The Voice of God

Luke 9:35 - And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Some of us long for divine direction for the decisions we make. We would love to know exactly what to do in any situation. Some of us also crave the certainty comes with miraculous guidance like the voice of God from the clouds on the Mountain of Transfiguration in Luke 9. If we all heard a booming voice from heaven telling us what to do, wouldn't we do it? Wouldn't it erase all doubts?

However, even in Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Gospels only record a voice from heaven speaking three times: once at Jesus’ baptism, once here at the Transfiguration, and once just before his crucifixion in John 12:28. In each of these cases, God’s words were confirming that the real message was in Jesus. Look at the verse above: the disciples were not told to seek more supernatural voices in the clouds. They were told to listen to Jesus.

John even opens his Gospel calling Jesus “The Word.” He is God’s greatest message to mankind. We can hear him in his words recorded in the New Testament. We hear him as we walk with him day by day. (It should not be surprising that “In the Garden” is second only to “Amazing Grace” as the most popular hymn for funerals: “He walks with me and he talks with and he tells me I am his own…”) Supernatural overt revelations are wonderful when they come, but they are not the daily norm. Yet, we can listen to Jesus every day.