Permission to DoubtSýnishorn

Seeing Jesus Fully

Yesterday we heard Jesus contrast the commonly held beliefs of the crowd with the original intention of the Law. Today we’ll see Him help His disciples understand what it means for Him to be the Messiah.

Up until this time, many believed that the promised Messiah would be a conquering king who would achieve victory through conquest. In Matthew 16, Jesus told His disciples that instead of using violence and power to bring victory, He would have to be killed.

This was the exact opposite of what the disciples had thought about Jesus.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Matthew 16:22 NIV

Why would Peter have said this to Jesus? One reason could be that Peter had been looking forward to being rewarded on earth as a supporter of Jesus when He became king. In response to Peter’s protest, Jesus called him “Satan” and told Peter to get behind Him.

Jesus’ response shows that Peter’s reasoning was backwards. Following Jesus isn’t about self-preservation and what we can get from God. It’s more about what God wants to do in and through us.

In the rest of the conversation, Jesus helped Peter and the other disciples rethink their ideas of what the Messiah’s path to victory would look like.

Sometimes we need to rethink our ideas, too. It’s likely that all of us are going to have some inaccurate views of God and His ways at some point, just as Peter did. And this isn’t something that we should fear, because it’s a necessary part of getting to know Jesus better.

When our ideas of Jesus are entangled with the world’s ideas, we won’t be able to see and understand Jesus fully and accurately. We need to allow Jesus to challenge our view of Him, so that we’ll more clearly see who He really is—not just the version of Him that we want Him to be.

Pray: God, I want to see and know who You are more fully in my life. Even if it’s uncomfortable, I want You to show me where I’m seeing You inaccurately. Reveal Yourself more to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.