The FaithOfJesus2 Daily Devotional

Focus:

kjv@Revelation:14:12 @ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

( FaithOfJesus thread begun by rRandyP )

Today's Verse:

kjv@Mark:8:27-30

kjv@Mark:8:27 @ And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

kjv@Mark:8:28 @ And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

kjv@Mark:8:29 @ And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

kjv@Mark:8:30 @ And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

Today's notes:

Context:

Before - Men as trees walking
After - for thou savourest not

Key Concepts:

dict:tcr Christ Jesus

What is God's righteousness observed doing?:

Determining the distinction that the disciples were able to make between whom others thought He was and who they thought He was.
Making the matter of who and what Christ is purely a matter of Divine revelation.
Forbidding them to tell others of this revelation.

What does this tell us about God's righteousness?:

The disciples are well aware of what others are saying about Jesus, likely because of their travels and conversations. While such will be increasingly important to Jesus, the immediate importance is what Jesus is to His disciples. What He will be doing on the cross would mean little to nothing if they do not associate the fact that it is God's Son the Christ up there dieing for their sins and being raised to the right hand throne. It becomes a completely different sacrifice without that knowledge. It is important enough to the equation that the Father HIMSELF is at charge of it.
kjv@Matthew:16:17 plainly states that they would not have come to draw this distinction unless the Father had revealed it to them. The inquiry is showing the work of the Holy Father in them. The Holy Father continues to work in all people to reveal this, but His work begins in these twelve foremost as they will soon carry the message forward officially into the many generations to follow.
To not have them tell this at this point suggests that there is more to come that needs to be put in place, perhaps the others are not yet ready to receive this until the remainder is completed. It could possibly also suggest that doing so now may not be the overall best for the cause in the long run. There is a time and a patience toward that time.

How is man reacting?:

By their own resource the others are coming to the conclusion that there is something obviously special about Jesus in the class of super prophet. I do not recall any prophet this number of miracles daily amongst the multitudes. Going as far as Elias (Elijah) suggests that they are connecting Him to kjv@Malachi:4:5 the prophetic coming ahead of the LORD, but not going as far as recognizing Him as the LORD.

Notes:

What a difference another couple months will make. The disciples will go from being forbidden to tell men to being commissioned to tell all nations. What will become the difference in those next few months? The Cross of course, but why forbid them the discussion before that?

Hadn't Andrew first approached brother Peter saying "We have found the Christ"? What they knew of Him then was by the testimony of John the Baptist. It was one man's word. What they know of Him now is directly from the Father. They have seen with their own eyes yes, but they have more importantly now seen by the Father's confirmation. If they were to tell another it would at this point again be back to the point of one man's word. What is our word in place of God's? Such is the Cross!

Originally, they were commissioned to say 'the kingdom of Heaven is at hand' kjv@Matthew:10:7; technically speaking for this particular time that would be correct (God is moving, it is at hand). Soon it will be 'the Gospel of Peace' and to baptize 'in the name of the Holy Father/Son/Spirit' kjv@Matthew:28:19 kjv@Mark:16:15-16; technically that is heavenly correct at all times, but as of the time spoken of in this passage on earth it was yet to legally be so.

As much as the disciples knew now by the Father's revelation it would still require the resurrected Jesus and Holy Spirit to open up that understanding kjv@Luke:24:45 in relation to the written established scriptures. You see the tremendous process then that the Trinity has to go through to make this ultimate righteousness known.

Key Messages:

What does this say about our present condition?

It is one thing to spend all your days and nights with Jesus to see what the Father is revealing, another to just hear about as rumor or stumble upon in crossing paths with a figure like Jesus. The two are likely to lead you to two different conclusions as to who He is. As these men see and experience every work and every gesture of the man, they can see the Father confirming, the Father revealed by Jesus, Jesus by the Father. For them this process is accelerated by the time spent in proximity and the purposeful selection of God's larger work towards all men.
We are seeing in several passages now the tendency of publicity to simply confuse matters, that there are narrow limits to how much publicity is productive. We are also seeing in the case of the testimonies and sentiments surrounding Jesus over publicity naturally (and disobediently) happens. You would think that all publicity is good publicity, righteously we are finding that it simply is not so though it cannot be avoided.
There is a documentable biblical and historical tendency of men of God rushing in front of God's lead instead of waiting for and on it. We assume to know the plan and the timing, but rarely see the broader scope of what God is doing in totality to make this project or movement work. We can have the command and still not have the patience and temperance to succeed at accomplishing it.

Further Resources:

Comment Board:Mark:8:27-30
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Mark:8:27-30 rwp@Mark:8:27-30 mhcc@Mark:8:27-30
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index

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