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The Plan

In the second half of Jesus's ministry, He makes a statement to His disciples that would trouble them very greatly. As was often the case, Peter was right in the middle of things. After some discourse, Jesus had asked Peter who he really thought Jesus was. Peter answered very admirably in this way, Matthew 16:16, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus acknowledges this statement was a God-inspired response and, in fact, could only come from God. Peter must have felt pretty good about that but was totally shocked when Jesus went on to teach them in the next verses that He must head toward Jerusalem. He would suffer many things at the elders' hands, chief priest, and the scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. This didn’t sit well with Peter, so he took Him aside and told Him, “This can never happen.”

Peter was like a lot of the Jewish people of that time. They didn't understand that the one who would be sent by God to save the nation would do so, at this point in time, in the spiritual realm. They all wanted a King, a conqueror, someone to free them from Rome's political oppression. They did not realize that to be free starts in the very most inner being of a person. They could only be accomplished through someone who could free them from the bondage and consequences of sin. Rome's political freedom meant nothing if their hearts were still under the control of an internal nature that had turned its back on the truth of God. At this point in his life, Peter didn’t understand the true meaning of what Jesus was saying. If Jesus' statement were true, it would destroy what he wanted to happen. You can't die; you need to assert yourself and set up a government to make us great power.

One of the main components of this discourse is that there was a plan. This was about a year before His crucifixion, and He already knew what was going to happen. He didn't try to avoid it; he didn't head in the opposite direction. He purposely chose to go to the place that He knew was going to end in His death. This was God's plan from the very start, and Jesus, the eternal Son of God, became a man to suffer and die for our sins so that we could experience true freedom.

We are looking forward to Good Friday and Easter. This plan reaches the ultimate goal, Jesus suffering and dying for us and then rising from the dead, conquering sin and death. I'm making this somewhat short with the plan to fill in more detail in the next few weeks as we approach the celebration of this most significant event. May God minister to your heart, and may you experience the freedom God offers through Jesus.

Pastor Lynn Rettig

Musselshell Community Bible Church