But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 8:33)
The Apostle Peter, the rock on whom the Church is built, nonetheless had mistaken notions of who Jesus was. Peter was looking for a triumphant Messiah, God’s Chosen One, who would come with military might and overthrow the corrupt political system of Roman rule. When Jesus started talking about His suffering and impending death, Peter didn’t want to hear about it.
But Jesus persisted, even insisting that Peter was so mistaken in his thinking that he was representing Satan (a genuine devil’s advocate).
The foundation of the Church is not only built on Christ, it is built on false notions of who Christ is. Eugene Petersen writes --
"In our religious striving, we are usually looking for something quite other than the God who has come looking for us."
Are we looking for the true God or just a God we want to find?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
A brother in Christ sent me this e-mail response --
Ps. Tony,
I have a little problem when people call Peter the rock on whom the Church is built. In my view of things, which is backed up by many Bible verses (see Num 20:9-11, Deut 32:3-5, 32:14-16, 32:14-16, 32:31, 32:37, 1 Sam 2:2, 2 Sam 22:2-3, 22:32, 23:3, Neh 9:15, Ps 18:2, 18:31, 19:19, 27:5, 28:1, 31:2, 31:3, 40:2, 42:9, 61:2, 62:2, 62:6-7, 71:3, 78:15-16, 78:35, 89:26, 92:15, 94:22, 95:1, 144:1, Is 8:13-15, 17:10, 22:16, 26:4, 44:8, 48:2, Hab 1:12, Zec 12:3, Mat &:24-25, Luk 6:48, Rom 4:33 and 1 Cor 10:4) this is a misnomer, as the rock on Whom the Church is built is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the corner stone, the solid ground and the only foundation of the Church. The rock who when struck gave out water (the gospel).You see, in Greek the word for "stone" ("petras" - "pedra" in Portuguese) is feminine, whereas the word for "Peter" ("Petros" - "Pedro" in Portuguese) is masculine (check out the Greek interlinear and you will see this immediately). Incidentally, this is one of the points where the Roman Catholic Church went wrong and ended up nominated Peter the first Pope ...
Regards,
Flavio
Flavio makes some compelling points. Anybody care to respond?
Post a Comment