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Day 26
Are You a Disciple of Jesus?
By Al Menconi
I've
always found
the way Jesus relates to Peter in Matthew
16:13-24 interesting. In the first part
of this passage, Jesus asks His disciples
what the people were saying about Him: “Who
do people say (think) the Son of Man
is?” They came up with some safe
answers: "Some say John the Baptist,
others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah
, or one of the other prophets."
Then Jesus went deeper with His disciples. "Who
do you say I am?" I can
almost see them standing around, afraid
to say what they were really thinking
and hoping. As a former schoolteacher,
I used to see this all the time: kids
who had the answer, but were afraid to
say it out loud. What if they were wrong?
What if someone laughed? What if they
were disappointed?
None of these things seemed to bother
the impulsive Peter. Without hesitation,
he simply stated the truth: "You
are the Christ, the Son of the Living
God!" That was the first time anyone
had said out loud what they suspected
from the beginning. Jesus was God!
Jesus responded like the good Teacher
He was. He reinforced Peter: "You
are right. And upon this Truth I will
build My Church." Wow, Jesus had
just used him as a good example in front
of the rest of the "students." I
can just see Peter's self-confidence
grow.
In the next part of the passage, we
find Jesus telling His disciples that
He must suffer at the hands of the Jewish
elders and be killed. Peter with his
new found confidence felt the need to
speak out again. I can almost see him
motioning to Jesus. "Psst. Hey,
Jesus, come over here for a minute. I
have something important to tell you.
Don't die!" Can you believe it?
Peter was giving advice to God!!
We might expect Jesus to have a little
more patience with Peter's arrogance,
explaining and comforting him with something
like, "You don't understand. Three
days after they crucify Me, I’ll
rise from the dead! So don't worry." But
He didn't. He said, "Get behind
Me, Satan!" Why would Jesus call
Peter Satan? Especially after He had
just praised Peter for identifying him
as the Son of God. After all, he was
only looking out for Jesus’ best
interests! Right?
Was Peter really looking out for Jesus,
or was he actually looking out for himself?
Think about it. Try to imagine what was
going through his mind at the time. He
knew there were twelve tribes of Israel
. He looked around and saw twelve disciples.
He believed Jesus was going to set up
the Kingdom of God in Jerusalem , and
then the disciples would become the leaders
of the Twelve Tribes. If Jesus died,
Peter would lose all he had hoped for
those past three years. He didn't understand
that Jesus' Kingdom was a heavenly kingdom.
All Peter knew was that Jesus was going
to be king. Kings rule. Friends of kings
would rule with the king. If the king
dies, all is lost.
Jesus had no patience with Peter because
Peter wasn't really looking out for Jesus
or the Kingdom of God . He was only thinking
of himself. After calling Peter Satan,
I can almost see Jesus whirl around and
point at the rest of the disciples and
tell them at full volume, "If anyone
wants to be my disciple, he must deny
himself, take up his cross [implying
that they must also die on it] and follow
Me!"
This is our calling today, as well.
If we truly want to be a disciple of
Jesus, we must be honest about who we
really serve and be willing to die to
our selfish desires. When He died, we
died with Him (Romans 6:2-3), and our
rights died as well.
Reflection: Are you
ready to deny yourself, take up your
cross and die with Jesus? What does that
mean in the context of your current lifestyle?
What would you change today that you
would not have been able or willing to
change before you started The Full
Tilt Media Challenge? Think about
it....
Response: Is there
a favorite TV program, movie, or entertainment
activity that you need to “sacrifice” in
order to spend the time with God? Is
this something you are ready/willing
to do every day?
Verse of the Day: Psalm 9:11
"Sing praises
to the Lord, enthroned in Zion ;
proclaim among the nations what He
has done." (NIV)
This is just one of dozens of verses
that specifically command us to sing
praises to the Creator. Don’t forget
that this is a direct command from God.
Do you sing praises to the Lord outside
of Sunday morning? Why not? Christian
music can help us fulfill this command.
It would be good to understand that
the writer of this verse, King David,
was referred to by God as a man after
God’s own heart. Don’t get
David confused with other patriarchs
from the Old Testament. This guy was
a murderer, an adulterer, a liar, a rotten
father, and even a “crybaby.” It
seems that he didn’t have anything
going for himself. Then why was he the
line of Christ, and why would God call
him “a man a man after my heart?”
I believe it is because he understood
the purpose of singing in his heart to
the Lord. It didn’t make him perfect
and deserving of God’s love, but
his songs constantly brought him to the
throne of God and helped him see life
as it really is – from God’s
viewpoint. How do you see live?
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