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When God Announced His Own Death
Brian Mashburn
March 8, 2015
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When God Announced His Own Death
If I told you that I am actually the President of the United States, you would probably think I'm crazy. Why? Because you know me, and you know what the President does and looks like, and I am not him. And if I really thought I was, you'd have serious concerns about me.
But what if you, slowly over time, by observing me a bit more closely, watching the phone calls I make and corresponding them with world events, slowly opened up to the idea that maybe my claim is somehow true? What if, even though you and the whole world "just know" that Barak Obama is the President, you slowly became convicted that I was actually the acting President of the United States? Even though it blows up every assumption you have lived with for a very long time, you believe it.
Now everyone would be worried about you!
This is the awkward spot that the disciples were in with Jesus when they confessed that He was the Christ. They found themselves believing it, and not without reason, but it was blowing up all of their preconceived ideas about what the Christ would look like.
In our text today, he really puts their conviction to the test. While they and the whole world imagined that the Messiah-King would bring the Jewish Nation into power on the earth, Jesus tells then that he will die in Jerusalem.
Jesus was correcting their false view of him, and his Kingdom, and of God Himself. A false view of God was making Peter work against God, rather than for him. So, the stakes were high.
They are still high today. Do you see God accurately? Do you know what He has done for you and what it means for you?