Daily Readings & Thought for July 15th. “YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD”
One of our greatest challenges in life is to see all that happens from God’s perspective. The more we read God’s word and meditate on what we read – the more we are able to do that. We can see this happening in our readings about the life of David, also in the challenging perceptions of Jeremiah who first protested to God, “I am only a youth” [1 v.6]. The disciples of Jesus were in a special category and Peter was their chief spokesman ready to articulate his perceptions again and again, sometimes inappropriately: they teach us many lessons as we see their perceptions of Jesus increase. Our perceptions must do the same! Do they?
Jesus had taken them to the far north of the land to Caesarea Philippi [Matt. 16 v.13] and asked them as to whom did people think he was? There were various opinions, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets? Then comes the challenging question, “But who do you say that I am? [v.15] and Peter declares, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Christ (the Greek word – ‘Christos’), is “Messiah” in their language– the promised Saviour – and “the people were in expectation” [Luke 3 v.15] of his coming because of the prophesies in their Bible, especially in Daniel. Note how Peter uses the phrase, “the living God”- the Creator. Peter is starting to sense his presence in his life more and more. David, of whom we are reading in Samuel, sensed this more and more until “the last words of David” include the statement, “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” [2 Sam 23 v.1,2] and Peter and the Apostles were also to experience this.
Peter was one of 3 disciples chosen to have a foretaste of “the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” [v.28]; this happened six days later when Jesus “led them up a high mountain by themselves … and he was transfigured before them” [Ch. 17 v.1,2] It was an experience impressed upon their memory, for Peter, in his 2nd Epistle writes, “we were eye witnesses of his majesty … when he received honour and glory from God …” [Ch.1 v.16,17]
Let us acknowledge and serve God and His Son every day in all that we say, do and think, as the disciples learnt to do, then we will be walking in the footsteps of men like David and Jeremiah – and then, one day, we will be “eyewitnesses of his majesty.”