More than a prophet - Luke 9:28-36
- 19-09-2011
A voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ Luke 9:35
Luke has a special place for Peter in his writings. When speaking of things that are going well, Luke usually gives a longer account than either Matthew or Mark. And when things are not so good, then Luke seems to soften the blow a little.
In this account Peter still hasn’t learnt who Jesus really is. He wants to build booths for the three men seen at the Transfiguration. Jesus, however, is not a mere prophet. He is no second Moses, but replaces Moses as leader of the New Israel. Nor is Jesus a second Elijah, expected to return in some golden age. Jesus is the ‘one from God’; he has come to restore all things to God.
The subject of the conversation between the three was Jesus’ departure, his suffering, and his death. This is where we and the disciples are to look if we are to see the glory of God. For God is not found by special visitations from heaven. He is found in the everyday Saviour who is with us in our everyday life.
God does not require booths to be erected so that he can be with his people. He is here in Jesus Christ. And the glory of God’s beloved Son, God’s chosen one, begins at the cross. So the injunction by God to Peter is instruction to all: ‘Listen to my Son and to no one else. He alone is your Christ and Saviour. He is the one to lead the new Israel. He has come to make you mine.’
Dear Jesus, lead us to God, and help us to see his love in the wounds you received for us. Amen.
(Adapted by Pastor Richard Mau from a devotion by Pastor Peter Thamm)
Woe is me! For I am lost: for I am a man of unclean ups, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! Isaiah 6:5
The events that took place in the boat are almost prophetic. Jesus, an amateur fisherman, tells Simon, the old pro, how and where to fish. Conversely, Simon later is the amateur trained and inspired by his Lord to be a fisher of men. Even the huge catch of fish seems to point to Simon Peter as he leads the church in its thrilling early expansion.
Again, it is God’s Word that is at work. At the word of Jesus, Simon puts out from the shore, despite a frustratingly fruitless night. At the word of Jesus a haul is made. At Jesus’ word Simon, having confessed his sinfulness, follows Jesus.
It’s amazing what God’s Word can achieve. Like Isaiah, Simon (later called Peter) is amazed and feels totally transparent before God; his sins are exposed. Jesus calls a sinner and changes his life by calling him to follow him. The Bible is full of such calls. Rarely, if ever, do any of the Biblical characters show up as paragons of virtue. From Moses to Peter they are all sinners, who by God’s grace are called to his service.
Yet this is God’s way. That’s why Jesus came to us; too — so that he could meet with sinners and call them to catch men. It’s no different today as he issues us with the same call. We can be sure that if the grace of God could work in a smelly fishing boat so loaded that water lapped the gunwales, then it works among us, too: it convicts of sin, it forgives, and it equips us for the Lord’s ‘fishing’.
Dear Lord, forgive us our sin and equip us so that we, too, will be Peters to our world. Amen.
