, he comes down from the mountain and we see a different story, a different problem, but we'll also see something else. There are many similarities here.

On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. And behold,

if you've been with us for a while and we're just gonna pause here, Luke likes to use the word behold to say, hey, check this out, something's about to happen. You see behold in Luke, Open your eyes.

A man from the crowd cried out, teacher, I beg you to look at my son for he's my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly cries out, it convulses him so that he foams in the mouth and shatters him and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. Jesus answered, oh, faithless and twisted generation, How long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here. While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, Let these words sink into your ears. The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. They were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Jesus and his three disciples, Peter, James, John, they come down from the mountain. There's a crowd waiting as normal. And a father comes. And we've had regularly a parent coming, pleading with Jesus, help my child. This time it's a man with a son, his only son. Now his concern is that the disciples couldn't help him. If we go back to the beginning of Luke 9, Jesus gave the disciples power and authority to to cast out demons, to cure diseases. We don't know if there was a failed attempt during that mission, or if while Jesus was on the mountain, there was a failed attempt. Whatever it is, this man is desperate. He's asked the disciples, they couldn't help, so now he's going straight to Jesus. Notice the description of this child. It's heartbreaking. The spirit will seize him. He cries out, confuses him, foams him out. It shatters him, breaks him. The young man is being destroyed presently, actively. Demons are greater than us. They're more powerful than us. There's nothing we can do to overcome them. We need a greater authority. The man comes, I begged your disciples and they could not help. Jesus diagnoses the problem in verse 41. Oh, faithless and twisted generation. Now, he's speaking for the whole crowd. He's describing the entire crowd here, but I think especially he's talking about the disciples, because they're not able to do what God has given them authority and power to do. Faithless. There's no trust. There's no belief. There's not hearing what God has said and taking it and receiving it and acting upon it. Twisted. They're perverted. That's what the word means. They take God's good things and they mess them up. There's a way in which we misunderstand everything. That's what's wrong with this particular scene and this particular generation. And notice what Jesus even says here. How long must I be with you to bear with you, to endure you, to put up with you? The son of God can be frustrated. What more does he need to say? And then he gives the great declaration, bring your son here. Now, the problem is the lack of faith and the twistedness, but notice what Jesus does. The demon-tortured boy is cured. The demon's rebuked. Then Jesus takes the boy and brings him to the father. There's restoration. We see the gospel play in numerous ways. We see Christ and his power over Satan and sin and death by rebuking the demon. We see his ability to restore a broken child and giving him a new life, a new mind, a new heart. And then we see reconciliation. He reunites him to the father. But that's not the main tension in the story. That's really the clear scene, but Jesus brings it straight back to the disciples. While everyone's being amazed at what Jesus did for the boy, it's really about the disciples. who are also faithless and twisted. Jesus says, let these words sink into your ears. Does that sound familiar? The father said, listen to my son. Now Jesus is saying, listen to what I am saying. Here I think there's an element of trust. Let these words, let them be heard, listened to, and let it sink in. Trust what I'm telling you. He's already told them once he's gonna be, he's gonna suffer, he's gonna die. Now he's reminding them again because they have a hard time understanding the suffering aspect of his ministry. I will be delivered. I've told you this. Elijah and Moses, you ever heard talking about it? I'm telling you again that the prophets all declare it. Let it sink in. There's a bit of a warning when we hear that, right? Don't let's just kind of go in one ear, not the other. Don't let this be a passing statement. Let it sink in. If you don't let this sink in, there's gonna be difficult consequences. Trust me. We can hear just the parable of the soils. The word of God goes out and it only sinks into the good soil and then bears fruit. Let God's word Sink in. In Titus, a few years ago, we looked and we saw that the church needs sound doctrine. The word there is the same for hygiene, health. When we're broken, we need to be set straight. Broken bones, set straight. A broken mind, broken heart, set straight. A perversion, clarified, straightened out. Believer, are we recognizing and wanting to hear the ways in which we lack faith? And pray, I believe, help my unbelief. Are we looking for the ways in which we've twisted God's word and misused it or misunderstood it and praying that God would straighten us out? I believe that the primary problem is the disciples are faithless and twisted and the solution is trust Jesus. Let his word sink in. What are some of the wrong views that might twist us? Here's some possibilities of things that we should consider are these things that twist us, that we need to let the word of God sink in. One, believing our primary problems are all out there and not in here. This is the typical problem that we always have to remind ourselves of. Our primary problems are not out there being pushed in on us. Our primary problems are here and then they burst out of our mouths. Two, believing that Jesus came to fix my perceived problems, not the sin that he finds most difficult. Three, believing we have most everything figured out, we just need Jesus as kind of a supplemental side dish to just help with the way I already look at myself, the world, and God. Jesus' word, it's a nice supplement, it's helpful, but it's not the way, the truth. Jesus is just here to keep under control by keeping it as a side dish, not my main course. Fourth, believe Jesus' mission is to make us happier and more successful in the way we're already going, not to cause us to repent and turn in a whole new direction. Fourth, believing that Jesus is not worthy of losing everything. What is it that we like to hold onto and we refuse and say, Jesus, I know you're worthy, but I don't want to give this up. I want to keep control of this area of my life. I think this sin isn't as destructive as you said it is. I think I can keep it under control. I like this activity, this hobby. Yes, it keeps me from the things of God, but it's not sin, according to your Word. What is it God is calling you to lose so that you would gain life in Jesus that you're just not seeing He's worthy? Listen to Him. Trust Him. How do you listen? How do you trust? How do you let it sink in? Let's think about here. What we've already done is part of the way we listen and trust. We come together to hear God's Word read. We sing it to one another. We pray according to God's Word. We come and we expectantly, I hope, seek to hear. Come early for the call to worship. Be ready. We begin the service by hearing God's word at the very beginning so that we're already ready to hear it's God who invites us in. Read the sermon text before Sunday. Be ready to interact. Disagree with me. Talk about God's words afterwards. Let it sink in in the conversations we have afterwards. At home, read God's word. Men, don't believe you have to give a great sermon to do devotions. Just pick it up and read it. Put it down and pray. Just read it. Don't feel like you need to be able to expound and answer every question. Just start reading it with your family. Set it down and pray. The fear that you need to give some great devotion, just read it and read it and read it. Start in Proverbs. If you're reading your scripture, read it for breadth and depth. There's a great way to say this year I'm gonna read the whole Bible. I'm gonna get the whole thing. I'm gonna understand every word. I'm gonna let all the words go across my eyes and pray that God's gonna fix my heart. And then there's times to read for depth. I'm gonna take a book and I'm gonna let it master me. I'm going to study it in all of its movements and changes and the way it tells me who Christ is, who I am. I want to meditate upon the promises made, the commands that God expects of me. We've got to read for breath and depth. Don't believe the lie that the Bible was a book designed to be commentated on. Don't go to commentaries. Listen to expositional sermons. Join a Bible study. Read with others. Find someone who's willing to sit under the Word of God with you and be changed. All right, let's deal with the difficult part of the text. Verse 45, but they didn't understand this saying. That's not new. However, what he says next is a pulling back the curtain a little bit. It was concealed from them. Who concealed it? God. God is speaking and concealing. That's fantastic. God is speaking and he's concealing with a purpose so that they may not perceive it. At this time, God is walking them. Jesus is about to turn his face directly to Jerusalem, and he's been telling them and telling them, but he does not expect them to understand or perceive it at this point, because it's not until the resurrection, he's building up to the point where then they will see this is why he died. He's risen. Do not believe that God is still speaking and concealing. Whenever you see the word mystery in the New Testament, it's always mystery revealed. We do not live in the age of God speaking and concealing. If you're a believer, God wants you to know him, know him fully, know him truly. Pay attention to the word of God as a lamp shining in the dark place. Do not be like these men who were afraid to ask him about this thing. God is listening. God wants you to know him. Be bold in prayer. Our last point, receive. Keyword here is receive. And these two declarations go together, 46 to 50. I believe here we see that they don't understand because of the way that they're actually interacting with one another. A right view of God is always demonstrated in a right view of each other. Receive, receive God's truth,

An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.

Now, all right, this is just amazing. Three of them just saw the glory of God. Let's talk about who's the greatest among us.

But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and who receives me receives him who sent me, and he who is least among you all is the one who is greatest.

Now, we have to do a bit of a translation because today we think children need to be heard because we think they're innocent, and if we just listen to children, they'll solve all our problems. That's wrong. In this culture, they had very little value for children. Children were not contributors to society. A child did not have a real worth in the culture, which is why Jesus takes a child and says, if you would receive this child, this human being made in the image, a child that you would look at and say, this child has no value to be received, but receive him in my name, value declared, my name. If you would receive him, That's the greatest. He's teaching a change of value. That's really important and helpful for us. Too often we value ourselves or others based upon what somebody does, based upon utility. God declares every male and female his image bearer, worthy of the same dignity, the same honor, the same respect. That's the grand value of every human being. Not in what somebody can do. It's the value of God declaring you're His image. And here the image is restored by being received in His name. The true image of Christ is restoring us to that image. Being received in the name of Christ, now adopting the family. We wrestle here. We cannot find our value in what we think we're doing or what we think somebody else is going to do. No, it's receiving somebody because they proclaim the same gospel, they believe the same son, they're part of the same family. There's a change of value of what greatness is. So that's the internal problem. Notice, there's like a misdirect here by John. Well, but God, we also have these problems outside. There's a problem inside. They're arguing over who's greatest, and when Jesus corrects him, then they say, well, we also had this other problem.

We saw someone casting out demons in your name,

the key connection there,

and we tried to stop him, but he does not follow because he doesn't follow with us.

