Listen to Him
Mark 9:2-9
Transfiguration of Jesus, February 21-22, 2009
INI
1. A number of years ago, I used to watch a show on the cable channel VH1 called ‘Behind the Music’. Has anyone ever heard of ‘Behind the Music’? For those who haven’t let me get you up to speed. Basically Behind the Music would chronicle the rise to stardom of a famous band or singer and give the viewer the inside look at what was going on in their lives. So you could see about Britney Spears, or Elvis, or MC Hammer for the folks here who went to high school with me. And inevitably the plot line of the lives of any of the stars went something like this: they showed up out of nowhere playing a new brand of music that was unique and different, and they rapidly became very popular. With the popularity comes fame, fortune, and an skyrocket to the top. But inevitably, it becomes too much to bear and the star cracks under the pressure. The symptoms look different but the cause is generally the same, the star starts to use that fame and power for his or her own self-gratification, sometimes breaking the law, sometimes engaging in self-gratifying behavior, or in behavior to just escape the pressure. Eventually the scandal becomes too much and they lose credibility, are no longer popular, someone else comes along, and they come crashing down. Again and again the story is the same, the path to power and fame is too much.
2. Throughout history you can see the same thing repeated over and over. The price of fame and fortune is high. In the Bible, King Saul had a meteoric rise to fame only to come crashing down in a blurred life of insanity, violence, and heartbreak. King David, the man after God’s own heart committed adultery with a woman and then had her husband killed. The rest of his life was tragedy after tragedy mostly coming from his own children trying to overthrow him. King Solomon was given wisdom and wealth beyond all understanding, yet he came crashing down in a life of idolatry, excess, of 300 wives and 700 concubines – try keeping the peace in that household! In Ecclesiastes he writes that when he looked around and surveyed all that he had done, everything was meaningless – a chasing after the wind. The path to power and fame without exception eventually will eat you up and spit you out.
3. As Jesus stands on the Mount of Transfiguration, he stands at the pinnacle of his popularity. He stands at the point that so many before him have stood at. Here is Jesus, who a little less than three years ago was completely unknown – the son of a carpenter from the northern region of Galilee – which would be a bit like being the son of a sharecropper from Alabama today. In a very short time, he has burst on the scene, preaching of the kingdom of God, performing miracles, healing people, driving out demons. The scriptures record that he was incredibly popular. They say that people were amazed by his teaching, his charisma. And remember, these folks have seen it all before. Historical sources from outside the Bible record that in the time of Jesus’ life there had been several others claiming to be the messiah. The Bible itself even references this in the book of Acts among other places. But Jesus was different – he spoke so authoritatively, not quoting other rabbis or interpretations of the scriptures but basically claiming that He had the correct interpretation. If you’re reading through the gospel of Mark, by the time you get to chapter 9 you see that Jesus has won the hearts of the population, ruffled the feathers of the Pharisees who had previously been the popular favorites and also the Sadducees, who were the religious establishment of his time. And with His disciples He has given sign after sign about who He is. He is the messiah as evidenced by His power to heal the blind and sick as foretold in Isaiah. He is God as evidenced by His power over evil spirits and his ability to walk on water and calm a storm as described in the book of Job.
4. Slowly but surely he is bringing his disciples along until he finally asks them point blank, “Who do you say I am”. And Peter speaks first saying, “You are the Christ!” – that is the messiah, the one that we have been waiting for, the one that the hopes of all Israel are resting on, and for these twelve disciples – the one that they have given up everything for – the one they are following – secretly hoping that they will also achieve greatness, wealth, and fame when He exercises His power and authority to bring Israel out of bondage to the Romans and establish the greatest nation on the face of the earth!
5. But Jesus immediately begins to teach them that the messiah – the son of man as he calls himself – must suffer, be killed, and rise again. In a very famous story, Peter takes Jesus aside to set Him straight about what a Messiah is supposed to do and Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan!” Because Jesus knows the downward spiral that comes with fame and power. Yet he must be feeling some of the pressure and temptation. The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way we are. This was no exception.
6. And so, six days later, Jesus takes Peter – along with James and John who have equal aspirations of power and wealth up to this mountain. He stands at the pinnacle of His fame. He also stands at an important crossroad. He can take all the fame and glory now and go and ride the wild ride of fame and fortune. Or He can choose the way of service, of humility, the way that leads to death on a cross. While tempted, I believe that Jesus already knows what His choice will be. What happens next is likely as much for his disciples as it is for Him.
