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His Word and Mine |
Peter's Confession: Matthew 16:13-20 |
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| Introduction
The Story
Study Questions |
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Introduction |
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| When we read about Jesus' disciples, we need to remember that they had no access to the New Testament because it hadn't been written, and Jesus hadn't publicly identified himself as the Messiah. He left it to people to figure out on their own. By the time this episode occurs, the disciples had witnessed Jesus walking on water, the miracle of turning a little bread and fish into enough food to feed thousands, and hundreds of healings. Today's Christians wonder why the disciples didn't realize from all this that Jesus was the Messiah. It's because they expected the Messiah to be a political warrior like King David. They expected the Messiah would lead a revolution that would free them from Roman rule and restore Israel. They did not expect the Messiah's revolution to be a spiritual one. Furthermore, Jesus wanted his disciples to think for themselves. He provided the information they needed to discuss and draw their own conclusions about who he was, except that he rarely ever mentioned himself. Before reading “Peter's Confession,” read Matthew 16:13-20. |
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Peter's Confession |
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We bought bread and headed north, stopping near Caesarea Philippi where it was quiet. Jesus taught us there. Following Jesus' line of thinking is not easy. You can't always tell when he's speaking literally or figuratively. You can never tell where he's going with his line of questioning. His first question, “Who do men say I am?” was literal and easy for us to answer. We'd spent the last three or four weeks among the public as Jesus healed the sick. So each of us twelve disciples probably spoke to, say, 500 people during that time. We could all answer Jesus' question. Most men we spoke to thought Jesus was a prophet like Elijah or Jeremiah or even John the Baptist. Jesus didn't seem interested in knowing this, though. He immediately asked a different question, a harder one, “But who do you say I am?” That seemed like a trick question to us; we all hesitated. I was thinking why I shouldn't agree with everyone else and call him a prophet, when Peter blurted out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!” Leave it to Peter to say something silly like that. His mouth works faster than his brain. We all snickered at him. But Jesus didn't rebuke him! He blessed him! And not for his answer but for how he arrived at his answer. He said, “Blessed are you because you didn't learn this from people but from my Father in Heaven.” Jesus would have rebuked me for what I'd been preparing to say. Good thing Peter spoke first. Jesus wouldn't have blessed me for my answer. And then, Jesus declared a church would be founded on people's connections to God. If Jesus says it, then it's the truth. This is when Jesus' teachings gelled for me. He doesn't want us to adopt other people's beliefs without consideration and prayer. He wants us to think for ourselves. Peter admitted he'd prayed about Jesus since the beginning and that he'd recently prayed over whether he was the Messiah. Jesus' question nudged him into believing that's who he is. Peter has always been different from us. Now I know why. But at that moment, we were all starting to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. But Jesus warned us not to tell anyone outside our group. Peter told me it's because Jesus wants God to reveal his identity, not people. I fell asleep that night in prayer, asking God to talk to me the same way he spoke to Peter. I also asked him what our purpose was, if we were not to announce that Jesus is our long-awaited Messiah. By morning, God had revealed my answer. I would teach that God is accessible to all through prayer and by loving one another. I would teach what I know and let God transform that knowledge into belief. |
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