Context: This text takes place not too long after Jesus fed the 5000 and just before the transfiguration.
Text:
18Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he
asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"
19They 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, "The
Christ[a] of God."
21Jesus strictly warned
them not to tell this to anyone. 22And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and
he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
23Then he
said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25What good is it for a man
to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26If anyone is
ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes
in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27I tell you
the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the
kingdom of God." (NIV)
Footnotes:
a. Luke 9:20 Or Messiah
taken from www.biblegateway.com
There are a lot of reasons why I put off making a decision to accept Christ as my savior. One of them was fear. I was really afraid if I took that leap of faith, then God would test me by causing someone in my family to be very ill or allowing some disaster to happen. Looking back, I see that the disaster may have happened regardless of my decision (and no disaster occurred, thank God!), but with Christ I would have made it through successfully.
In the Old Testament God often struck people dead or took away rain, food, or other things when people disobeyed. Then there was Job, who never did anything wrong! It's easy to understand how non-Christians might be afraid of God's wrath -- when in reality they should be afraid NOT to be covered by His promise.
But verses like this, and a view of New Testament Christianity shows us clearly that being a Christian doesn't save us from life's trials, and in fact it can cause some (think of the martyrs). Jesus tells us we must take up our cross DAILY...and do whatever it takes to keep Him first in our lives.
What is your cross? Think about how you could witness to someone who was afraid to accept Christ. What would you tell him or her about God's presence in times of trouble?
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