Matthew 17:5-9
“While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’” vs. 5
Twice in Matthew’s gospel we hear a voice from a cloud, once at Jesus’ baptism, and here on the Mount of Transfiguration. Each time the words are the same, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased,” but this time an imperative is added, “Listen to him!” That imperative is important. It moves us from an attitude of “Oh, isn’t Jesus special” to “Wow, I’d better pay attention.” It’s a reminder that we frequently need. Most of us have heard about Jesus since we were dandled on our mother’s knee. We know the stories and can say the second article of the Apostle’s Creed from memory. But too often that’s all the further it goes. It’s like we invite him into the formal sitting room of our lives and then leave him there while we go off and do our thing…he has virtually no influence on our words or actions! And to us the voice from the cloud says, “Listen to him!” We are to pay heed to his parables and teachings and his words of assurance and hope. It’s like he said himself in the close of his sermon on the mount, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”
Thought for the Day: What happens when I listen to Jesus?
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