2008 Christian Education Sabbath

Thought Starter

Jesus often found time to pray. The disciples frequently stayed nearby while he was praying. One day while he was praying, Jesus asked the disciples, “What do the crowds say about the kind of person I am?”

The disciples said that the crowds thought Jesus was like an important prophet risen from the dead­—some people in the crowds even thought that Jesus might be John the Baptizer or Elijah. After Jesus listened to the disciples answer, he asked them a much more personal question: “Who do you say that I am?”

Peter, who often responded first and put the thoughts and conversations of the disciples into words, responded, “You are God’s Messiah!”

When Jesus heard this answer, He praised God for giving Peter the ability to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. However, Jesus knew that He still had a lot of teaching to do. The disciples needed more time to learn from Him.

So, he told them, in no uncertain terms, that they could not share what they knew about Jesus with others. He told them that he was going to die. He told them that they might suffer a similar fate.

They did not know what He meant, but followed anyway. Will you follow Him?