Sweet, Sweet Words
“And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” (Mark 9:7)
One can only imagine what thoughts raced through Peter’s mind. Here is Moses – Moses! The man who lead a people out of Egypt, the man who crossed the Red Sea, the man who met with God on the mountain, this man stands before Peter now. Moses’ voice echoed in the ears of every young Jewish child, and here he is. But wait, there is Elijah! This man defied kings, stood down false prophets, and too met with God on the mountain. When the specter of Roman submission lighted upon a young man, he wanted to have the boldness, the courage, the power of Elijah. Oh, you hear it in the Pharisees questions to John: “Are you Elijah?” (John 1:21) These are the two titans of the Old Testament – the Law and the Prophets. On these two seemingly hang everything, and yet God says otherwise.
The Father does not say, “Listen to me.” This would be the reasonable expectation, wouldn’t it? Many of us joke in moments of indecision, saying, “I wish God would just tell me what to do.” But need I remind us of that great mountain, of Mount Sinai? When He boomed from the top of that mountain, the earth quaked and the people shake at the sound of His voice. Therefore, they say, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Ex. 20:19) They needed a mediator who would stand between them and God. As great as Moses and Elijah were, these men were not perfect. None near as perfect as His Son. Hebrews 1 states it beautifully: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”
His Son is the exact imprint of His nature – very God of very God. Everything that is true of the Father is true of the Son. There is not a shred of daylight between them. Or as the Westminster Shorter Catechism states: “They are the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” And yet, this Son became man. Everything that is true of man is true of the God-man, sin excepted. Because of this very fact, because of the hypostatic union, the words of God in all their power and glory are accommodated to our weakness. We can listen to God speak without fear and trembling; we can hear God speak with joy abounding in our hearts. Oh, how great are these words! How great is it that our Jesus continues to speak to us from heaven by the reading, but especially the preaching of His Word? There are no words more true than His words, and no speech is as sweet and pleasant as His. Are you listening to Him?
