Luke 9:27-36 - "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him"

27 "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God." 28 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. 30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. 33 Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" 36 When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.   In Luke 9:27-36, Jesus is teaching about His kingdom by giving three of His disciples a glimpse of His coming glory and kingdom. It might interesting to note that Peter, James, and John had accompanied Jesus when He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead (Luke 8:51), and they would accompany Him when He prayed in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46). These three occasions should remind us of Philippians 3:10, "That I may know Him [the Transfiguration], and the power of His resurrection [raising the girl], and the fellowship of His sufferings [in the Garden]."   This may well have been the greatest "Bible conference" ever held on earth! Even apart from the great glory that was involved, here you certainly had the greatest speakers: Moses, the Law; Elijah, the Prophets; and Jesus, who came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. You had the greatest topic: Jesus' "decease" that He would accomplish at Jerusalem. Moses had led Israel out of bondage from Egypt, and Elijah had delivered them from bondage to false gods; but Jesus would die to set a sinful world free from bondage to sin and death (Galatians 1:4; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 2:14-15).   And while all of this was going on, the three privileged disciples were sleeping! (They would repeat this failure in the Garden.) Peter gets caught up in the moment and tells Jessus that they should make three tabernacles. One for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus.  Peter wanted Jesus to hold on to the glory apart from the suffering, but this is not God's plan.   The Father interrupted Peter by bathing the scene in a cloud of glory (Exodus13:21-22; 40:35, 38) and speaking out of the cloud. These arresting words from heaven remind us of Deuteronomy 18:15; "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear”.. When the cloud was gone, Elijah and Moses were also gone.   As wonderful as these experiences are, they are not the basis for a consistent Christian life. That can come only through the Word of God. Experiences come and go, but the Word remains. Our recollection of past experiences will fade, but God's Word never changes. The farther we get from these events, the less impact they make on our lives. That was why the Father said, "Hear Him!" and why Peter made this same emphasis on the Word in his report (2 Peter 1:12-21).   Are you listening to Jesus today?   God bless!