Moment of Recognition
Wednesday, March 29th
Bible section for today: Gospel of Mark 8: 11-26
It is evening, the day light has faded and you are waiting to meet your friend. Dimly through the dusk you see someone approaching you, but it is too dark to recognize him. You peer at the approaching shape, straining to see who it is. Suddenly he is close enough and you can see his face; yes, it is your friend.
In the Bible section for today Jesus asks his disciples who the people think he is. They reply that some think he is Elijah, or a great prophet, of perhaps even a reincarnation of John the Baptist. Jesus says to them, “Who do you think I am?” and Peter responds quite clearly without any qualification, “You are the Messiah.” How did Peter recognize Jesus? He knew him as a man in his thirties, from the same district as himself; a working man turned public speaker. How did Peter recognize that this man is the man from God, sent to be the leader and friend of all humanity?
Peter appears to have come to this decision about the identity of Jesus, calmly and rationally. Indeed rather slowly; for a long time the disciples followed any public display of the divinity of Jesus by asking one another, “What kind of person is this man?” After listening to what Jesus said, and watching what Jesus did, Peter arrived at a decision, and he only goes public with that decision after he is challenged about it.
Jesus says that Peter has been blessed; God the Father in heaven has granted him revelation.*
There is a surprising mutuality at work when anyone recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. We believe that we have made that decision on the basis of the evidence given to us, but the ability to arrive at that decision is a gift from God. God is at work in us, even helping us to see and understand the evidence he has given us.
This does not mean that people who want to recognize Jesus have to wait around for a flash of divine lightening. The revelation has been given, the flash has happened. Through the Bible record and the witness of people and events we receive that revelation. The least amount of faith is sufficient to be accomplished and accompanied by the Spirit of God the Father in heaven helping us see through the darkness and recognize the outline of God himself.
Peter’s recognition of God in Christ was very incomplete, as we see when he tries to instruct the Messiah on how to be the Messiah. He had much to explore about this mutuality. Along the way there were more revelations of what God has done through Jesus, and there were moments of ecstasy later on. His recognition of Jesus began with a simple decision based on evidence, the evidence was provided by Jesus, the ability to interpret the evidence was the work of God, working in conjunction with Peter. The finite mind needs the help of the infinite mind in order to understand God’s revelation of himself in and through Jesus.
*Matthew 16:17
Bible section for today: Gospel of Mark 8: 11-26
It is evening, the day light has faded and you are waiting to meet your friend. Dimly through the dusk you see someone approaching you, but it is too dark to recognize him. You peer at the approaching shape, straining to see who it is. Suddenly he is close enough and you can see his face; yes, it is your friend.
In the Bible section for today Jesus asks his disciples who the people think he is. They reply that some think he is Elijah, or a great prophet, of perhaps even a reincarnation of John the Baptist. Jesus says to them, “Who do you think I am?” and Peter responds quite clearly without any qualification, “You are the Messiah.” How did Peter recognize Jesus? He knew him as a man in his thirties, from the same district as himself; a working man turned public speaker. How did Peter recognize that this man is the man from God, sent to be the leader and friend of all humanity?
Peter appears to have come to this decision about the identity of Jesus, calmly and rationally. Indeed rather slowly; for a long time the disciples followed any public display of the divinity of Jesus by asking one another, “What kind of person is this man?” After listening to what Jesus said, and watching what Jesus did, Peter arrived at a decision, and he only goes public with that decision after he is challenged about it.
Jesus says that Peter has been blessed; God the Father in heaven has granted him revelation.*
There is a surprising mutuality at work when anyone recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. We believe that we have made that decision on the basis of the evidence given to us, but the ability to arrive at that decision is a gift from God. God is at work in us, even helping us to see and understand the evidence he has given us.
This does not mean that people who want to recognize Jesus have to wait around for a flash of divine lightening. The revelation has been given, the flash has happened. Through the Bible record and the witness of people and events we receive that revelation. The least amount of faith is sufficient to be accomplished and accompanied by the Spirit of God the Father in heaven helping us see through the darkness and recognize the outline of God himself.
Peter’s recognition of God in Christ was very incomplete, as we see when he tries to instruct the Messiah on how to be the Messiah. He had much to explore about this mutuality. Along the way there were more revelations of what God has done through Jesus, and there were moments of ecstasy later on. His recognition of Jesus began with a simple decision based on evidence, the evidence was provided by Jesus, the ability to interpret the evidence was the work of God, working in conjunction with Peter. The finite mind needs the help of the infinite mind in order to understand God’s revelation of himself in and through Jesus.
*Matthew 16:17
posted by Jessie Coates at 10:58 PM
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