Scripture Reflections

“But who do you say that I am?”        (Matthew 16:15)
 
Jesus’ question for his disciples is one of the chief questions of life. Recognizing Jesus is more important than success, power, pleasure—even than scrupulous morality, personal freedom, or family relationships. Perhaps the only other questions that are equally important are, “Will you trust Jesus?” and “Will you obey him?”
 
That is why it is so strange that Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah! Recognizing Jesus is of primary importance, but people were not ready to recognize him, and so rather than saying, “Work hard to persuade them,” Jesus said, “Keep this a secret!”
 
The big hurdle was Jesus’ suffering. Jesus was aiming at the cross—it is how he would redeem his people. And yet the cross looked like defeat and folly, even to his disciples. The people simply were not ready for a conqueror, judge, and king who would be captured, condemned, and defeated. “Dead” and “Messiah” could not fit in the same sentence. And so, Jesus said, “Keep this a secret.”
 
After the resurrection, many were able to fathom that the Conquering One went through death for our sake. Many came to realize that the only answer to sin was for Jesus to swallow it all, allow it to work its poison in him, and then rise again on the other side. But this was still too farfetched for most to believe then (Paul calls the cross “foolishness” to the world), just as it is too ridiculous for most now. They are willing to believe that Jesus was a good teacher, a wise man, someone to emulate. But the Son of God, God’s answer in the flesh to the evil of the world, the one who swallowed death and conquered sin so that each of us could live in the freedom of a new life of glory, holiness, and love? The one who is coming again as judge and king? The one who let himself be ensnared and killed by the devil to catch the devil in his own snare? That is a little farfetched, the stuff of fantasy!
 
When Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus declared that the Father in heaven had revealed this to him. In the same way, none of us will ever truly recognize Jesus unless God allows us to. As you consider those around you who cannot (as of yet) confess Jesus to be the Living God’s answer to their own sin and the sin and death of the world, pray that the Father would open their eyes. And as you consider the places of your own heart where you struggle to believe, pray that the Father would open your eyes!
 
Steven+