This month at Oak Hills Church we are in a series called “Preparing to Leave” where we are highlighting some of the most important lessons of Jesus’ life and ministry as he is preparing to go to the cross, be resurrected and leave this earth.
There is evidence in all the Gospels of a particular turning point being reached for Jesus at Ceasarea Philipi (a predominantly Gentile territory far removed from Jerusalem), where Jesus questioned his disciples about their faith, and where Peter affirmed the disciple’s faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
The Gospel of Mark says that upon Peter’s confession, Jesus “began to teach them” that he must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
This marks a major turning point in Jesus’ travels as well as his teaching. After Peter recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus begins a sustained journey to Jerusalem and to his execution. The Gospels describe him as then setting his face to go to Jerusalem and journeying there with striking deliberation (Mark 10:32; Luke 9:51).
Before Caesarea Philippi Jesus’ focus seems to have been on teaching and healing, but from now on his focus is on a vocation of suffering (Mark 8:27-38; John 6:69).
Essentially, Jesus had two things to accomplish before he got to the cross 1) Convince people that he was the true Messiah and 2) Convince his followers that as the Messiah he must undergo great suffering, rejection, and death, and after three days rise again.
Both were difficult tasks… However, convincing people he was the Messiah was the easier of the two.
Even his closest disciples couldn’t grasp the idea of the Messiah suffering. They had been waiting for generations for the Messiah to arrive and to overthrow their captors, in this case the Romans, and re-establish the throne of David.
So, despite their understanding of Jesus as Messiah their understanding of what that meant was seriously flawed. In their thinking there was no place for the suffering and death of which Jesus spoke. If the disciples were confused how much more must the crowds have been.
During this time we see Jesus withdraw more from the crowds and spend more time with his close disciples, instructing them on the expectations and the cost of following. As readers we are led to struggle with the disciples on this journey toward greater understanding.
Discipleship is not easy; Jesus taught, we must all count the cost.
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