Luke: God’s Messiah

Read: Luke 9:18-22

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” Luke 9:20

Yes! Jesus is the Messiah! It’s time to kick butts and take names. Wooohoooo!

Well, that would have been my response if I were sitting around the table having a private conversation with God incarnate, wouldn’t you?

In general, people are impressed with Jesus, that’s why so many sought him in remote places. To conclude that Jesus is the Messiah takes everything to a whole new level, something these disciples were ill-equipped to handle.

Jesus immediately follows Peter’s incredible confession with some sobering words:

The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Luke 9:22

Before we strike up the band and announce Jesus to the world, we have a difficult path to follow. That’s a gross understatement. The disciples are living in the moment with the Messiah, they are there, but they really don’t know what’s next. They just feed thousands of people. They’ve seen miracles that truly defy logic or experience. Now Jesus is saying things like suffering must happen, death and resurrection must occur.

I have to believe that none of this makes sense to those first hearing these words. In our culture, there are at least two distinct groups of people that might hear this assertion: those who have been raised in a Christian church and those who know nothing of the need for a Messiah, let alone a true appreciation for Jesus.

I’m in the first group. I’ve heard Jesus is the Messiah since I can remember. Any difficult situation or question is easily answered with: Jesus. I’ve heard this so much that I don’t appreciate the weight of the words, I simply take this for granted. This is a great victory for Satan as it means my witness, my level of evangelism approaches zero if I merely accept the statement that Jesus is the Messiah. Of course, this doesn’t have to be the case. The rambling words in this blog are my attempt to keep the fire burning within my heart, stoking the flame that should be a light to this dark world. I pray this is working in some way.

The second group is also difficult, but perhaps not as troublesome as we are led to believe. Those that don’t know they need a Messiah will come to a point when they question life on earth. Some emotional event will happen that will make them wonder about their existence.

The key question here is this: have we built a bridge to them?

Have we invested time in creating an authentic relationship with those who are far from Christ? Or are we content to punch our Sunday card and polish our Christian image?

Jesus is the Messiah!

We need a Messiah. Without Jesus, the struggle of human existence is futile, the agnostics win, just do what you want because your days are numbered.

Lord, help us to get a glimpse of the significance of Peter’s confession. Keep the flame burning bright within us so we can be the light for this dark world.