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

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more