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bigmike

Matthew 16:21 (LSB) 21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
As the day drew nearer for Jesus to be crucified and sacrificed for the sins of humanity, He tried to drive this home with His disciples.
He wanted them to understand His purpose as a whole—not just while He was with them.
It was a weighty topic for them to understand. This was clear by Peter’s reaction, as he pulled Jesus aside and rebuked Him for saying these things.
Matthew 16:22 (LSB) 22 And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
It’s important for us to remember that in yesterday’s devotional, we heard Peter proclaim that Jesus was the Son of God, as revealed to him by God.
But in this instance, Peter was rebuking the long-awaited Messiah and setting himself up to be rebuked. Let’s look.
Matthew 16:23 (NKJV) 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
And just like that, Peter had gone from speaking words inspired and revealed by God, to speaking words that were equated to Satan himself.
And what about John the Baptist?
He had previously proclaimed that Jesus was the lamb of God.
Matthew 11:2-3 (NKJV) 2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
How could two people who had been given divine revelation about Jesus change so quickly? How could they question who Jesus was, and what His purpose was?
By “getting in the flesh” and forgetting what God had revealed to them.
It can happen in a split second, taking us from Spirit to flesh. And we suddenly start to question what we knew to be absolute.
This is the reason that we must walk by the Spirit; to listen intently for the voice of God, and live by that voice.
The Spirit of God will show us truth. The flesh will fail us every time.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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