Jump Start # 1521

Luke 8:33 “As these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles; one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”- not realizing what he was saying.”

  Our verse today comes from the amazing transfiguration of Jesus. The Lord had revealed just a few days before this that He was going to Jerusalem and that He was going to suffer many things by the priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day. This wasn’t the first time that Jesus talked about His coming death, but now He gave some details. The place: Jerusalem. Those involved: chief priests and scribes. The result: He would die and be raised up again. Peter rebuked Jesus for saying that.

Now, just days from that revelation, Jesus is transfigured with Moses and Elijah and they are discussing His departure or exit. How fitting since Moses was taken by the Lord and actually buried by God and Elijah never died. Those two, representing the Law and the prophets had unique “exists”. Their presence there was more for the three apostles, Peter, James and John, than for Jesus. Their presence indicated that they were still “alive.” The three apostles had been sleeping. They would be sleeping when Jesus was later praying in the garden. Sleepy disciples would make a title for a good lesson some day. They awaken, and there is Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Jesus is different. He has been transfigured. His face and clothes were radiant with light. The light wasn’t upon Him like a spotlight, but the light was coming from Him. He was showing these three His glory. He pulled back the curtain and showed them “this is what God looks like.” They hadn’t seen that before. To them, Jesus was more man than God. He could do unique and special things, but He still seemed like one of them. Not now. Now they saw Him as He truly is. Both Peter and John would refer to this event in their writings.

The awakened Peter declares that he wants to honor all three. He wants to honor them equally. He wants to build three memorials, tabernacles or tents for them. While Peter is talking, God speaks from the Heavens. He interrupts Peter. He declares that Jesus is His Son and then, “Listen to Him.” God didn’t say, “listen to THEM,” but “HIM.” Listen to Jesus. Jesus is not an equal to Moses and Elijah. The words of Jesus are not equal to the Law and the Prophets. Listen to Jesus. That’s always been the need of the hour. We, like Peter, tend to talk too much and we need to just hush and listen to what Jesus says through the word.

Our thoughts are taken from what Peter said. He wanted to honor all three, Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Luke adds that Peter was “not realizing what he was saying.” My friend Kenny, who has written a commentary on Matthew suggested, Don’t try to figure out what Peter meant by those three tabernacles. He didn’t know what he was talking about. If Peter didn’t know, then how can we?

That’s the point. That’s us. So often, we as well, do not know what we are saying, yet, just like Peter, we feel compelled to have to say it anyway. So we talk about things and give advice about things that we do not understand. That’s a sure recipe for disaster.

Sometimes we preachers can be guilty of this. We try to wear every hat imaginable and we travel down the road of counselors, often getting involved in some very complicated issues that are way beyond us and before long, we are “not realizing what we are saying.” What we say may be bum advice. It may actually make things worse. I tell folks that I can help them spiritually and point things out from the Bible, but I’m not a trained counselor and many things are way beyond me. Get some help may be better advice than saying things you do not understand. Find a good conservative counselor who is pro marriage.

Sometimes we can give advice about what another ought to do without really knowing the situation. We hear one side of the story or we hear bits and pieces and that’s all it takes to form an opinion, make a judgment and tell others what we think they ought to do. That can be dangerous, especially if we are talking about things that we do not know. Sometimes when both sides of the story is revealed, it changes things and especially what we would now say. Solomon’s “a time to speak and a time to be quiet” doesn’t fit many folks anymore. It seems everyone has something to say and no one wants to be quiet.

It is amazing that everyone these days are experts in just about every area of life. It is amazing that folks who devote their entire lives to the music industry or Hollywood can be experts in politics, or morals or religion. They, much like Peter, speak things without realizing what they are saying.

So, what should Peter have done? It’s easy to backseat drive. It’s easy, after the fact, to come up with all kinds of “you should have done this” ideas. The most obvious thing is that Peter should have thought things out before he spoke. That’s hard to do, especially for those who are like Peter. I’m one of those. Quick to talk. Always with an opinion. Ready with the answer. Pulling back and being quiet is hard. Understanding that some things are not our business is hard.

As hard as it is to be quiet, having to retract and try to take back what you already said, can be painful and disastrous. So much damage can be done by saying things without “realizing what we are saying,” that it can ruin relationships. When someone says, “I didn’t mean what I said…” My first thought is, “why did you say it, if you didn’t mean it?” That’s hard to figure out.

Peter didn’t realize what he was saying. Do you think we could learn from this? Do you think we could put the brakes on our mouths? Can we put a “guard upon our mouths?” as the O.T. declares?

If one of the chosen had trouble with this, it shouldn’t surprise us that you and I struggle with this. Watch what we say to our mate and our families. Sometimes we can be nicer to strangers than we are to the people we love the most. Watch what you say to co-workers. They judge you by what you are saying. There is more to it than just the immediate conversation. They are forming an opinion about you, your church, your faith and even your God by the way and by what you say. Be careful. Watch what you say to brethren. Your words can be oxygen to a soul or it can be a death blow that crushes their spirit and hope. Be careful.

Peter didn’t realize what he was saying…

Roger