[Jesus] then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mark 8:31–33, NIV 1984).
My Musings – This came immediately after Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8;28, NIV 1984). Peter and the disciples believed that He was the long-awaited Messiah, the Anointed One. But they had their own idea of what He was anointed to do. Being “rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law” and being killed was not it.
Perhaps they should have had a clue from the Isaiah’s prophecy. “He was [to be] cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of My people, He was [to be] stricken. After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life.” (Isaiah 53:8, 11, NIV 1984). But maybe it was too obscure for them to grasp. Yet even though Jesus “spoke plainly about this,” they found it hard to accept.
My Advice – The Gospel is plain. But far too many people still have their own ideas of what it takes to enter God’s Kingdom. And grace is not it. They are wrong. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NIV 1984). Let’s not believe what it is not, let’s believe what it is.
The Brew Is A Musing 