Would people say we've been with Jesus?

"Peter and John before the Sanhedrin"
- Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 3-4; Psalm 120

TO CHEW ON: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

Peter and John have just got into their first scrap with the Jewish religious leaders. The lame man healed at the temple gate has opened the door to Peter's presentation of Jesus—who He was and is—and the receptivity of the audience galls the temple officials. They arrest Peter and John and, after a night in jail, these two appear before the high priest who asks, "By what power or by what name have you done this?"

Peter, with his post-Pentecost boldness declares, "...by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth .... Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved" - Acts 4:10,12.

It is then these rulers make their telling observation: "... they realized they had been with Jesus." I like how Barnes Notes on the Bible enlarges on this moment:

"It is not said in what way they obtained this evidence, but the connection leads us to suppose it was by the miracle which they had performed, by their firm and bold declaration of the doctrines of Jesus, and perhaps by the irresistible conviction that none would be thus bold who had not been personally with him, and who had not the firmest conviction that he was the Messiah.


They had not been trained in their schools, and their boldness could not be attributed to the arts of rhetoric, but was the native, ingenuous, and manly exhibition of a deep conviction of the truth of what they spoke, and that conviction could have been obtained only by their having been with him..." Barnes Notes on the Bible.

This passage always pricks me, and leaves me with the question: Would people interacting with me, talking to me, reading me, detect that I have been with Jesus? What about you? Do we have that boldness of rock-solid faith in Him who said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6)? Is there about our lives the perfume of His presence (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)?.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I want people to say of me, She has been with Jesus. Perhaps, in order for that to happen, I need to rearrange my priorities so that I actually spend more time with You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 120


The Bible Project VIDEO: The Holy Spirit (Theme Series)

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus asking Peter who He is - Matt. 16

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 16:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' " Matthew 16:16


Peter's confession of who Jesus was is classic in its simplicity, directness, and boldness. Author Matthew relates it in the chapter that follows Jesus'  feeding of four thousand (Matthew 15:32-39) and another sparring match between Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:1-4). When Jesus and His disciples were alone again, Jesus warned them, " 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees' …" (Matthew 16:6).

The disciples puzzled over what He meant. Was He referring to the fact that on this particular day they'd forgotten to pack bread for lunch?

I can just see Jesus giving a bit of an eye roll and saying (in my words), "You've just seen me feed crowds of people. I can take care of you in the physical bread department. It's the leaven of bad doctrine I'm talking about" (Matthew 16:8-11).

What was the bad doctrine? Legalism and strict adherence to tradition by the Pharisees, and materialism and refusal to acknowledge the supernatural by the Sadducees (J. Lyle Story, Study notes on Matthew, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible p. 1320).

Peter's answer to Jesus' question: "'Who do men say that I am?'" would have scandalized both parties.  When he said, "'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" he acknowledged Jesus as the promised Messiah (Christ) that every Israelite was longing for, and as supernatural i.e. God (Son of the Living God).

I can just imagine Jesus' smile of congratulations. Yes, Peter, you got it!

Jesus then said two more important things to Peter:
1. God showed you this (Matthew 16:17).
2. Your realization comes with a responsibility and mission (Matthew 16:18,19).

Our relationship with Jesus starts in the same way as Peter's, by acknowledging Jesus for who He is—the fulfillment of the world's need of a Messiah and Savior from our sin. After we've found Him, there's no more need to go seeking after someone else to follow, to pattern our lives on, to do life with.

Like Peter, for us this "aha" moment is also engineered by God and communicated in ways as various as we are individuals.

After we've recognized Jesus and crowned Him king of our hearts and lives, we too have a responsibility. We're partners with Peter and every other believer across the ages in building Jesus' church and doing the "binding and loosing" work of His Kingdom.

What a heritage! What a responsibility!


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please help me to recognize and acknowledge Your presence in my everyday life. Help me to give my life to Kingdom work. Amen.

MORE: Confession of St. Peter

Today the church celebrates Peter's confession in the Feast of the Confession of St. Peter. The day's liturgy begins with this Collect:

Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Leaven alert

Yeast cells

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 16:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'" Matthew 16:6

We can't help but smile at the little comedy of misunderstanding near the beginning of today's reading. Jesus had just had an encounter with the unbelieving Pharisees and Sadducess where they goaded Him for a heavenly sign. His reply cut to the bone: "Hypocrites...a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign..."

