Thoughts From the Bible

Matthew 16: 21- 23- ‘From that time, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day, be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him sayin g, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”’ Peter went from being told how God had revealed to Peter who Jesus was to being rebuked and told to get away from Him. Why? Peter’s comments were the comments of a mortal man who loved Jesus and would fight to help Jesus spread His message. Jesus knew what the future would hold for Him and why. He knew the religious leaders would work to destroy Him because the people were joyously following Him. That made Jesus a threat to the religious leaders, not th e long-sought Messiah. The main messag...

Read Matthew 16: 13- 20- I read these verses several times today. I was trying to absorb the magnitude of what Jesus said in this passage. Verses 18 and 19 say, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever y ou bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ” Peter had just said in verse 16, ‘Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”’ Jesus just affirmed what Peter said . These verses are some of the most powerful in all the Bible and it tells us not only who Jesus knew He was, but it also shows us the power Jesus had and how we as followers of Christ fit in. Again, another reason we must know Biblical principles, so we exercise the type of rationa le that is necessary when we pray and work for Jesus on earth. Jesus affirmed to the disciples He was the Mess...