Friday, March 17, 2022

Mar 17, 2023

Listen to the Word

Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, 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 to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:5-7)


Peter had a front row seat for the transfiguration of Jesus, a miracle in which his heavenly glory became visible to human eyes, and Moses and Elijah showed up for a chat. Peter responded to the miracle the way he responded to most things: by running his mouth. But God the Father interrupted Peter’s rambling with some words of his own.


This scene marks the second time in Mark’s Gospel that we have a report of God the Father speaking from heaven (the first scene is at Jesus’ baptism in Mark 1:10-11). Both times, God says the same thing: he announces that Jesus is his Son, and he declares that he loves him. Here in chapter 9, God adds a reasonable follow-up sentence: “Listen to him!” Since Jesus is the beloved Son of God, we need to pay attention to him! We need to close our mouths and open our ears. We need to tune into his voice more than all the other competing voices. We must listen to Jesus!


Live the Word

The next time you pray, spend as much time listening to Jesus as you spend talking to him.