Loving Temptation
In Mark 8:32, Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke Him.
On Sunday, I clarified that this rebuke of Peter was simply an outpouring of love. Because Peter loved Jesus so much, he could not stand even considering that Jesus would suffer. Peter could not stand for it!
There are a lot of things that we do out of love. We help, care, serve, listen, and offer advice. We clean dishes, make beds, fold laundry, run errands, and buy gifts for those we love.
There can also be danger in loving that can actually be harmful.
You know the old proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” If you have ever tried to teach someone, you know that in that moment they would much prefer you to give than teach.
I catch myself in parenting giving more fish than teaching to fish. It is easier for me and Cooper. It is less messy and takes less time. But he must learn to fish.
Furthermore, it is easier to protect him from any danger, pain, or disappointment. I am working on this as well. Rather than constantly warning about the consequences of jumping on the bed, not wearing a helmet, or why to hold a plate with two hands, I am giving him space to goof around and find out. I could bubble wrap him for 18 years, but eventually he will be released into the world. If I protect him from every challenge or problem now, he will never be prepared to handle issues then.
In the book When Helping Hurts, Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett argue that at times loving others is not doing for them or giving them money to handle it. In fact, we can do more damage when we never expect anyone to lift a finger on their own.
Peter loved Jesus, but his help was not helpful. Peter was, in fact, tempting Jesus to deny God’s plan for a choice of peace. Sometimes love tempts people away from obedience because we want to spare them pain.
Consider today:
Are you loving those in your life for their benefit or for your benefit?
Is your love helping them or delaying the inevitable?
How can you help someone in a way that helps them not only in the moment but for days and years to come? This help will take more time, energy, and thought, but it is for the best.
The Will of God and The Way of the Cross
Mark 8:31–33
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
How will I respond when the will of God is the way of the cross?
This is a challenging question for everyone reading this email. What will I do when God allows suffering, struggle, heartache, and heartbreak to enter my path? How will I respond when life gets hard and obedience actually makes it harder?
Jesus is clear over and over again that following Him means denying self, taking up the cross daily, and following (Mark 8:34–36; Luke 9:23–25). Jesus never made it sound easy, and yet all we want is ease. Sure, Jesus will call us to come to Him when we are weary and heavy laden, but that doesn’t excuse us from a journey of obedience that at times includes the valley of the shadow of death.
Today, I want to urge you to simply pray this:
God, help me to be faithful even when life is hard. Help me to trust you even when it is not the path I would choose.
Help me to obey even when obstacles exist.
You can be assured of this: There will be times in your life when the will of God will look like the way of the cross. Hold fast. The God who leads you to the cross is the same God who brings resurrection on the other side.
The Jesus I Want
In the Galleria Mall, there is a Build-A-Bear store. In this store, you get to fully customize whatever type of stuffed animal you would like. You get to pick the color, the name, and even what it says. You get to individualize this stuffed animal however you like.
Customizing a stuffed animal is fun.
Customizing a Savior is dangerous.
If we are not careful, we create in our minds the Jesus we want to follow—a Jesus that looks like us, lives like us, and chooses who to love like us. We create a picture of Jesus that conforms to our desired way of life. This is dangerous!
I asked on Sunday, “Is the Jesus you follow shaped more by Scripture or by your preference?”
What does that mean? Are you like Peter who says to Jesus, “You will be safe under my watch! I will protect you!”?
Or maybe you have created a Jesus that affirms every choice you make. You can justify failing to love others because of the way they treated you. You manipulate Scripture or ignore it altogether to sleep well at night with your choices.
It is a dangerous proposition when we prefer the Jesus of our creation over the Jesus of the sacred text—when we trust in a God we have manufactured rather than the God who made the world. Why is this dangerous? Our invented Jesus cannot save. Only the real Jesus can!
The real Jesus is not the one we design.
He is the one revealed in Scripture — the crucified and risen Son of God.
Where are you prone to veer away from the Jesus of the Bible to believe a Jesus of your own creation?
Right Words, Wrong Expectations
Mark 8:29–31
29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
I am constantly underwhelmed. Be it a game, a restaurant, or an experience, I tend to have high expectations that are never quite reached. It is not a fun way to live, I must be honest!
Expectations are powerful. They shape how we interpret reality.
When expectations are wrong, even the right things can disappoint us.
This is exactly what happened with Peter in Gospel of Mark 8. Peter correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah but wrongly assumed what that would mean.
Peter was expecting a militaristic uprising that would reestablish Israel’s sovereignty and autonomy in the land. Jesus was here for a spiritual revelation, not a nationalistic one.
We must be careful not to put our desires over God’s decrees.
We can confess the right Jesus with the wrong expectations.
We want Savior — not suffering.
We want authority — not obedience.
We want victory — not surrender.
We want resurrection — not crucifixion.
We want a crown — not a cross.
We want the Jesus of our dreams, not the Jesus of God’s desire.
But the real Jesus cannot be reshaped by our expectations.
He is the crucified Christ, and following Him means embracing the same path of surrender.
The question is not whether Jesus will change to match our expectations.
The question is whether we will surrender ours to follow Him.
Even today, it is possible to say the right words about Jesus while still misunderstanding His purpose.
The Big Question
Everyday around 4:30, the question on everyone’s mind is this: What are we having for dinner? It is the question we all need an answer to but hate to be the answerer of.
Somehow the question sneaks up on us every single day, as if dinner wasn’t coming for the past 24 hours. It’s like we haven’t thought of it all day and now we are pressed with making a decision.
“What are we having for dinner?” often feels like the most important question to answer, especially before everyone in the home gets hangry.
However, you know that is not the most important question to answer. Dinner affects your evening, but how you answer Jesus affects your eternity.
The most important question anyone will ever answer is this: Who is Jesus?
It is the question Jesus asks his followers in Gospel of Mark 8:29:
29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Today, I want to focus on the “you.” The answer of what the crowd thought had been answered. The general consensus had been established, but Jesus wanted more. Who do you say that I am? I want to know YOUR answer!
Faith in Jesus must be a personal choice. It doesn’t matter that you grew up in the Bible Belt or in a church-attending family. It doesn’t matter that you have attended camps or Sunday school for years. What matters is “Who do you say that I am?”
Faith is not inherited, nor is it assumed. Faith is a choice that each follower of Jesus must make. Each person must respond with their own choice—not the choice of a parent, culture, or spouse.
Eternity is not decided by what others say about Jesus. It is decided by what you believe about Him.
This morning, I want you to consider: Who do you say Jesus is?
Is he your Savior? Sacrifice? Substitute?
Is he your Lord? Forgiver? Hope?
Or is he a good man that you know a lot about?