Turning Point

A Series on the Milestones in Jesus’ Life

Mark 8:27-37

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%208%3A27-37&version=NIV;NLT

 

“Who do people say I am?”

When I asked this question of my daughter, her response was…

 

Joe, Dad, Grandpa and a Michigan State fan. All of these are true. You could probably also add insurance agent, Christian and a nice guy. Jesus casually posed this same question to his disciples as they were walking to a village.

 

 

 

²⁸ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”       NIV

 

I’m not sure that Jesus really cared what other people thought about him. However, he most certainly cared what those closest to him thought. And although Peter had the right answer, he had the wrong expectations. Jesus explained that the “Son of Man” must suffer, be rejected and killed; but would rise again.

 

³² As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.  NLT

 

Peter’s expectations of the Messiah didn’t match up with what Jesus told them. But Jesus needed to make sure that his disciples understood; not only who he was, but also what that meant for him, as well as them. He had to reeducate them to prepare them for the future.

 

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?            NIV

             ³⁷ Is anything worth more than your soul?       NLT

 

The series of events in this passage, were a turning point in Jesus’ life and ministry; a milestone if you will. From this point forward, he headed to Jerusalem. This was his purpose; his destiny.

 

What turning point are you facing in your life? What is your purpose; your destiny? How have you answered Jesus’ two life changing questions: “Who do you say that I am” and “Is anything more important than your soul”?

 

As a follower of Jesus, your answer to those two questions are critical. They shape how you live your life; how you make decisions; what your priorities are. They are the turning point of your life.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Night Football

Galatians 4:1-7

 

Previous to my Senior year of high school, my Dad took a job in Morehead, Kentucky. However, I stayed and lived with family friends so that I could finish high school with my friends. At one point in the fall, my Dad returned to complete some final details for the move. While there, he attended my high school football game on a Friday night. Normally, I didn’t play much, but I really wanted to get into the game and make him proud.

 

Finally, the coach called my name and I went in on offense. It was a running play to the opposite side of the field. The runner was probably thirty yards away from me, but I was desperate to do something, anything to impress my Dad. So I picked out an overweight lineman that was huffing and puffing, and put the hardest block on him that I could. He hit the ground with a great thud, and exhaled whatever air he had left in his lungs. To this day, I don’t know if my Dad saw me do that or not, but it was for him.

 

In Galatia, there were Judaizers, who were Jewish Christians. They believed that a number of the ceremonial practices of the Old Testament were still binding, and insisted that the Gentile believers abide by these, particularly circumcision. Paul responded in today’s passage with his attack on this belief.

 

“And that is the way it was with us before Christ came. We were slaves to Jewish laws and rituals, for we thought they could save us.  But when the right time came, the time God decided on, he sent his Son, born of a woman, born as a Jew,  to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that he could adopt us as his very own sons.”   Galatians 4:3-5 TLB

 

Paul knew well what it meant to try to live by the Law. In Philippians he referred to himself as, “a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless”. If you read this verse carefully, you will see that Paul defined himself according to his perceived ability to obey the Law. But in today’s passage, Paul suggests a better way for believers to define themselves.

 

“Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. He is the Holy Spirit. By his power we call God Abba. Abba means Father. So you aren’t a slave any longer. You are God’s child. Because you are his child, God gives you the rights of those who are his children.”      Galatians 4:6-7 NIRV

 

The Law does not define who I am. My job, my family, my church, the things that I have done, even my personality, does not define who I am. But my Heavenly Father does. I am His child, and like my earthly Dad on that fall evening years ago, I want my Heavenly Dad to be proud of me, so that someday He will say to me, “You are my son. With you I am well pleased.”

 

 

(This was actually my second devotional on the same passage. The following was my first. You decide which you like better.)