Monday: Confessing the Christ
One of the grand moments in the story of Jesus occurred in a dialogue with Peter. Jesus just had been dealing with some of the scribes and Pharisees who had been challenging Him to give them a sign, something to prove who He was (see Matt. 16:1-4).
Image©LifewayCollectionGoodsalt.com
Then, later, alone with the disciples, Jesus talked about the two miracles He had performed, in which He twice fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish. He did all this in the context of warning the disciples about the “leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:11).
Read Matthew 16:13-17. What is happening here? What is the significance of Peter’s words to Jesus?
Peter here spoke boldly of his faith in Jesus. And it’s clear from Matt. 16:20 that his confession of Christ as the Messiah was shared by the others, as well. This was to be a turning point in the ministry of Jesus, even though the disciples, including Peter, had much more to learn.
“The disciples still expected Christ to reign as a temporal prince. Although He had so long concealed His design, they believed that He would not always remain in poverty and obscurity; the time was near when He would establish His kingdom. That the hatred of the priests and rabbis would never be overcome, that Christ would be rejected by His own nation, condemned as a deceiver, and crucified as a malefactor,-such a thought the disciples had never entertained.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 415.
As soon as the disciples recognize Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus begins teaching that He must suffer and die (see Matt. 16:21-23), a concept that Peter could not accept. Peter goes as far as to “rebuke” Jesus. Jesus then turns to Peter and says, “‘Get behind Me, Satan’” (Matt. 16:23, NKJV). This is one of the harshest things that He said to anybody during His ministry; yet, He did it for Peter’s own good. Peter’s words reflected his own desires, his own selfish attitude about what he wanted. Jesus had to stop him in his tracks, right then and there (and though Jesus was really speaking to Satan, Peter got the message). Peter needed to learn that serving the Lord would involve suffering. That he learned this lesson is clear in his later writings (see 1 Peter 4:12).
| How often do your personal desires clash with what you know God wants you to do? How do you decide what to do in those situations? |
(34)
Many times, like Peter, we speak before applying our minds or intuition. We are presumptuous and think we know it all. We don't wait for revelation, pray about it or answer according to the revealed word of God and thus miss the mark. We speak from our mind yet to be carnally minded is enemity against God.
many times our personal desires clash with what Gods wants in us,
but we must obey , leave everything we do and spend a few moments with God.
What does Matt 16:28 means when it says that some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
Obviously, none of the people then witnessed Christ coming in his kingdom.
They did. Matthew 17:1-5 describes how Jesus was transfigured before some of his disciples.Those disciples were allowed to see Jesus in his glory (vs 2), a preview of what would be in his 2nd coming.
In Matt 16:28 I believe Jesus was referring to the Transfiguration. Peter mentions the transfiguration in 2 Peter 1:16-18, "16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain." The transfiguration occurs in Matt 17 approximately 6 days later. Peter, James & John had not tasted death, yet.
Dear Kelvin, the following chapter (Mathew 17) contains the answer to the question. The transfiguration was a foretaste of His second coming. Consider the similarities at this scene (especially verse 2) with how our Lord Jesus is described to appear during His second time in the gospels and other passages. Peter later on alluded to it in 2 Peter 1:16,17. Moses and Elijah representing two special groups of people at the second coming of Jesus (the dead in Christ and righteous who shall not taste death be as Paul also affirmed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). I would like to recommend you to read The Desire of Ages, Chap. 46, E. G. White -has more about it.
The promise still stands sure this day, Jesus is coming soon.
God loves you!
Six days later Jesus took Peter, James and John to the mountain and he was transfigured before them
kelvin, If you think of it in terms of Christ becoming the conquering King and defeating Satan as Prince of this world at the cross, resurrection and ascension, it is evident that this happened and His disciples witnessed it. Christ then was seen by his disciples being taken up to heaven to sit down at the right hand of God and His Angel promised His return. They literally saw the "Son of Man" come into His Kingdom.
It always amazes me to read that Jesus told His disciples, in advance, of his suffering and even of His resurrection, yet it was as though they never heard a word. Could it be that we only hear what we want to hear and discount those hard things that are sure to come? But, as pointed out, we are not to consider it strange when it does happen. Are we prepared from hearing all of Jesus' words or will we deny Him at the first sign of trouble?
