Friday 14 June 2024
A cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (vs 34-35)
Background
Chapter 9 of Luke’s gospel up to this point seems to have been a testing time for the 12 disciples:
- Jesus sent them out to preach and heal with nothing except Jesus’ power and authority (vs 1-3)
- Jesus told them to feed 5000 people, but they only had five loaves and two fishes (vs 13-14)
- Jesus challenged them to say who they believed he was (v. 18)
- Jesus told them he must suffer and be killed, and to be his followers they would have to deny themselves and take up their cross daily (vs 22-23).
In today’s passage three disciples accompany Jesus to pray and are given a revelation of who Jesus is. The glory of God and a covering of cloud were signs of God’s presence which Moses had experienced on more than one occasion (for example, Exodus 24:16, 40:34).
I wonder if the disciples saw this as another test, and so it was the need to react, to do something, that prompted Peter to quickly suggest they made three shelters in that place (v. 33)? But even as Peter was speaking the presence of God came over them in the form of the cloud and a voice spoke from the cloud, shifting the focus from the place to the person of Jesus.
The words spoken by the voice from the cloud are similar to those heard after Jesus’ baptism. Luke’s account states “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22b), these words were clearly addressed to Jesus. In today’s passage after Jesus’ transfiguration Luke records words which were addressed to the disciples (v. 35). All three synoptic gospel writers include the command ‘Listen to him’ in their accounts of the transfiguration (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35).
Although the three disciples said nothing about what they had seen at the time, Peter later wrote in his second letter of being an eyewitness of Jesus’ majestic glory (2 Peter 1:16).
To Ponder:
- What is your immediate reaction when you have had an encounter with God? Is this initial reaction what God desires and how do you discern this?
- How easy, or difficult, do you find it to listen to Jesus, and why is this so? What helps you to listen to God?
- How does listening to the experience of other people’s encounters with God affect your faith? How do you think people can be encouraged to share their encounters with God?
Prayer
Loving God, teach us how to listen to your words, and to discern when and how to speak, so that we may be faithful witnesses to your glory and love. Amen.
Bible notes author: The Revd Gill Sharp
Gill is a MHA Chaplain.