The Story – Chapter 25 – Jesus, the Son of God

Matthew 16: 13-23 (Peter’s Confession of Christ and Jesus Predicts His Death)

 The time of death for our savior is drawing near. Matthew 16 tells of Jesus asking His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Their responses: “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus responded; “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in Heaven.” Their interactions continued, and Jesus told his disciples of what was to come. He shared that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, that He must be killed, and on the third day be raised to life.

Certainly none of the disciples wanted to hear this, or believe it was going to happen, but Peter was the one who took him aside and as scripture says “began to rebuke him” which basically means to scold. “Never Lord!” he said, “this shall never happen to you!” In his heart Simon Peter probably meant he did not want it to happen and would do everything he could to prevent it, but that is not what Jesus wanted to hear. A few moments before, Peter’s words were most pleasing to the Lord, suddenly he was no longer in His favor. “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” This one phrase totally changed everything. I’m sure that has happened to all of us at some point. We say something with good intentions, but suddenly it is taken wrongly by another and the mood turns negative, and no matter what is said at this point—it’s too late.

This scene brings to my mind The Lord’s Prayer. The part that says; “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” Just as Simon Peter did not want tragedy to strike Jesus, we too want only good for ourselves and our loved ones, however that may not be the will of the Lord. We pray for many things that will make our lives and the lives of others more pleasant, yet we do not understand the way God orchestrates everything to work together. We cannot. Jesus had to go through what He did, and die so that we can truly live. That was the will of God. Today I pray, and I pray hard, that we will always remember it is not our will that will make the difference in this life, but the will of our Precious Lord.   

Read/Listen Matthew 16: 13-23

Listen to Blessings by Laura Story