"Jesus, Front & Centre" (Mark 9:2-8)

Introduction

Who do you listen to?

There are a lot of voices and a lot of noise around us … competing for our attention. In all of this, who do we listen to?

Do we listen to the right voices or the loudest voices? Do we listen to the positive voices or the negative voices? When we are offered words of encouragement, are we listening? Are we open to hear the voices we need most to hear (or are we afraid that this will mean making changes)?

We have a concern. We have a decision to make. How can I go forward? To whom will I go? Who do I listen to? Where will I centre my life?

Text

Verse 2:

Peter, James and John were the leading disciples – possibly to have the greatest influence for good, but at the same time with a propensity to misunderstand what Jesus was about. Peter had begun to see that Jesus was the Christ, but couldn’t yet accept the sacrificial servant nature of this. James and John were too worried about their own status and position. Jesus would take these three up the mountain as representatives of all disciples of all times – to reveal to them something that they would need to completely get their head around. There would just be this small group … away from all those other voices and all that other noise.

When Jesus went up a mountain, this was symbolic of bringing the deepest understanding of heaven to earth. As the ten commandments were delivered on a mountain many centuries before, every time Jesus taught from a mountain, such words would build on or fulfil or explain God’s best for humankind. This time around, there was to be a bold demonstration of who Jesus was, and what that should mean to all those who become his followers.

Verses 2 – 3:

The dazzling white scene that the disciples encountered could only mean that Jesus was God. Jesus was Divine … a member of the Holy Trinity – the community of God … Father, Son & Spirit. When we read about Jesus’ clothes, “such as no one on earth could bleach them”, we are meant to understand that this “transfiguration” (this change in appearance) could NOT possibly be an earthly occurrence, but could only be something from God in heaven. Here was a ‘gateway’ between earth and heaven.

Verse 4:

The presence of Moses and Elijah of course has to be significant. They would be representatives of the law and the prophets. Moses also acted as a liberator of God’s people, while Elijah promoted a pure allegiance to God. This scene, then, would be highly symbolic, especially for those with a strong background in the religion of ancient Israel. This firstly shows the continuity of God’s purposes in the world. But then, this all points to Jesus being the fulfilment of all that God had been preparing for through the Old Testament period.

As the law and the prophets had guided faith in the past, now Jesus would be bringing in, through his own work of salvation, the new covenant. The law and the prophets were aiming in the same direction of the Kingdom of God to be founded by Jesus (and sustained by the Holy Spirit). So, Moses, Elijah and Jesus were talking happily together, as they were on the same page, but it would now be Jesus who would bring forward God’s plans for the liberation and transformation of humanity. God’s big restoration rescue project was now centred around the person of Jesus.

Verses 5 - 6:

What would the disciples actually make of this exciting, yet strange, happening on the mountain!? When taken by surprise, we often just say the first thing that comes into our head … which is often NOT the smartest or the most appropriate thing. When we feel intimidated or unprepared or nervous, we often say the wrong thing. I think Peter just said the first thing that came into his head! We read in verse 6 that Peter, “did not know what to say [because] they were terrified”. Jesus was revealing something mighty important to Peter and the others, but they weren’t quite ready yet to perceive it.

Sometimes we are NOT quite ready or attuned enough to perceive the mighty work of God amongst us, and we might even try to dismiss it. So the knee-jerk response of Peter was to create a campsite, light a fire, and bed down for the night! Something, customary, something comfortable. But this was to miss the point!!

Verse 7:

So, in this special moment, and in the context of the disciples’ confusion, God spoke! God repeated the words that He had spoken at Jesus’ baptism – but with two very important advances. This time, when God spoke the words, “This is my Son, the Beloved”, there was more than just Jesus present. Peter, James and John were present to hear these Divine words identifying who Jesus was and is. And then these disciples were given an instruction – a way of applying this new knowledge – “listen to him”!

Who should the disciples listen to?? Jesus!! I think we could read this as a passionate plea … “listen to him”!! This was God’s emphatic statement – “listen to Jesus … really listen”! If you want to know what God is like, if you want to know what decision to make, if you want to know what is important in life – listen to Jesus! Many people will acknowledge Jesus as significant – but will they “listen to him”. It will not be simply naming his name that is so important … that is fairly easy; but more so listening to Jesus, so that we might really know him, and thus be able to follow him.

Many like the idea of Jesus, but are they willing to attend to his teaching – thereby really ‘knowing’ Jesus? It is in listening to Jesus that we will begin to know him; for listening is so central to forming a relationship. How can any relationship develop and grow without active listening. We can talk and talk, but without listening to the other, we can’t really know what their deep feelings and motivations are.

The central feature of the Christian faith is the incarnation – the fact that God so loved the world, that He entered it in human form, and sacrificed his own life, in the most torturous of circumstances, so that all people could be put back on course, and live in freedom from the power of evil. Thus God is NOT remote, but rather has entered the suffering of all humanity, with a view of taking us forward into the alternative reality known as the Kingdom of God. In Jesus, God enters into the deepest longings and aspirations of our humanity (B Zahnd).

