Twenty-Sixth Day of Lent

Twenty-Sixth Day of Lent

Thursday, March 30, 2017

“But what about you,” he asked.
“Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Matthew 16:15-16

Jesus was almost at the end of his short ministry. The twelve had left their homes and families and, as much as they knew how to do at that time, had committed themselves to him. They walked with him about the countryside, listening to every word that he said.

Matthew’s gospel tells us that they had heard him preach that wonderful “sermon on the mount,” had seen him restore to life a dead girl, restore sight to a blind man, heal a leper, and feed a huge crowd with only a few fish and a little bread. Obviously he was no ordinary teacher.

And now Jesus asks the twelve a crucial question. “Do you know who I am?” In typical Peter fashion, he blurts out, “The Messiah! You’re just what we have been waiting for.” (my paraphrase) The others apparently made no attempt to answer.

I fear that all too often, we are like the other eleven. Someone asks us about him, and we pause to consider how we should answer. Jennifer LeMountain sings a wonderful song in which she proclaims, “He is our Messiah, our Savior and our King!” And, of course, that is the answer that we must be ready to give to the dying world around us. They, like the many others who followed Jesus, have seen his influence in the world, but they still don’t understand who he is. It’s our job to tell them.

Prayer: Father, please give us a holy boldness! Like Peter, help us to enthusiastically and confidently proclaim who our risen Lord really is. Amen.

And He Set His Face toward Jerusalem. . . .

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2007,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator