Hear Him!

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son," Hebrews 1'1-2.

THE COMMON PEOPLE HEARD HIM

Jesus took Peter, James and John up "on a high mountain to pray," Luke said. Little did they know what was in store for them (Matthew 17'1-8, Mark 9'2-8, Luke 9'28-36).

As they travelled around Israel with Him, all the Lord's Disciples had heard Him say great things and saw Him do great things. But this occasion was to be very different.

First of all, as He prayed Jesus was transfigured and became dazzlingly radiant before them. And then Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with Jesus. Then a bright cloud overshadowed them.

At that moment a voice, obviously the Father's voice, came out of the cloud declaring: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" (Matthew 17'1-8).

For Believers this is the most significant mountain-top occasion in the Bible because it was all about the God, the Father, confirming Jesus as the foremost prophet and teacher of His Word.

And in saying "Hear Him" He was reminding the disciples that Jesus was the fulfillment of all of Israel's scriptures regarding the Messiah. There were Jews in that day who realised this. And scholarly others who should have, as Jesus pointed out to them: “You search the Scriptures ... and these are they which testify of Me," John 5'39.

They needed only to go to Moses' prophecy for one:

"The Lord said to me: ... ‘I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren and will put my words in His mouth and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.

And it shall be that whoever will not hear my words, which He speaks in my name, I will require it of him’”, Deuteronomy 18’17-19.

Following Pentecost Peter reminded them:

"For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.

And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people'.

To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities’," Acts 3'22-23.

And Stephen did the same. He declared it to the high council as he reminded them of Israel's history on the day they stoned him to death:

"This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear',” Acts 7'37.

However, Jesus made His point plain in His parable when Abraham says: “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead,” Luke 16'31.

DID GOD HAVE TO SPEAK?

The short answer has to be "Yes". Our heavenly Father spoke emphatically. Here's what happened up on that mountain:

Jesus "... was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”
When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only," Matthew 17'2-9.

Luke (9'33) points out that Peter, "Not knowing what he said", blurted out:   

"Lord, it is good for us to be here; If you wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”.

But: "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!'"

The Father interrupted because there were serious implications in what Peter said. Moses and Elijah were men of great reputation, not to mention the other prophets. But He ignored them. What He declared about His Son He had said before, when John immersed Jesus in water. But this time He added the two critical exclusive words: "Hear Him". He was saying, hear Him - not them.

The Father's message was then, and still is: the primary person to go to regarding His will is Jesus. Taking notice of men with great reputations, even if they are prophets and miracle workers can be opposite to God's will. "Hear Him" instead. "... when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid," Matthew 17'5-6. The Word of Christ first.

Seemingly God had to intervene because what Peter unwittingly suggested was that Moses and Elijah be regarded as being on the same level as Jesus. That would mean that their words would carry the same weight of authority as His. And would be against God's will. The Father's interruption was absolute.

He was confirming the authority of His only begotten Son who He had sent, to do His will. Therefore, Christ's words are far above Moses' words, and His miracles far above Elijah's. But how might this affect the Saints' reading of the Old Testament? More on that later.

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Interestingly, the Disciples, particularly Peter, had already heard Jesus declare that His word is above all others a number of times. He had said: “I say to you” nine times in Matthew 5 alone (18, 20, 22, 26, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44). And there are His other phrases like, "he who hears these sayings of mine and does them,” Matthew 7'24.

Also He says: "Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will by no means pass away,” Luke 21'33. And, "No one comes to the Father except through Me,” John 14’6.

So when He said, “I say to you”, He meant it. Now that the Holy Spirit has come Believers are alive to Jesus' words. Affectionately, He says: “My sheep hear my voice"  (John 10’27).

THE HOLY SPIRIT CONFIRMS

On the Day of Pentecost and following it many Jews became convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was their Messiah. And they received Him. But, as time went by, they needed special guidance and assurance about hearing the word of Christ because of their Old Testament orientation.

God met their need. He inspired a special letter to explain these things to them, and to all who received Christ after them.

Right at the start of the letter the Holy Spirit confirms what the Father had spoken to the three Disciples on that mountain, with these words:

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son," Hebrews 1'1-2.

God spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets.

In these last days He speaks to us by His Son.

These are history-making words indeed. However, on the surface, they might seem to make the Old Testament irrelevant. Inspired by the Holy Spirit the writer reveals, compares and contrasts the Old Covenant with the New Covenant.

So, does that mean the Old Testament is redundant? Of course not. Then how should the Lord's New Covenant Kingdom people read it?

READING THE OLD TESTAMENT

"How should we read the Old Testament?" was a question a certain Bible College lecturer asked, and then promptly answered it himself. “Ask Jesus!” he said. So what does Jesus say? Briefly:

1.  He asserted that many Old Testament prophecies and types predict and foreshadow Him:

"’ ... all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me’ ... He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures,” Luke 24’44-45.

"The Scriptures ... are they which testify (bear witness) of Me,” John 5’39.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up,” John 3'14.

2.  He confirmed that people in the Old Testament were real persons:

Like Abel and Zechariah: "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple,“ Luke 11’51.

And Abraham: “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM,” (John 8’56-58).

3.  He also confirmed that Genesis chapters 1-11 are historical:

" ... from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female,” Mark 10'6.

And "Remember Lot’s wife”, Luke 17’32.

"For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark," Matthew 24’38.

A straightforward reading of the Old Testament shows that it is what it conveys itself to be: literal, historical, prophetical, typological, poetical and portraying real persons who lived real lives.

So, in brief, born-again Believers have come to understand that:

The Old Testament was, and is, the Word of God for the nation of Israel to have and to obey. It's for them to live by.

The OT is for Believers to have but not to obey. It's not for us to live by.

The New Testament is for Believers to have and to obey. It's for us to live by.

Some Believers think that they should obey certain OT scriptures but that's incorrect. It's the Word of Christ that calls for their obedience.

THE DIFFERENCE

To what extent is having the New Testament different then? The answer to this became clear with the coming of Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost because He inspired Peter to be the first to preach the Good News of Jesus and His New Covenant Kingdom of God.

And many of the Jews there on that day received Christ and went on to receive the Apostles' teachings and began to grow in Christ.

As time went on the New Covenant Kingdom understandings emerged in writing as the Word of Christ for the Body of Christ. The majority are found in the scriptures of Acts 2'1 to Revelation 3'22 and some in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

So, the difference between the New Covenant and the Old is profound. The apostle Paul, who has Timothy with him, explains:

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.
For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.
Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech...," 2 Corinthians 3'5-12.

A major difference is that the "... letter kills, but the Spirit gives life," Paul says. And the understandings they are presenting are "the ministry of the Spirit" and "the ministry of righteousness".

Then there's the apostle Peter speaking for himself and his readers about glorious New Covenant Kingdom understandings:

"Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ. To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust," Peter 2:1'2-3.

For born again Believers the Holy Spirit "... has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him" - "... exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature".

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It's not surprising then that Peter, or James and John, ever forgot that mountain-top experience, as Peter says:

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
For He received from God the Father honour and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain," 2 Peter 1'16-18.

That's when the Father said, "Hear Him!" And they did take notice of Jesus. Immediately following the Lord's ascension Peter took the lead and performed the first of a number of crucial things (Acts 1). He began using the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus had given him, one by one (see Kingdom Keys on the Menu).

The apostle Paul was another to take notice of what Jesus said. When the Lord intervened dramatically in his murderous mission of persecuting Jesus' people of The Way. Paul responded to the Lord's voice, by saying "... what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9'1-6, 26'14-16).

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“And the common people heard Him gladly," Mark 12'37.

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