Listen to him

MATTHEW 17

Love’s pure light

As we are beginning to realise, people have different preferences for learning. These are called learning styles. Discipleship is about learning. And it seems that Jesus used all the different kinds of approaches. He spoke and taught, giving verbal instructions (but often in pithy, short, memorable picture stories). He touched and healed, showing the disciples by experience and by action. And then, he simply was – glorified, in bright light; over-powering the visual senses. Ninety per cent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. Only about five per cent of information is transmitted verbally.

In this chapter, we have the mystical transfiguration of Jesus; the fierce annoyance of Jesus at the lack of faith of his learners; and the peculiar retrieval of a gold coin from a fish to pay off the tax men with. I will focus on the first story - and leave it to you wise co-bloggers to reflect on the other two!

First, the bright light of glory. We are reading Matthew chapter by chapter in the days of Advent. Christmas carols begin to be sung as we enter the third week of this penitential season. And as I read this chapter, with the transfiguration of Jesus in mind, I thought about the connection between this mysterious radiant encounter with Moses and Elijah and the words of the second verse of Silent Night. The glory Jesus left to live on earth is portrayed by the composer of the favourite carol as beaming from his face as a babe. That glory, that light, poured from his face again (just as it did to Moses on Mount Sinai) in this critically important mountaintop meeting.

Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.

The Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke – all tell us about this mystical event at the turning point of Jesus’ ministry. Each Gospel considers it to be the point at which the journey to Jerusalem begins, the journey to the cross. This is the mountaintop moment before the deep dark valley of the shadow of death. Each Gospel locates this pretty much in the centre of the narrative, to make the point. Each Gospel marks it up as the second moment when God speaks directly to humans about the beloved Son (the first, of course, was his baptism). And each Gospel is making the very significant point that Jesus has met with Moses and Elijah because Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.

‘This is my Son, marked by my love, the focus of my delight. Listen to him,’ says a voice from a radiant cloud, a voice heard by Peter, James and John. Listen to him seems a very particular command. God could have given all kinds of pithy instructions – follow him, love him, trust him might have been three. But this word listen is the key word for the disciples. Why?

Well, Jesus had just unfolded for the first time that he is heading to Jerusalem to die. And they did not want to believe it (as we heard last chapter). When he comes down the mountain, heals a poor epileptic young man who the other disciples could not help, Jesus tells them all a second time that he is bound for Jerusalem to be betrayed and murdered. And he tells them again a third time in the following chapters.

Of course, for them the message only really begins to sink in after all the impossible things have happened. And, of course, the stories around Jesus’ life, death and resurrection only began to be collected together in the decades after his ascension and Pentecost.

This story, of the Transfiguration, has the ring of truth about it. It has Peter again being shown not in the best of lights – babbling away about memorialising in stone something that is impossible to capture; just as the resurrected body of Jesus could not be imprisoned by stone three days after his death.

But I want to end by just thinking about the command of God to the disciple-learners to listen to Jesus. We are not naturally good listeners, generally speaking. Humans prefer to speak more than listen. And we find it hard to listen and take things in the first time, or the second time, or maybe the fiftieth time. Listening really takes a lifetime. And though the glory of the transfiguration would fade from their eyes, the disciples would spend the rest of their lives mulling over, turning over in their hearts and minds, the words of Jesus.

Listening is a life-long endeavour. Glory may fade. But words take root and blossom in the lives of listeners. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.