Believe
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5Bs Week 4 – BELIEVE
So far in the series, we’ve seen Jesus build a relationship with Peter, bring him into his ministry, and make him feel like he belongs with him and as a part of his ministry. Now, we come to a big moment for Peter and the disciples. In , Peter confesses his believe in Jesus as the Christ.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
This moment is the climax of a major theme of the Gospel of Matthew. Up to this point in the book, there is no account of the disciples explicitly declaring that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. They have acknowledged that Jesus displays supernatural power and there is certainly speculation about whether he is the one who fulfills the role of the expected Messiah, but it’s not until now that this belief is stated plainly.
What Can We Learn From This?
1. When we talk about BELIEVE as the fourth B, we are talking about believing in Jesus as the Christ, the messiah, our savior. That means more than just believing that he existed, or that he was a good guy, or even that he had supernatural abilities.
2. This level of belief is significant in a couple ways:
a. It is given to us by God (v. 17)
b. It changes the way we live – if we just believe that Jesus existed, then we can go on with our lives without being impacted by that belief. But if we belief he is our savior, our whole lives should respond to that.
If you were with the disciples in this moment and Jesus asked you “Who do you say I am?”, how would you respond?
What is it that we need to believe?
Challenge For Students (Can be used within lesson, and/or as small group questions):
1. Are you surprised to know that none of the disciples state that Jesus is the Christ until chapter 16 of Matthew even though they’re the guys that are always with Jesus, observing him, listening to him teach, etc?
2. If you were with the disciples in this moment and Jesus asked you “Who do you say I am?”, how would you respond?
3. Is your answer to question 2 impacting the way you live?