Thursday, September
13, 2018
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. Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Mark 8:29-33(NLT)
We are preparing for this weekend’s worship (using the Lectionary
Gospel text). As we saw in yesterday’s
devotion, there was an overwhelming response to the ministry of teaching,
healing, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
Jesus had sent out the disciples to spread the word, and they came back
incredibly hyped over all that was happening.
Then He popped a rather innocuous little question on them … tell
me, what do the people think; WHO do they think I am? Some thought Jesus was the return of Elijah
or John the Baptist come back from the dead, God’s deliverer, a supernatural Messiah
Who arrives on Heaven’s mission to save us all.
Those answers prompted the final question, a real bomb: How about YOU; who do YOU think I am? Let’s look at the right answer and the wrong
attitude disciples have been carrying around ever since Jesus asked the
question.
The Right Answer
Peter, ever the impetuous quick-to-talk-slow-to-think
leader of the band got it right. He got
an “A” for recognizing that Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us.
But then Jesus began dropping the
rest of the story on the disciples about how He would suffer rejection by the
rulers and be killed, yet three days later resurrected from the dead. It was too much for Peter; he took Jesus
aside and asked him to tone it down.
The Wrong Attitude
This moment of Peter’s wrong attitude in his brash attempt to
control Jesus brought about a harsh response; Jesus called his disciple Satan. Now, it’s not that Peter opted for the red
suit, pitchfork, and growing horns; the word means “adversary”. Peter was coming crossways to Jesus’ mission,
and the Lord had to correct him quickly.
This is a moment all disciples experience sooner or later. It is that moment when you awaken to the
reality that actually living the life of your will surrendered to Christ’s is not
going to be what you thought it would be, and certainly not as easy as it seemed.
Jesus teaches us he is not our personal
vending machine; you just cannot pop-in a nickel’s-worth of prayer and,
voila, out pops your answer.
Jesus’ answer to Peter’s (OCD), control-freak management was
simple and painfully dead-on the mark … Simon, you just don’t know what you’re
saying; you’re looking at it in human wisdom; I’m trying to teach you to see
with Godly eyes.
And this sets the stage for all of us to understand that the basis
for becoming a follower of Jesus is the same for living that life – we sing the
song: I surrender all! Being a Christian disciple means learning
from Christ, not instructing God how things ought to be.
For You Today
In preparing to worship this weekend, what is it that you hope
will come of the worship service…revival?
People saved? Lives changed? Perhaps some miracle to make your life
easier?
Here’s a thought:
If your prayers end with anything other than not my will, but Thine be done,
it’s time to get a new way of praying.
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