“Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.’” - Matthew 16:17
As followers of Jesus, we don’t know everything there is to know about Him, the Bible, or God. There are a lot of things that we should be honest in our uncertainty about. But there is one thing that it is right to be dogmatic about: And that is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
When Jesus asked His disciples in Matthew 16:15 who they thought He was, Peter responded in verse 16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus was overjoyed at Peter’s answer. If this were a final exam, Professor Jesus would have given His student an A+. But Peter didn’t figure out his answer on his own. Jesus says in verse 17 that it was God who revealed it to him.
We don’t come to God by figuring things out. We come to Him by faith. Because Peter’s eyes were open to the truth and his heart was open to God, he saw the light of who Jesus really was. That is something we need to remember. It is our job as Christians to testify to the truth. But only God can open the eyes of the spiritually blind, the ears of the spiritually deaf, and give life to the spiritually dead.
It is easy as Christians today to feel defeated and even hopeless. So much of our testimony seems to fall on hard hearts that don’t care to know Christ. This is why it is important to look back at our earliest brothers and sisters in Acts. They appeared powerless and weak. They, too, were the target of scorn and ridicule. They had no money, no buildings, no social status, no government approval, no respect from the educated elite, and certainly no political influence. But they did have Jesus, the Son of God. And so do we. They did have truth, the Word of God. And so do we. They did have affection, the love of God. And so do we. They did have compassion, the generosity of God. And so do we. What made these believers magnetic can still make us magnetic today.
Father, I pray that You will help me to boldly testify to who You are. I want my life to be magnetic.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Topics: Work of Christ
