Daily Devotion

This is one of the most crucial moments in the life of Jesus.  He asked this question when He was already turning His face to go to Jerusalem.  He knew what awaited Him there, and the answer to His question was of supreme importance.  He knew that he was going to a Cross to die; He wanted to know before He went if there was anyone who had really discovered who He was.  The right answer would make all the difference.  If there was any realization, yet incomplete, it meant that He had lit such a torch in the hearts of men as time would never put out.  How Jesus' heart must have responded when Peter's sudden discovery rushed to his lips---"You are the anointed one of God!"  When Jesus heard that He knew He had not failed. 

 

Not only had the Twelve needed to discover the fact; they had also had to discover what the fact meant.  They had grown up against a background of thought that expected from God a conquering king who would lead them to world dominion.  Peter's eyes would blaze with excitement when He said this. However, Jesus had to teach them that God's anointed one had come to die upon the Cross.

 

There are two great truths in this passage: (1^st) Jesus began by asking what men were saying about Him; "Who do you say that I am?"  It is never enough to know what others have said about Jesus.  Jesus must always be our own personal discovery. In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul says, "I know whom I have believed."  Christianity does not mean reciting a creed; it means knowing a person.  (2^nd) Jesus said, "I must go to Jerusalem and die." Jesus knew He had a destiny to fulfill.  God's will was His will.  He had no other objective, but to do upon earth what God had sent Him to do.  The Christian, like his Lord, is a man under orders.

Life Application: Have you discovered what God's orders for you are?  If so, are you fulfilling them?   The joy of fulfilling God's plans for you is beyond imagination.