Living Out the Text: Who is Jesus?
Jesus starts this passage by asking the disciples who people said he was. That wasn't really is main issue, however, That was just a teaser. Nevertheless, the disciples respond by sharing all of the rumors they have heard about Jesus. Then Jesus gets to the main point. He asks them who they think he is. Peter immediately pops up and says that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus congratulates Peter and then says that he will build his church and says that he is giving Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. This implies that Peter is going to have an assignment.
This is a very interesting interchange. The core of it is a question that all of us have to answer, who do we think Jesus is? This is one of the most important questions we will every face. Do we think Jesus was a good teacher, a moral leader, a heretic, or the Son of God? This is a question that sooner or later, we all must face. Peter recognized that Jesus was the Son of God, but that raised another implied question, what was he going to do about it? We face the some question. Not only do we need to identify who Jesus is, we need to determine what we will do with that belief. This second question is one that we will answer for the rest of our lives.
We saw Peter's answer to the first question. As we read the rest of the gospels and the book of Acts, we see his answer to the second one. But what about you? How would you answer those two questions? Who do you say Jesus is? What are you going to do about it?
David Dalton
Jesus starts this passage by asking the disciples who people said he was. That wasn't really is main issue, however, That was just a teaser. Nevertheless, the disciples respond by sharing all of the rumors they have heard about Jesus. Then Jesus gets to the main point. He asks them who they think he is. Peter immediately pops up and says that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus congratulates Peter and then says that he will build his church and says that he is giving Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. This implies that Peter is going to have an assignment.
This is a very interesting interchange. The core of it is a question that all of us have to answer, who do we think Jesus is? This is one of the most important questions we will every face. Do we think Jesus was a good teacher, a moral leader, a heretic, or the Son of God? This is a question that sooner or later, we all must face. Peter recognized that Jesus was the Son of God, but that raised another implied question, what was he going to do about it? We face the some question. Not only do we need to identify who Jesus is, we need to determine what we will do with that belief. This second question is one that we will answer for the rest of our lives.
We saw Peter's answer to the first question. As we read the rest of the gospels and the book of Acts, we see his answer to the second one. But what about you? How would you answer those two questions? Who do you say Jesus is? What are you going to do about it?
David Dalton
Exploring the Text: A new identity
When Simon Bar-Jonah identifies that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus congratulates him, and then immediately gives him a new name, the name we know him by most often, Peter. Peter didn't just declare a new idea, he was given a new identity. The same thing happens to us. When we accept Jesus and commit our lives to following him, he gives us a new identity. We may not start going be a different name the way Peter did, but our identity changes in significant ways. We often identify ourselves by our struggles. We identify as an addict or an alcoholic. We identify with some of our more challenging character traits. We identify with our limitations or our disabilities. But when we begin to pursue Jesus, he changes our identity. Our primary identity is no longer any of these things, but that we are loved by God and a follower of Jesus. Everything else takes a back seat.
We might not understand or live into this right away, but that is how God begins to see us immediately. He doesn't identify us by our struggles, failures, or challenges. He begins to identify us with Jesus. It may take some time and practice, but we can do the same thing. We can begin to see ourselves primarily through our relationship with Jesus and let everything else take a back seat. We can learn to live into our new identity in Jesus.
David Dalton
When Simon Bar-Jonah identifies that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus congratulates him, and then immediately gives him a new name, the name we know him by most often, Peter. Peter didn't just declare a new idea, he was given a new identity. The same thing happens to us. When we accept Jesus and commit our lives to following him, he gives us a new identity. We may not start going be a different name the way Peter did, but our identity changes in significant ways. We often identify ourselves by our struggles. We identify as an addict or an alcoholic. We identify with some of our more challenging character traits. We identify with our limitations or our disabilities. But when we begin to pursue Jesus, he changes our identity. Our primary identity is no longer any of these things, but that we are loved by God and a follower of Jesus. Everything else takes a back seat.
We might not understand or live into this right away, but that is how God begins to see us immediately. He doesn't identify us by our struggles, failures, or challenges. He begins to identify us with Jesus. It may take some time and practice, but we can do the same thing. We can begin to see ourselves primarily through our relationship with Jesus and let everything else take a back seat. We can learn to live into our new identity in Jesus.
David Dalton