Skip to main content

Tests, Trials and Questions


            When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
                They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
                “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
                Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
               Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20)

            There are some people who teach that today's passage shows that Jesus was discouraged or feeling insecure, so He asked His disciples these two questions. There may be others who think He asked them because He felt the need to see how well His marketing program was working. I think they've forgotten that Jesus was a rabbi, which means teacher, and the disciples were His disciples, which means students.  A teacher doesn't ask a student "What does two plus two equal?" because the teacher doesn't know the answer is four. The teacher asks in order to find out if the student knows, and in order for the student to find out that the student knows.
                        Peter got the answer right, and Jesus not only told him it was the right answer, but also that the Father had revealed it to him. He gave the right answer, which he got from the right source. That means that Peter was in the sort of relationship with the Father in which such communication was possible.
            The Bible talks about tests and trials that we face, and about God doing things to find out  whether someone would obey, was righteous, etc.  These aren't because God doesn't know. God is omniscient. In asking these questions, in giving these tests, God reveals us to us. More importantly, He reveals something about Himself to us.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On the Calendar 
 Battles of Lexington and Concord
Birthday of
Roger Sherman (signer of Articles of Association, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Constitution)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more