Week of 3/31-4/6: His Life - The Suffering King

Day One: Matthew 16:13-16, 21-24 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”... From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to You!” But He turned and told Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

DO YOU KNOW THE FASTEST WAY TO get a ton of Facebook comments? Post something that takes a strong political or religious stand. If you were to post a status condemning abortion or endorsing a candidate for president, you’re almost guaranteed to start a heated discussion. You’ll probably have supporters on both sides of the issue quick to offer encouragement or to call you names. You’ll have people politely show you where they think you went wrong in your thinking and you’ll have others that are quick to come to your defense. The thing is, Facebook allows us to have an open public forum on just about any topic we choose.

Jesus conducted a brief public forum of His own. He polled His disciples by asking what the people they encountered thought of Him. People’s opinions of Jesus were quite high, and, like today, it seemed like everyone had something to say about Him!

The thing we must keep in mind with these hot-button issues is ultimately our opinions don’t matter. The only thing that really matters is that our belief corresponds with, or matches, reality. Jesus wasn’t concerned with being popular or having a high approval rating. Jesus was concerned that the people’s opinion of Him matched the reality that He is the Messiah.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷How do you think the world would describe Jesus?

▷▷How would you describe Jesus?

▷▷How do you know which of these descriptions is better?

▷▷How can ensure our understanding of Jesus matches the reality of who Jesus is?