Hearing the voice of God, as recounted in the  Gospel of Luke 9: 28-36, 37-43a.

Reading the Gospel aloud invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as revealed in the Bible. We can leave interpretation and meaning to members of the clergy and other scholars. What we are most interested in as lay readers is the human experience found in the narrative.

“the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.”

This excerpt from a passage from the Luke 9 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV.

You can listen to a recording of this passage here.

First Impressions

The passage includes two short and distinct episodes. The first begins with the ascent of mountain and prayer because what’s about to happen is not of this world. It’s visionary and dreamlike. It prefigures the departure of Jesus into the world to come and his communion with Elijah and Moses. It’s an episode literally clouded in mystery that suggests a back story far deeper than we can imagine and a future glory in the company of prophets, nation builders and Christ. The vision is dazzling by our earthly standards.

The second episode begins with a return to earth (coming down from the mountain) and is very much of this world.  A father in despair for a child tormented.

Fathers and Sons

The two episodes contrast two fathers and their sons. For both, their sons are their only child. Jesus is chosen by God his father to be exalted. The second father and son are nameless and cruelly victimized by a demon. One father is desperate to save his son from this world, the greater father willingly gives his son to save this world. Both sons are, or will soon be, tormented, delivered and given back to their fathers.

Peter, John and James are not just witness to unworldly events on the mountain, “It’s good that we are here.” But they actually hear the voice of God. What these simple fishermen see is astonishing, yes. But what they HEAR is surely almost incredible. They literally HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD.

In the first episode Jesus is in his glory. In the second episode, Jesus shows that he is only too human. “Faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you…”   Jesus knows that faith is what cures, releases, and makes you clean. If the disciples fail to cast out the malevolent spirit, it’s a failure of faith. Are the disciples not up to the task ahead? Are those suffering too preoccupied with their own afflictions to be mindful of their faith? Is there a note of futility in his voice? The lesser miracle he performs here seems routine and almost dismissive in light of the preceding events up on the mountain.

Jesus knows he’ll be leaving soon and begins the mental and emotional separation process, “[How much longer] must I bear with you..?”

Both episodes pass very quickly, but are astounding nonetheless.

Text Analysis

Here we’re looking for words and phrases that make vivid the experience described in the reading.  We are also looking for keys to the subtext.

The first episode is set up on the mountain.  What is expected to be prayer becomes appearances on high of the transformation of Jesus being visited by Elijah and Moses in their glory. The rarified air of the mountain top is the perfect place to experience what is about to happen. We first encounter dazzling white.

The disciples are enveloped in a cloud: overcome by sleep and then in a fog they’re terrified.  A voice comes from the cloud. They are completely discomfited and know not what they are saying…

The second episode is down to earth, brutally physical and equally terrifying. Words like shrieks, foams, mauls, convulses, and dashes dominate.

Reading this passage aloud

There’s mystery in the first episode. A dreamlike quality pervades. And the biggest challenge for the reader is to image what must it be like to see Moses and Elijah standing before you? Would you recognize them immediately?

Then, what must it be like to literally hear the voice of God?  As a reader, this doesn’t mean that you should try to mimic what you think the voice of God sounds like. What would the voice of God sound like if God had your voice? What does sure power, infused with love, sound like in a voice?

What’s the experience of hearing God speak directly to you and to those with you?  Would you say to one another softly, tentatively, almost fearing to know the answer, “Did you just hear what I heard?” Or, would you tell no one what you heard?

There is a slight pause between the two episodes.

Then the brutality of demon possession and the evils of this world are made graphically real. The father’s voice is desperate. The son is perhaps not passive, but utterly helpless. The action is sudden and ruthless.

The voice of Jesus is perhaps weary, resigned, and compassionate: all three at once. He easily and swiftly rebukes the demon, heals the son and gives him back to his father in one continuous act.

And all are astonished.

What do you hear in this passage?