Someone we love drops a Bomshell

Matthew 20:17-19

Many of us, no, most of us have been enjoying a great day and out of what seems as no where, someone we love drops a bombshell leaving us unable to speak.  This is Matthew’s account of such a day.  “And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

This was such a day as we referred to above, one that leaves a person speechless?  Do you recall Jesus asking the question: “Who do people say that I am?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.”  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13b-16)  Picking up the account in verses 21-23, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”  I bet both you and the disciples recall what happened next on that day in the district of Caesarea Philippi, when Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!  This shall never happen to you.”  But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a hindrance to me.  For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Have you given thought to why they were quiet when Jesus told them He must go to Jerusalem and die, could it have been in their minds, we have not gotten many of the answers right so far, questions like who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, or the question about the little children coming to Jesus?  It seems that the showstopper is Jesus telling Peter after his confession; “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  You know what happened, Jesus told Peter, “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:17b-18)

Peter’s confession of Jesus being the Son of God is what God will build His church on and just a very short time later, Jesus is referring to Peter as one controlled by Satan.  WOW, do you now understand why Jesus’ statement in Matthew 20:18-19 was a showstopper.  But we, as followers of Christ, should also give thought to how easy it is to go from walking in the Spirit, listening to the Spirit, and in the next breath, setting your mind on self and things of the flesh.  We should never forget that our battle is not with people, but with the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Each of us are to prepare for this battle on a daily basis, we are in a war, it’s not a battle, it’s a war against darkness, we are the light of the world, so let your light shine, be for something, not against everything.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice