Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for His death. But brash, spontaneous Peter pulls Jesus aside and rebukes Him! I always find this fascinating. Here is a man that teaches like no other, who heals the lame, sick, blind, and deaf. A man who raises the dead, feeds thousands on nothing more than a few fish and loaves of bread. A man who has control of the weather and walks on water. Yet, Peter tells Him He's got it wrong. The audacity!! And yet, don't we do the same thing? Don't we look at the promises of God and scoff? Don't we tell God what we think we know?
Jesus puts Peter in his place. Then He gives the disciples a very good teaching. Whoever gives up his rights, his opinions, his worldly ways and follows Jesus will gain eternal life. Those who deny Christ and continue to follow their own ways will lose eternal life. This world is not the big picture. All the wealth, material goods, relationships, power and prestige you gain in this life will not last. You can't take it with you when you die. And it's not going to make you any friends in the next life.
Do you see why these teachings are connected? Jesus taught about His death and resurrection. Peter, in his worldly understanding refused to believe it. Surely he, Peter, could prevent this from happening. In fact, he wasn't going to let it happen. Jesus is just being dramatic. So, Peter pulls Jesus Christ aside and tells Him what is really going to happen. Jesus tells him that he's thinking worldly thoughts instead of Godly thoughts. If Peter continues in this thinking, he will not gain eternal life.
We don't often understand the things of God. As human beings we have come to think that we have the right to understand everything. In fact, we demand it. We pull God aside and tell Him how it is really going to go. We get upset when we don't get our way or the answer we want. But here's the key - God knows the big picture. He knows what happened, what's happening, and what will happen. He has our best interest at heart. If His answer is "no" or "not right now" He's got a good reason for it. Do to you believe that? Can you let go of your right to know? Can you let go of your human understanding and trust God? It's not an easy thing to do, but the confidence and peace you gain is so much better than the hurt, disappointment, and anxiety you're living with now.
Jesus ends His discourse with another difficult Scripture. There are many suggested interpretations for this Scripture - a quick Internet search or a good study Bible will list them for you. However, most scholars agree that this Scripture refers to the transfiguration of Christ, which we will read about Monday.
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