7. And so it is that Jesus is transfigured and becomes dazzling white, whiter than snow. And Moses and Elijah appear with Him, speaking to Him. Much has been written on why these two giants from the Old Testament appear with Jesus, some say because they represent the Law and the Prophets which are fulfilled in Jesus. Some say it is because of the unusual nature of the end of their lives and that they are already living eternal life and can speak to Jesus about it. Others say that the rabbis taught that the messiah would appear on a holy mountain with Moses and Elijah and of course the disciples would have known that. Regardless of any of that, the real answer is that we don’t know for sure why they are there and the text does not explain why. Probably because their presence is not the point.
8. And then there’s this business with Peter saying to them, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Much ink has been spilled writing about this verse – from how it is that Peter knows that those two are Moses and Elijah to speculation about Peter’s desire to institutionalize the messiah movement at that point and Jesus rejecting that notion. Much has been written about the fact that we all wish we could stay in those mountaintop moments, close to God, but we always have to come back down the mountain to reality. This idea is true, or course, but we don’t really know what was going through Peter’s mind except for what the text tells us which is that He didn’t know what to say because he, James, and John were so frightened. Peter’s words, ideas, and motives are not the point either.
9. Then, there comes the cloud covering the mountain – enveloping them – it says in the NIV. This image of a cloud enveloping a sacred space, especially a mountaintop, occurs over and over again whenever the Lord is uniquely present in a particular place. And so it is that God is present and He speaks. Now, I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m studying the scripture and several people are talking and I’m trying to figure out the point of the whole thing, I tend to default to ‘whatever God said was probably the point.’ Who’s with me on that?
10. So a voice comes from the cloud and says what they have all been suspecting the whole time, “THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE”. And then it continues – LISTEN TO HIM. Listen to Him. I want you to pause and take that in for a minute. So often we followers of Jesus make it so complicated or overspiritualize things trying to figure out how to live in the freedom of the gospel as a follower of Jesus Christ. Listen to him. The greek word that is translated 'listen to him' means, literally - - - 'listen to him'. And of course, implicit in the word ‘listen’ is the idea that the one who listens is guided by the one that they are listening to, they go about their daily lives making decisions, engaging in or not engaging in various activities, behaviors, and relationships guided by the one that they are listening to. Listen to him.
11. And from this point on, the story of Jesus in the gospel of Mark takes a decidedly different tack from the normal story of fame and power. Jesus chooses service instead of power. He chooses self-denial over self-gratification. His message becomes less and less popular as He clarifies what it means to be the messiah and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. As we will reflect upon in the upcoming Lenten season, he chooses humiliation, beating, mocking, spitting, piercing, agony and death. He chooses, in the word of Mark 10:45 not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Listen to him.
12. Not long after the transfiguration, Jesus’ disciples argue about who will be the greatest in Jesus’ new kingdom and he gathers them together and says, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” Listen to him.
13. Because while the stories on Behind the Music are so extreme with the heights of the popularity and the low of the crash, the truth is that we all face this issue of power and servanthood in some way in our lives. Each one of us in the station of life that God has given us has the option day in and day out to exercise authority over others. For some of us it is at work as a supervisor or worker who has influence among your coworkers. For some of us it is at school as a teacher or student with influence among your fellow students. For some of us it is at home as a parent or grandparent. For some of us it is at church or in the community as a leader or person with influence. Each one of us can think of a position or station in our life where the Lord has seen fit to give us some level of power, authority, or influence. We can use it for our own self-gratification * or we can use it to serve, to reconcile, to bless, to forgive, to love.
14. Listen to him. God speaks to us through His word. Yet for so many of us, that voice remains silent because we rarely engage God’s word in study or prayer. Often we have, as one Biblical scholar has put it, a dangerous partial knowledge of the Word of God that focuses on our wants, our needs, and us being blessed. The Lenten season presents a great opportunity to recommit to corporate and personal prayer and the study of God’s word. Many people focus on the tradition of giving up something for Lent, but the original intent of giving up that thing or activity was to make room for intentional reflection on God’s word. Listen to Him.
15. This day as we stand again on the Mountain of Transfiguration, we do so with as much wonder and mystery as Peter, James, and John. This event was so overwhelming and shrouded in mystery for them that Jesus told them not to tell anybody. To us, who are heirs of this glory through the gospel – to us, who have now seen that He did indeed remain faithful and true, that He did indeed suffer and rise again – to us he says, “Go and tell EVERYBODY!” May He so strengthen our faith and set fire to our hearts that we would find great joy and peace as we live in the freedom He has given us and as we learn to listen to Him. Amen.