In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today we celebrate one of the five major feast days of the Armenian Church. In the Armenian language today is traditionally called “Vart-a-var”—the feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This feast celebrates an incredible event in the life of Jesus that was witnessed by His three closed disciples—Peter, James and John.
This special event took place after Jesus and His disciples spent several days teaching and preaching and healing people of various illnesses. Crowds gathered wherever they went and people pressed in to see Him and touch Him everywhere He went. After six days of this, Jesus instructs His three closest disciples to go with Him to rest and to pray on a mountain called Tabor.
What He didn’t tell them at this point was that they were about to see something no one else on earth had ever seen before. They were about to experience God the Father and God the Son and the Holy Spirit together. They were chosen to see the Son of God as He was before He walked the earth, before He left the Gates of Heaven and as was read a moment ago, these three disciples witnessed an extraordinary event. Jesus Christ was altered by the Light of Heaven and seen standing in the Kingdom of Heaven. At that moment, the three disciples saw Him transfigured and transformed. They saw Him as the Son of God, who always was and always will be. They saw a peek into Heaven, but the Bible also records that the three disciples heard a voice on that mountain. It was a voice they never heard before.
That voice surrounded them and said, “This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” When Peter, James and John heard this voice, they fell to their knees and hid their faces out of fear for what they just experienced. But moments later, Jesus came to them and helped them to their feet and back down the mountain telling them not to be afraid. The three disciples followed Jesus up the mountain to get away from the crowds and the noise and from the demands of their lives to find a quiet place to pray and when they did that, they heard the Voice of God.
According to the Bible, a typical day in the life of the disciples included the noise and activity of city and village life. So, for them to get away and to find some quiet time was a luxury. They craved quiet, peaceful, personal time so that they could be still and hear the Voice of God in their lives.
This is one of the more significant messages of this feast day celebration. God waits every day for each of us to stop for a moment and listen to Him. Think about that honor that the King of Heaven has things He wants to say to us. Too many of us become so overly preoccupied with the busyness of life that we become distracted from His presence. Just like Peter, James and John, we often let His voice become drowned out by our busyness. Maybe His voice is drowned out by the rush hour traffic we all fight through every day or by phones ringing and texting at all hours of the day or night. It may be drowned out by the increasing number of appointments on our calendars or maybe our hearing is focused in on the sounds of this world and tuned out to the sound of His Voice.
The King of Heaven has a message we need to hear. He has things to say that will benefit our lives and make our lives all the better. So, as yourself on this feast day,
• What will it take to hear the Voice of God every day?
• What is it that you need to hear Him say right now?
The Feast of the Transfiguration offers us a chance to hear the Voice of God.
Amen.
