Listen to Him
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus … As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”(He did not know what he was saying.) Luke 9:28-30,32,33
Luke wants his readers to know Peter’s comment was not what God wanted to hear and he does this in two ways. First of all he adds his own commentary, ‘He did not know what he was saying.’ Luke’s telling us Peter’s outburst was just that – an outburst.
Luke goes on, ‘While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud’ (Luke 9:34).God’s presence made Peter, James and John feel afraid. This makes us wonder why God wanted them to feel the fear of Himself. There could be many reasons.
God’s next words offer a clear clue “This is my son whom I have chosen; listen to him” (Luke 9:35). Peter wanted three equal shelters built – one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah – as if the three were equally important. There seems a good case that God the Father did not want His Son’s pre-eminence in any way compromised, even by men as great as Moses and Elijah.
‘When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone’ (Luke 9:36). The Father called Moses and Elijah back so only Jesus was left.
God has had, has now, and will have many great leaders in His church on earth. But we must never allow any other Christian leader to come anywhere near the Saviour in our estimation. Jesus is the Lord of all creation.
We honour the amazing men and women God has given the church but we exalt Jesus to the very highest place where He stands alone.
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