Mark 9:2-10 tells the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus takes Peter, James and John, his closest disciples, apart from the others to climb the mountain. The purpose of their climb seems to be for God to announce that Jesus is “my beloved Son.” That message seems to come through loud and clear, but there’s more to the story.
None of his followers seem to understand who Jesus really is or what his future holds. So he takes three of them apart from the others to go up the mountain. God reveals for them the transfigured Jesus, then directly tells them who Jesus really is: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” In fact, it almost seems as if God might be shouting it to them.
At times in our families, we get distracted and stop listening to each other. When we feel frustrated, we take drastic steps to get our loved ones to listen to us. Sometimes we might even feel like we need to shout to get our message through when we aren’t feeling heard.
It’s like that ad for the cell phone company, where the guy keeps asking: “Can you hear me now?” At the Transfiguration, God seems to be shouting, “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? THIS IS MY BELOVED SON. LISTEN TO HIM.”
We all have times when we’re like those disciples. God is trying to talk to us, but we aren’t listening. Sometimes God even shouts to us, but isn’t able to get through. We can’t seem to hear, because we’re so plugged in to everything else that we can’t hear God’s words for us.
Can you hear God now? Are you listening? Let’s take the time to quiet the noise that distracts us; let’s hear what God is saying; let’s act on whatever God is calling us to do.