What is revealed to me in Jesus's rebuke to Peter is that when we speak or do anything contrary to what God has spoken we represent the evil one. It does not matter how sincere we are or that we may feel it should be accepted .The truth is God's way is the only way. We must conform to it or we will find ourselves outside of His will and on enemy territory.
If anything, the inability to comprehend what Jesus clearly pointed out should help us see the power of false ideas cherished and the blindness that prejudice can inflict on the unbelieving.
If we submit our minds, body & soul to Jesus He will change our hearts so that our desires are in harmony with His desires. See Desire of Ages pg 668
When are we to trust our level of Commitment? You are the most deceived person you know. I am the most deceived person I know. If there is one person I distrust the most it is I. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer. 17:9. To acknowledge the distrust of oneself coupled with the trust of what has been offered us is the only way to go. And to maintain this mind set till the day we get taken up is our strength.
This does not license us to allow sin. It should only cause us to grab on more tightly. And not let go less he blesses us. ( the little time of Jacob's trouble).
This comment by Jesus has puzzled many since none of the disciples or others present are alive today.This tells us that Jesus was not referring to his second coming when he will resurrect the saints.
The next important event after this pronouncement was the Transfiguration.Here the disciples... Peter,James,John...saw Jesus in all his glory and splendor.This is a glimpse of what will occur when He comes to put an end to sin.
It's not a rare coincidence to not understand Gods will. Sometimes I've found myself trying to help the Lord by modifying His plan for me because I don't understand it.
What I'm learning is that Gods way is best, even though I don't think it'll work. There is no short cut or easier way to do His will than to do what He says and follow in the path He leads.
While confessing that Jesus was the long hoped for Messiah, Peter and the others had no idea then of the true mission of Christ. Jesus' teachings and miracles were viewed as evidence of great power more than acts of grace toward sinners. Their hopes were aimed toward the overthrow of Rome rather than overcoming sin, as their eyes of understanding were veiled by fables and traditions rather than Truth, which Jesus revealed to them in all He said and did.
Jesus' victory over temptation was always; “It is written”, as He acknowledged the Word and Will of God above all else(Ps 16:8), including every desire and inclination. Jesus demonstrated always the sanctifying power of God's Truth, found in His Word(John 17:17). This Word and Truth can only sanctify the life if it is placed above our will by choosing each day whom we will serve. Sin is nothing more or less than exalting self above God.
O how I long to have His will done in my life. I pray that I will be keen to master the language through which He communicates His plans for me.
We as Christians need to keep our eyes, our mind, and our heart on Jesus at all times, not some times. In his heart, Peter took his eyes off to think, he is doing it on his own, then his troubles began. He started sinking and then he cried out. This is to tell us we need to depend on Jesus at all times not some times.
In Matthew 16 verses 1-4 we see Christ having a discourse with the Pharisees and Sadducees,men who had designed a plot to tempt Him. They asked the Lord to show them a sign from heaven to prove He was indeed the Son of God. If indeed He'd showed them such a sign from heaven, they'd have attributed it to Beelzebub, the prince of the power of the air. Or perhaps they wanted a similar display of thunder and lightning that was shown in Sinai when God gave them the Ten Commandments. They wanted a sign that they'd chosen, disdainfully rejecting the great miracles that Jesus had performed before their very eyes. Clearly they did not require a sign to prove He was the Son of God, but rather their purpose was to discredit Christ and discount His influence among the people. It was a clear case of wanting to serve their personal desires.
For sure, Peter believed Jesus is Christ, it's just the nature and mission is what he missed.
One lesson is clear hear, the moment you believe in who Christ is, that moment you start getting the true picture of who He is.
Are we any different? We believe God. But we don't understand His work today. We quibble over trivia--doctrinal details that are clear in scripture (because God doesn't want us to focus on them); over which translation of the Bible is proper; over what type of music is proper (what type does God like?); even over the what color the carpet should be. Embarrassingly, a few years ago our denomination's top two leaders were not on speaking terms for much of a year because they had scheduled conflicting evangelistic meetings and neither was willing to back down or change their published dates. God still loves us and tries to explain to us, "its about people, stupid" as we continue our divisiveness of majoring in minors.