Luke 9:28-36, “This is my Son, my Chosen!”
On this Transfiguration Sunday, the scripture comes from Luke 9:28-36 about Jesus’ identity, mission, and God’s affirmation of who Jesus is.
The main theme of our text, the transfiguration of Jesus, follows Peter’s confession of Jesus being the Christ, the Messiah, which was made in Caesarea Philippi (Luke 9:20).
Today’s text starts after eight days of Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain to pray in verse 28. We can see that it was Jesus’ practice to go to solitary places to pray, if we thoroughly study the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Before and after his daily ministry with people, he prayed. Sometimes all night, sometimes early in the morning, he constantly prayed in solitary places. Busy and tired life did not stop him from praying!
Likewise, when we pray, we need to set aside the time and go to a solitary place, our prayer closet. Do we have a prayer closet away from people where we can be alone with God? The reason for a solitary place when we pray is because we must focus on God alone, away from our cellphones, worldly noises, and distractions, to have communion with God.
When we focus on God in depth in our prayers, we can experience God’s glory, God’s presence. Verse 29, “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” Do we notice here, “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed?” Jesus experienced the heavenly realm being in God’s glory while praying. Do we remember Moses’ shining face when he was in the presence of God 40 days and 40 nights receiving the Ten Commandments? When Jesus was praying, He was in the glory of God in the heavenly realm; “the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.”
Prayer is not merely speaking words to God but is a truly spiritual experience of God. We can experience God’s presence when we deeply pray, focusing on God only. In other words, having a divine encounter and experiencing God’s glory is not limited to Jesus; common people have the same divine encounter in the Book of Acts. When 120 people in the upper room earnestly prayed, they had a dramatic divine response to their communal prayer (Acts 4:23-31). The centurion Cornelius’s regular prayer devotions in his solitary prayer spot, result in an angel being sent to him and in him being chosen by God as the first Gentile Christian (Acts 10:1-8).
When we pray, we can feel God’s touch on our hearts, hearing God’s answers to our prayers. God is always available and ready to have communion with us. But the question is whether we go to Him in a solitary place away from worldly distractions to focus on God. In our prayer vigil during the Holy week, I noticed some people could not do away with their cellphones. One of the reasons we do not experience the power of prayer might be that we simply cannot focus on God. Our hearts and minds are too busy with worldly things, being distracted by them. Even in our relationship, when we have conversations with people around us, if our minds are far away from the person speaking to us, can we understand that person, let alone have in-depth communication? It is the same with God. Only when we seek God earnestly and focus on God can we experience divine encounters with God.
The second point in our text is that Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and were talking with Jesus. Many wonder why it was these two particular men from the Old Testament, and not two others. Some say it may be because Moses represents those who die and go to glory, and Elijah represents those who are caught up to heaven without death (those who will be raptured as in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Some say it is because they represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah), which both point to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. I agree with the second view since the sum of Old Testament revelation gathered with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration and spoken of His death, which Jesus was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. In other words, they spoke with one another about the outworking of God’s plan through Jesus. It becomes clearer if we consider verse 31, “They spoke about his departure…,” “departure” used here in Greek is Exodus. The Exodus event was God’s deliverance of the Israelites. Saving God’s people is the heart of our Christian faith. Jesus has come to reveal God and redeem humanity. The way that God has chosen to carry out His redemption plan of humanity is to send His Son, Jesus, to bear our sins upon Himself at the cross. Through the blood of the lamb, Israelites escaped Egypt. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, sinners can be redeemed. There, the new “exodus” takes place, the new event of redemption for the whole world.
This leads to the third point. Jesus is God’s Son, His chosen. When it comes to salvation, Jesus is God’s chosen. Only through Jesus can we be saved. Verse 35, “A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” We need to listen to Jesus only, no one else. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; we need to listen to Him. There is no salvation outside of Jesus. Under heaven, only the name of Jesus is given for our salvation. We need to listen to Him. If there are people who say Jesus is a clump of clay, who had to figure out his identity, a human, not God, they are false teachers. If anyone says that the bible is outdated and we need to change it to accommodate the modern world, that person is not from God. Jesus said, “Not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). We need to listen to Jesus. When challenged by the word of God or the message you hear from the pulpit, you must correct your ways, instead of being upset with pastors who preach from the Bible.
On another note, we cannot be God’s children by simply claiming we are. We need God’s approval, ‘You are my child, I am well pleased with you.’ Jesus did not just claim that He was the Son of God; it was God who declared Jesus is the Son of God; “This is my Son, my Chosen one; listen to Him.” In the gospel of John, we can be God’s children when we obey and follow his teachings. Without trying to be conformed to God’s likeness, without following God’s commands, yet claiming that you are a child of God, you might end up hearing from Jesus, “Depart from me. I never knew you!”
Lastly, verse 32, when we are sleepy with the worldly pleasure, distractions, or concerns of the world, we cannot see Jesus in His glory with Moses and Elijah. Peter, John, and James were sleepy, but when fully awake, they could see Jesus in glory with Moses and Elijah. Likewise, we need to be fully awake from our slumber. To see Jesus as our Lord and Savior, to know that the Bible is God’s plan of salvation, the Law and the prophets in the Old Testament pointing to Jesus as God’s chosen, through whom God brings salvation to sinful human beings, we need to fully awake from our sleepiness. What is keeping you from being awake? Is it worldly pleasures, opinions, concerns, or distractions? What is keeping you from being fully awake? We need to wake up fully. We need to prepare for the coming Lord. We need to wake up; the time is near! Amen!
2025-03-02
