You are the Messiah (Part 3)

      So what can we take away from this passage? What can we learn? First, we must realize that Jesus cares about what people think about Him. At the time of this passage, the people believed Jesus was some sort of prophet. What would people say today if asked the same question? Sadly, I believe the majority of people would say that Jesus never existed. Even more so, I believe that people today feel they have no need for Jesus, as I said at the beginning of this message. People don’t want to believe in Jesus as Messiah, because they feel that Jesus is a hindrance to them. They don’t believe Jesus is their Messiah, they look to other things to be their “messiah”. Seeking money, pleasure, respect, and power becomes their messiah. This should concern us because it definitely concerns Jesus. We also must consider Jesus’ second question- “who do you say I am? (verse 29)”. Our view of Jesus is shaped by the relationship that we have with Jesus. Jesus is just as concerned about our relationship with Him as He is with our view of Him. We know that Jesus is the Messiah, but do we know what that means? It is one thing to know the answer to this question, it is another to understand it. So what is the proper understanding of who Jesus is? To answer this, we must understand the Cross. Jesus told the disciples about the Cross because the Cross is how He would save us. The Cross is the ultimate picture of who Jesus is. The Cross reveals many things about Jesus, such as His wisdom, power, authority, and obedience; but ultimately it reveals His love. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He loved them enough to die on the Cross for them. When Peter rebukes Jesus, Peter does it out of his love for Jesus, because Peter did not want Jesus to suffer these things. What Peter needed to understand is that Jesus must suffer these things in order to save him. Jesus wanted Peter to understand His love for him. Sadly, we see that Peter could not grasp Jesus’ love for him, because he was only concerned about worldly things. Peter’s life did not change at this point even though He knew Jesus was Messiah. Only after Peter experienced the power of Jesus’ resurrection did He truly understand who Jesus was. After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter underwent a major change in his life, and began speaking boldly to others about Jesus. Sometimes we too may hold the wrong view of Jesus because of our emotions or limited understanding of Him. Jesus doesn’t want us to rely on our emotions or our understanding; He wants us to rely on His love. He wants us to experience the power of His resurrection and to be changed because of it. His love is enough for us.
      I spoke at the beginning about my high school friends. Many times they asked me why I did the things that I do: why I go to church, why I don’t go to parties, etc. I would simply just answer- “Because I believe as a Christian that I should go to church and I shouldn’t go to parties or etc.” If they asked me now, I would probably tell them that it is because Jesus is my Messiah, and because of that I cannot be the same. The power of the Cross and Jesus’ resurrection changes the way that I live. When I see the students around me and wonder why I continue to live in the manner I do, I know that it is because Jesus is the Messiah. However, it is not enough just to know that Jesus is my Messiah; Jesus wants all people to know that He is the Messiah. Jesus is asking me “who do people say I am? (verse 27)”? Jesus is asking us- “who do you say I am? (verse 29)”.  Jesus is our Messiah; not one who came to rule over the earth by exerting power and authority, but one who came down to become one of us. He is our Messiah who suffered and died and rose again in order to save us from sin and death. He is our Messiah who loves us. Let’s read the key verse together- “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ (verse 29)”.
-Smart
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