“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:17-19)

Profound, conquering words spoken by Jesus. We can only imagine the excitement that may have flooded Peter’s heart at these words. However, moments later, Matthew 16:21 says: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

How do we go from kingdom dominion to series of sufferings? Peter wouldn’t accept it and he began to rebuke Jesus saying: “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22). This impresses to us the need to understand God’s spectacular ways and His purposes, even for our lives. In Matthew 3, after Jesus’ was baptised, the heavens opened, the Spirit descended and God said: “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” Moments later however, we see the same Spirit leading Jesus to the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil for forty days.

Maybe God has revealed His word, but we see trials now. Yet, we must understand what He’s doing and trust Him. Father, may our eyes look steadily towards You. Amen.

BeEncouraged❤️ Freely received. Freely shared