Continuing in the theme of surrender, Morley shares a devotion today about "Jesus: A Case of Mistaken Identity," focusing on Jesus' question to his disciples, "Who do you say I am?"
It is a familiar story. Jesus is with his disciples. He asks who "the people" say that he is. It is kind of like asking what's going on in the rumor mill. It is also a good way of helping people to begin thinking about their own answers to the question. That is exactly what the disciples began to do. The disciples knew Jesus wasn't John the Baptist. In their minds, they had already scratched that one from the list. Elijah? Pshah! The other prophets? No way! Jesus was spending too much time FULFILLING prophecy to be one of those guys.
Stop for just a minute. We interrupt this devotion to do a little bit of thinking for ourselves. Think about what you know of John the Baptist. Could Jesus be John? What do you know about Elijah? Jeremiah? Ezekiel? Isaiah? How many more prophets can you name? Take a look at the table of contents in your Bible. Could Jesus be any of them?
Those were the rumors in Jesus' time. What are the rumors today? Can you accept them? Can you reject them?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled devotion and discussion of the Gospel story. The disciples were gathered. The moment of truth came. With all of the rumors eliminated, Jesus asked the disciples what they thought. What could they say? The rumors were all wrong. The fulfillment of prophecy was standing with them. Peter surrendered to the truth. Peter confessed. Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Now we return to our own story. The rumors are eliminated. What can we say? The fulfillment of prophecy lives among us. We must surrender to the truth. We must confess. Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Ponder that for a minute. Surrender.
Dear Lord, I surrender to you all my doubts about who you are. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the Savior. You are my Savior. Lead me to grow in this knowledge. Amen.
Grace and peace--
CARadke