This could have been the guy who was freed from demons in the Decapolis, where Jesus goes all across the ocean, frees one guy from demons, says, go proclaim me. He's now a disciple of Jesus. But notice the problem they have is that he's not following with us. He's not like us. Proclaiming the same gospel, doing the same great work of a Christian, a soon-to-be Christian. Kind of reminds me of 1 Corinthians where we're told Paul challenges us not to be of Paul, Peter, Apollos, Piper, Sproul. A little anachronistic, but you get the point. It also reminds me of Paul, even when he, in Philippians, says, I praise God that the gospel, even if it's preached by somebody with insincere intent, it's the gospel. It's the power of God to save. We see here that the unity and the value is that we all come in the same name. We all believe and trust the same name. We all are seeking to listen to the one and only Son. We're seeking to make Him known among one another. We're seeking to proclaim Him and only Him. to the world. Here we have to ask, how do I value others? Am I forgiving others as I have sought forgiveness from God? Am I forgiving others as God has forgiven me? Ephesians 4.32. Am I speaking of others as a child of God with me, receiving them in the name of Christ? That should affect the way we think of each other. Talk about one another. Desire to work with one another in unity. This morning, we get to listen to God. His Son speaks. We get to trust Him, believe what He said, and let it redirect everything about us. And we get to practice this. We've already practiced it, with even receiving two new brothers in baptism. We're receiving anyone who would come in the name of Christ, wanting to walk alongside of us. Praying His name is proclaimed throughout the world. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that we can know you, the one glorious God. We thank you that we can know you as the Father who has sent his Son, so that we know who to look to and who to listen to. We thank you, Lord, for your Spirit that revives us, washes us, renews us, so we can truly listen, believe, and walk in newness of life. Again, Lord, we pray for forgiveness. We've been listening. to things that are unbecoming in the name of Christ. We've been prioritizing our lives around things that are not promoting the cause of Christ. We have not been listening to you desiring to be like you. Help us to listen. Thank you for speaking. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's stand and sing our song of response. All glory be to Christ.

No legacy survived Unless the Lord does raise the house In raiment builder's stride To you who boast tomorrow's gain Tell me what is your life The mist that vanishes at dawn, All glory be to Christ the King! ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ His ruling reign will ever sing ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ It will be done, His kingdom come dawn on earth as His abode, who is Himself our daily bread. Let living water satisfy the thirsty without price. We'll take a cup of kindness yet, all glory be to Thee. ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever sing ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ the King ♪ ♪ When on that day the great I am ♪ who was for sinners slain, is waking all things new. Behold, our God shall live with us, and be our steadfast light, and we shall All glory be to Christ All glory be to Christ our King All glory be to Christ His rule and reign will ever sing All glory be to Christ

Please remain standing and let us confess together from page 11 with saints for hundreds of years, the Nicene Creed, proclaiming God the Father, our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God who became flesh, and the Holy Spirit who gives life. Let's read together.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, and the third day rose again according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, and spoke through the prophets. And we believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, We look forward to the resurrection of the dead and to life in the world to come. Amen.

Please be seated. Christ gave his disciples a second ordinance, one for us to regularly enjoy and practice so that we are reminded that he came to die for us. He washes us, he forgives us, he cleanses us, and he's coming again. If you're a guest with us and you believe the same gospel and part of a church that proclaims the same gospel, we welcome you to participate with us. If you're not a Christian, let these elements pass. The invitation is to believe in Jesus who can save you. This bread, this cup, it cannot save you. Only faith in Jesus who died and rose can save you. We encourage you to take this time to meditate upon what is keeping you from believing in Him. and to come talk to us afterwards. We would love to talk to you about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul gives us instruction to examine ourselves before eating of the bread and drinking of the cup. And so we'll have a time of silent reflection and confessing sin, and then I will lead us in a prayer confessing together. Father, we come before you. confessing our sins in the name of your son, whom you've given to us. The word become flesh. So we know you and make, you know, Lord, forgive us for not prioritizing, knowing you forgive us for, for loving ourselves, loving others, not living you with all of our heart, our strength, our mind, our power, Lord, I pray you would forgive us for not taking your word and desiring to let it plant deep in us, so we're rooted in it, to bear fruit for your glory. Forgive us for not meditating upon it and trusting it, repeating it to one another, reverberating throughout our church the words of God. Forgive us for the other words we share that are unhelpful, even hurtful. Lord, forgive us for not making you known to our neighbors, our loved ones. Thank you, Lord, that you're a God who desires your word to go out to everyone to hear and believe. Lord, help us to be faithful to hear you, to know you and to make you known. Father, as I come before your table, we thank you for the reminder it is. We thank you for the reminder it is that Christ was crushed on our behalf to forgive us so that we can have confidence that you now declare us righteous and forgiven in his name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As the elements are being distributed, the cup and the bread will be passed together.