Listen to Him

The Transfiguration of Our Lord
February 15, 2026
Matthew 17:1-9

“Listen to Him”

The couple, in a tense meeting with their counselor, was trying to work through the problems in their marriage. Things were getting heated: “You just don’t listen,” she said to him. “You are always somewhere else, even when we’re right here in the same room.” The parent was struggling to find a way to bridge the growing communication gap with their teenager after the young person said in anger: “You say you want to listen to what I have to say, but you really don’t. You just want me to say what you want to hear.” The senior adult, having lost her husband of many years, was trying to find someone who would listen to her as she navigated a new and challenging chapter in her life. Listening – it’s such an important part of life, and we all struggle with it. So many of our challenges and problems in life are there because we fail to listen. Listening comes up in today’s Gospel lesson on this Transfiguration Sunday. Peter, James and John are there on the mountain top with Jesus, and suddenly his appearance is altered in an amazing way as his heavenly glory is revealed. As the disciples struggle to understand what they are experiencing, the voice of the Father is heard from the bright cloud: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Based on Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Transfiguration, the theme for today’s sermon is “Listen to Him.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

The Epiphany season comes to a close today. This season ends as it began. At the beginning of this season, when we celebrated Jesus’ baptism by John at the Jordan River, the voice of the Father was heard: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). And now once again, not at the Jordan River, but high atop a mountain, the Father’s voice once more says of Jesus: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5a). The very same words are spoken again, but with an addition at the very end: “Listen to him” (Matthew 17:5b). That’s what the Father directed Peter, James and John – and us as well – to be doing. Moses and Elijah, those towering figures from the Old Testament, representing the Law and the Prophets, were there with Jesus. Scripture tells us that they weren’t listening, but they were talking with Jesus (Matthew 17:3). Matthew doesn’t tell us what they were talking about, but Luke’s account does. Luke records that they “spoke of his [Jesus’] departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). So these long-dead servants of the Lord, who were yet alive in the Lord, were revealed in this mountaintop transfiguration experience. Moses the Law giver and Elijah the Prophet flank the One who came to fulfill all that is written in the Law and the Prophets, as we heard Jesus speak in last Sunday’s Gospel lesson (Matthew 5:13-20): “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Fulfilling all that is written in the Law and the Prophets would take Jesus to the cross, where he would suffer and die for us; offering his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Maybe Peter was taking his cue from Moses and Elijah, talking when he should’ve been listening. But how often do we do the same? As the old saying puts it: “God gave us two ears and only one mouth so that we should listen twice as much as we talk.” Sound wisdom there! Some have observed that there are two different kinds of people: those who cannot speak at all when they’re in a difficult situation, and those who cannot stop speaking in a difficult situation. Peter may well have been in the latter category. Nervous energy simply caused him to keep on talking about building three tents up there on the mountain top. While he was still talking, Peter was interrupted by the voice from that bright cloud “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Peter, James and John were terrified by this, and we would, too, had we been there. They knew that they were in the presence of Almighty God. It was only then, when they were facedown on the ground and scared out of their wits, that they began to listen. It can be that way for us as well. Only when we realize that we’re not in control, if we ever were in control; only when it finally dawns on us that we are mere mortals, and simply dust and ashes; only when we find ourselves facedown in the presence of Almighty God – only then are we really ready to listen. And what is the Word that the transfigured Lord Jesus Christ speaks to his petrified disciples there on the mountain top? “Rise, and have no fear” (Matthew 17:7). It is not a word of correction or condemnation. It is not a word of disappointment or demand. It is a word of grace. That word of grace points ahead to Jesus’ own rising from the dead, and his message to his frightened disciples on that first Easter morning: “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:5, 10). Even before Jesus pronounced this word of grace to Peter, James, and John, we are told that he first touched them (Matthew 17:7). That small gesture carries with it great meaning. Human touch is a very personal, tangible way of expressing care and concern, especially in the face of fear. We know this in our own lives, and this is the gift our transfigured Lord Jesus Christ gave to his disciples there on the mountain top.

What is it that we fear in our own lives today? There are so many things: the fracturing of our society into tribalism; what the future holds not only for ourselves, but for our children and their children; the dehumanization of people who are different from us; the loss of moral stability; increasing violence; loneliness and isolation. Truth is, there can be good reason to be afraid of these things and more. When we are facedown in our fear, the Lord Jesus comes to us just as he did to Peter, James and John. He comes to us with a gentle touch, with a word of grace: “Rise, and have no fear” (Matthew 17:7). The nail-pierced hand of Jesus reaches out to each one of us today. Because Jesus is risen from the dead, because he lives and reigns to all eternity, because he has touched us with his grace and mercy, we need have no fear. Our lives are in his care and keeping; our future is secure in him, come what may. And so we listen to him. Amid all the other voices calling out to us, we listen to him. We listen and follow him down the mountain and into the valley to face what is ahead: for Jesus, suffering and death upon the cross, and for us, forgiveness, life and salvation. Amen.