Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”
But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Who do you say I am?
Scholars point out Peter’s confession is the turning point of the Gospel of Mark. From here on in, Jesus begins explaining who the Christ really is. The Christ is the savior of the world, the one who will take on death and win.
Mark 1:1 told us readers of Mark who Jesus is: the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We have known who Jesus is the whole time. We knew he was casting out demons, feeding five thousand, healing blind people, and walking on water because he is the Son of God. The disciples now know what we know. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah.
Understanding who Jesus is comes easy when we read the Gospel. It comes much harder when we have to live that understanding out in real life. This is what makes Peter’s declaration so amazing. He has come to this realization through his experiences with Jesus on a day by day basis.
Just as Jesus was more concerned with who the disciples understood him to be than who others thought he was, so he is more interested in who I understand him to be than in who people who write books I read say he is. Jesus wants to know who I say he is based on his revelation to me through Scripture, life, and the Holy Spirit. He wants to know the same thing from us all.
Jesus, you are the Christ, the lord of all creation, heaven and earth. You are Lord of my life, my Savior and God. I believe you are the Son of God who came to save the world. I believe. - Dan Jones
Faith and Ris
kThe cultural air was ripe with expectation. Young and pregnant wives prayed that their wombs held the long promised Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy about a Deliverer who would occupy King David’s throne might come try anytime. Desperate hope filled the air and conversations throughout first century Palestine.
So when One with amazing authority over truth, nature, demons, and human diseases walks among them, of course they declare, “The long awaited…Elijah has come!” Huh!?
I wonder how I would have understood Jesus. Had I listened to his teaching and sat among 5,000 plus people eating a few loaves of bread and baked fish – to their fill – and witnessed a blind man healed by Jesus’ spit, would I have seen anything more than an amazing prophet?
Would I have risked the death of my hope by daring to believe this man just might be the One every one of my people had yearned for, for generations? I know a bit about what it is like to fear letting hope get carried away. It’s always risky. I want to believe, but I am afraid of what would happen if I do, and I’m wrong. Splat.
Great risk always accompanies great opportunity. And no opportunity is greater than filling the hole in my soul with the only Person that fits its shape, God. To believe that God has actually come into my world seeking for me, inviting me to trust and follow him, embrace his death, and revel in his resurrection – this kind of faith cannot be mine except that I’m will to risk everything.
God of Love, I recommit myself to live a life of risky faith, radical trust. I will put my hopes and dreams on the line again today and embrace Jesus as my Messiah, and the worlds Deliverer. - Mike Leamon
No comments:
Post a Comment