Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

One of the things I love about scripture is how it refuses to make heroes out of the expected characters. As a matter of fact, this is one of the many reasons I believe in the truth of the Bible itself. Think about it. If you were one of the Apostles telling the story of Jesus in order to validate your way of life, wouldn’t you want to make sure you look good in the process? Wouldn’t you only include the stories where you were shown in a positive light? Wouldn’t you find a way to “forget” the parts where you messed up or failed? I know I would! Unless of course you were so captivated by the truth of Jesus that it didn’t matter how you were perceived. The fact that the Gospels, written by the Apostles, all tell of the ineptitude of the Apostles themselves shows that above all else they cared about conveying the truth of who Jesus was and is.

Matthew 16 is a great place to see an example of these very real people, just like me and you, who get it wrong just as much as they get it right. Verses 13-20 detail a conversation between Peter and Jesus where Peter walks away blessed. Jesus literally says, “Blessed are you, Simon Peter.” Why the blessing? Because Peter confesses rightly that Jesus is the Messiah, the Promised One, the Son of God. Despite what anyone else said around him, Peter was rock solid in his faith. Which makes verses 21-23 astonishing.

In verse 17 Peter receives a blessing. In verse 23 Jesus calls him Satan! As solid as his faith was, Peter was known to get a little overzealous. Instead of trusting and following, Peter steps in front of and tries to lead the Son of God. That’s not only a bold move but also a dumb one – one I would want to be omitted from the story if I was Peter. But the truth of Jesus is more important than any man’s appearance. The inclusion of Peter’s mistake and rebuke serves as an important reminder for the billions of people who have read about it since. When we focus on our own preferences, we miss the plans of God.

Reflections:

• Are there areas in your life where you are getting ahead of Jesus? Where do you need to follow first?

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Family Application: Getting to Know Jesus

Author: Scott Strahan

Back in the day when Jesus was on the earth and began to teach people about God, they realized what He said was true. This gave them hope, and they began to trust Him and follow Him. But some of the religious teachers called Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t like that so many people were following Jesus instead of them, so they always tried to trick Jesus into making mistakes. One day, the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus to give them a sign to prove he was the Messiah. Jesus knew they didn’t really want to know Him and follow Him because God had given them signs many times before that they ignored.

Jesus went on to warn his disciples that some people in life (in this case, the Pharisees and Sadducees) would teach things about God that sounded mostly right but didn’t exactly go along with what Jesus taught them. Jesus told them not to believe people who don’t really know Him and love Him because they will say things about Jesus that are not true. As we get to know Jesus, we realize we can trust Him. We get to know Him by:

• Remembering how He has loved us and helped us in the past
• Reading about Him in the Bible
• Spending time talking with Him in prayer

Other people who didn’t know Jesus as the disciples knew him, weren’t sure who He was – some thought He was John the Baptist, others thought He was Elijah, and still, others thought He was one of the prophets. Those people didn’t know Him as well because they hadn’t spent very much time with Him.

Knowing all of this, the disciples understood that if they wanted to live like Jesus, the best way was to know Him better by spending more time with Him, listening to Him, and obeying Him. As they did this, they learned not only about who Jesus is but also about what His plans were for them and how they would need to trust Him as they followed Him.

One of the things Jesus taught his followers was that in following and obeying Him, there would be times they would have to choose His way over someone else’s way. He also told them that by following Him, they would spend eternity with Him.

• Prayer: Dear God, thank You for loving us and teaching us Your ways. Help us to know You better as we follow You, learn about You, and tell others about You. Remind us of all the great things You have done, and help us to learn about You as we read the Bible and pray.