Jesus is the exact imprint of God’s very being. Jesus reveals the heart of God. The love, grace and compassion of God are revealed in the human life of Jesus. “As Jesus heals the sick, forgives the sinner, receives the outcast, restores the fallen, and supremely as he dies on a cross forgiving his killers, he reveals what God is like” (Brian Zahnd – ‘Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God’). Because of this, Jesus is totally clothed in the glory of God!!!

This is the moment in the Gospel narrative, that we are faced with the centrality of Jesus to everything in our lives. And Jesus will soon head off for Jerusalem, where he will make it possible for us to be wholly reconciled to God, and also set free to fully listen to Jesus (and understand where he is leading us).

Verse 8:

Who should we listen to? Look now at verse 8. Let’s see who is left front and centre!

The disciples, taken aback, stunned and in awe, started looking around, and they saw no one else – “but only Jesus”! The presence of Moses and Elijah has reminded us about the long history God has had with humanity, but now only Jesus remains.

This was a demonstration of the pre-eminence of Jesus over all others. As said earlier, all of God’s best intentions behind the law and prophets, in fact, all of God’s interactions and interventions with the ancient people of Israel, has culminated in this moment, and in this person … Jesus of Nazareth. The old covenant represented by Moses and Elijah has been superseded by the new covenant brought in through Jesus. Our life is NOT viewed through our hardest strivings toward law and works, but rather through our responsive loving connection with Jesus.

How do we listen to Jesus in practice? We begin by reading his words in the Gospel narratives, and then deeply reflect on them, and pray about how these can be applied to our lives today. We become what has been called … ‘red letter Christians’ – focussed on the words that Jesus spoke. And Jesus spoke some really revolutionary words that did, and still do, turn the way people think on things completely upside down – for example:

• Blessed are the poor in spirit
• Blessed are the merciful
• Love your enemies.

This means that we must now consider the Hebrew texts of the Old Testament through the eyes of Jesus. Jesus now provides the litmus test for our understanding of all theology and spirituality. We read a certain passage, and think … how does that fit with Jesus? This is especially true when we read about human violence and who it is attributed to. Maybe to understand what this text means for today, we need to prayerfully discover a new way of reading it. After all, God was always like Jesus, even when it doesn’t appear that way. We should read all of the Bible with Jesus in the forefront of our minds. The portrait of God we carry must look just like Jesus. We don't want to be confusing people about what God looks like ... the portrait of God that we paint ... both through what we say about God and how we live! Let us be clear ... God is like Jesus!!

For us, Christology (the study of Jesus) is our foremost quest. The best theology is actually found in the life that Jesus lived. Jesus, indeed, changes everything. The apostle Paul, from the moment of his conversion on the road to Damascus, changed from his law-bound pharisaical brand of thinking, to interpreting the whole of life through the person of Jesus. All of Paul’s letters in the New Testament seek to encourage young churches to focus firmly on the person of Jesus, especially the impact of his death and resurrection. The book of Revelation casts a big vision all around the centrality of Jesus in everything – past, present and future.

It’s all about Jesus! Why? As already said, Jesus fleshes out who God is. Jesus is God spelt out, God explained, God experienced. All humanity’s desire to know the Divine … has a response in Jesus. When humanity failed to live up to their responsibilities on earth, and went down their own sin-laden path, refusing to do what God desired of them, thus deciding to supplant God and be god themselves – God, rather than giving up, or denying His character, chose to come into the world and offer a new way forward through a cross and an empty tomb.

Thus, in listening to Jesus, we are likely to learn the lessons we need – for example:

• Rather than seeking to dominate or control others – we will seek to serve, encourage, build-up, and sacrifice for others (through credible relationships)
• Rather than being seek-seeking – we will seek first the Kingdom of God, righteousness and justice (through truly loving our neighbour)
• Rather than seeking vengeance against those who hurt us – we will be like Jesus, who, from the cross, uttered words of forgiveness for those who put him there [this the very subject of an upcoming message ... 'the end of vengeance'].

We think again about Peter’s almost automatic response to the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mountain. To erect tents there and then, might be a bit like hanging on to the old and familiar … because it is safer or more comfortable. The problem with the old and familiar … was … that those who were stuck there – finished up crucifying Jesus.

Conclusion

It is as we listen and learn from Jesus, that we can get to know him, and thus know God. We begin to understand his teaching, and how that works in life for us, and how that makes a difference for good; and we notice that we are now being changed into the likeness of Jesus. We now take proper responsibility for our attitudes and behaviour, especially as these affect others. We make good decisions, that not only work well for us, but also ring true to everyone else.

We gain credibility, and spark interest. It is as the glory of Jesus begins to shine in us, that the world knows that there is a reality about the person of Jesus. And where there is Jesus, there is hope. And where there is Jesus, there is new creation. When people seek Jesus, they find God.

From the cloud that overshadowed the mountain, God says to us, “Listen to him … listen to my Son the Beloved … listen to Jesus”! Eventually, Peter, James and John, did listen to Jesus. Like many people, they were a bit slow on the uptake initially – but when they did listen, they listened big time, and then turned the world upside down!