WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Ever thought you understood something, only to find you hadn’t really? Prepare to read about a classic example of this spiritual phenomenon. A crucial question Following the spiritual intensity of the preceding few days, Jesus takes his disciples away from it all and poses a crucial question. They themselves have also asked this question (4:41): ‘Who do people say I am?’ (v 27) and ‘What about you?’ (v 29). Peter’s is a brilliant shaft of insight, a quantum leap of spiritual imagination. Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to grasp Jesus’ own understanding of being the Messiah (Christ). In verse 31 Jesus makes the first of three predictions of his suffering, rejection and resurrection (see also 9:31 and 10:33,34). For Jesus being the Christ involved suffering. A severe rebuke Peter’s denial of Jesus’ explanation provokes the severest of rebukes (v 33). Peter is not actually Satan at this point but he articulated what must have been one of Jesus’ most pressing tests or temptations – seeking to achieve God’s aims while avoiding the pain and suffering involved in them (see Matthew 4:1–11). And what is true for Jesus is true for his followers (vs 34–38). In a final comment Jesus identifies a future moment when severe testing and the action of the kingdom of God would overtake his followers (9:1). Respond: Pray for those who, like Peter, have come a long way in understanding Jesus, but struggle with aspects they find unacceptable. http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-09-13