What can we learn from Peter's declaration that Jesus was the Christ
Commentary on Luke 9
9 18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"
19 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."
20 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "God's Messiah."
Some Italians believed that Benito Mussolini had the right answers for moving their country forward. Because they so fully believed in Mussolini, many Italians threw their lives unreservedly into helping him achieve his dreams.
For more than 20 years Mussolini was the virtual dictator of Italy. He took on a special title Il Duce: "the supreme leader or head." The Roman Catholic Pope in 1929, Pius XI (himself an Italian), said that Mussolini was a man whom "Providence has ordained," a man "halfway between heaven and earth."
The people's faith in Mussolini proved to be a false hope, of course. He did not do all that he claimed he would do. Because Mussolini was not all that his loyal followers believed him to be, his dreams came crashing down on him in the ruin of World War 2.
To think about the followers of Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, and other evil political figures makes us shudder. People have so believed in such men that they unquestioningly dedicated their lives to helping each fulfill his particular ambitions.
But it also ought to cause us -- who claim to believe, with Peter, that Jesus is the Christ of God -- to reflect on our level of commitment and willingness to sacrifice.
Some dedicated Italian Christians in the 1930s were convinced that Jesus Christ -- and not Mussolini -- had the ultimate answers for our world. They even wrote a song about "Christ, our Duce." For their courageous outspokenness about who was their Supreme Leader, they paid a price. Some spent time in prison for their witness. A few even died as a direct result of their profound conviction that Jesus, and Jesus alone, was the one anointed by God.
Their belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah would allow them to do no less than throw their lives into helping Him fulfill His desires for the world. From this commitment growing out of their belief in Jesus, Italian Protestants emerged from the years of Fascism stronger than before.
I sometimes wonder if our belief in Jesus as the Christ is as profound and deep as we say it is. Do we really grasp what Jesus being the Christ really means in terms of His divine majesty? Do we understand that, if we actually believe the words of the songs we sing in church, our lifestyles will be markedly different from those of the non-Christians around us?
If we were formally charged in a court of law with being believers in Jesus as the Promised Messiah, would there be enough evidence in our way of life to produce a conviction? Or would we have trouble convincing the court that we really did believe in Jesus as God's Anointed One?
A band of dedicated Christians who really believe that Jesus is the Christ of God must strike fear in Hell itself. If believers in political figures can bring about change in the structure of our world, shouldn't believers in Jesus Christ be able to do at least as much?
Maybe we don't stop often enough to let the wonder that Jesus of Nazareth was the anointed Messiah prophesied from the beginning of the world sink in on us. Jesus was more than the imagined fulfillment of a couple of vague prophecies. He is the Messiah or Christ down to the last prophetic detail.
One of the confirmations of that came a week after Peter had acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ (the Anointed One). We've come to call this historical event the Transfiguration. Shortly thereafter a storm would break in on the men who had witnessed that glorious occasion, but even in that storm, the Transfiguration memory would serve as a revelation of hope. For us today, it confirms as well the glory awaiting believers after death -- a glory that will be ours because Jesus was, and is, truly the Anointed One of God.
I wrote these devotional thoughts while Barbara and I were serving as missionaries in Italy. They were published in Standard, a weekly take-home Faith Connections curriculum piece for adult Sunday school classes published by The Foundry.
-- Howard Culbertson,
Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God and the Messiah (the Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament of the Bible. They believe that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary through the miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit. Christians believe that Jesus lived a sinless life, performed miracles, taught about the kingdom of God, and ultimately sacrificed Himself on a cross to atone for humanity's sins.
According to the New Testament documents, Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried, but rose from the dead three days later, demonstrating His victory over sin and death. This event, known as the Resurrection, is central to Christian faith and is celebrated on Easter Sunday.
Christians also believe that through faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, people can be forgiven of their sins, reconciled with God, and have eternal life. Jesus is considered the Savior and the mediator between humanity and God, offering salvation to all who believe in Jim.