Then He and the disciples got into a boat and crossed the Sea of Galilee. When they reached the other side, the disciples realized they had forgotten to bring bread.

Into that setting Jesus interjected, "'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'"

I can just see the wheels trying to turn in the disciples' heads: What does that have to do with anything? They tried, among themselves, to connect Jesus' statement with their present lack of bread.

But that wasn't the connection Jesus wanted them to make. So what was He talking about?

Not physical bread. His words in Matthew 16:8-11 show us that. Even the literal-minded disciples realized by the end of that conversation that Jesus was warning them not about some literal brand of leaven to avoid, but false doctrine.

It wasn't a specific teaching that Jesus was referring to either. Because the Pharisees and Sadducees beliefs contradicted each other. According to the study notes in my Bible:

"The Pharisees had a strong commitment to the Law as interpreted by 'the tradition of the elders.' They were strong ritualists and were legalistic.


The Sadducees came from leading social families and were rationalists and materialists. They rejected "the tradition of the elders" and denied the supernatural, including the possibility of a bodily resurrection. The Pharisees and Sadducees are best known for their mutual hostility" - J. Lyle Story, commentary on Matthew in the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1320.

Jesus was, it seems to me, warning them about the leaven of false doctrine of any kind.

Leaven or yeast, is a fungus that we add to bread dough. In the right conditions just a little grows in a matter of several hours to permeate a large lump of dough. Its presence is evident by the air bubbles that make the bread light and fluffy.

False doctrine is like that. Just a little imbalance or false teaching can quickly work its way through our whole teaching about God, resulting in aberrations as dissimilar as the cults and Christian liberalism.

How do we know when truth has been mixed with leaven? By getting familiar with teaching that is pure—that is, by immersing ourselves in the Bible. As we get to know its message from cover to cover, we will not be easily lured away by doctrines of a bloodless atonement, or angelic guides or any other leaven-permeated diversion from what Peter confessed later in the chapter: "You are the Christ the Son of the living God," or the simple gospel that Paul preached: "...Jesus Christ and Him crucified" 1 Corinthians 2:2.

PRAYER: Dear God, please sharpen my spiritual awareness so I will recognize the leaven of false teaching. Please guide me into truth by Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

MORE: Feast of the Confession of St. Peter

Today is the day the church celebrates the Confession of Saint Peter. It begins with this prayer:

Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Liturgy for this day

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jesus' template for discipleship

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 9:18-27

TO CHEW ON: "'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'" Luke 9:23

Part of our reading today is Jesus' private and direct instructions to His disciples. In it He tells them plainly, about a year before the events, that things will not end well for Him (vs. 22). To those who continue following Him despite all this, He explains what such loyalty involves.

Let's look at His instructions phrase by phrase to discover more about what being a disciple means for us as well.

"If anyone desires to come after Me..." Following Jesus is not something that is forced on us. We do it out of our desire or volition — though it is a desire that is put in us, in the first place, by God Himself (John 6:44).

"...let him deny himself..." "Understand and accept that discipleship means forsaking all selfish personal ambition," says a study note in my Bible. To me this means submitting every plan and goal to His lordship, every decision to Him for the final say.

"...and take up his cross..." This isn't startling until we think about what a cross was in the time of Jesus — an instrument of death for criminals. Taking up His cross was what Jesus was forced to do literally as He went from Jerusalem to Golgotha. In our day we might say, pick up your gun, or noose or lethal injection as a reminder of how dead you are to yourself.

"...daily..." This rejection of the self-life happens again every morning. Though it may begin with a crisis decision, we need to renew our commitment to it every day.

"...and follow Me."

"With Jesus, righteousness no longer consists of observance of an external legal code. He likens it to an apprenticeship to Himself as Master Teacher through the Holy Spirit" (Spirit Filled Life Bible p. 1439).

I like that: "apprenticeship to Himself as Master Teacher." For the life of a disciple is not turning one's back on selfish ambition toward a life of nothingness. Instead it is such a rejection so that the powerful life Jesus can have full sway in and through us.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I want to be this kind of a disciple. Please teach me what it means to take up my cross daily and follow you. Amen.

MORE: Feast of the Confession of St. Peter

Today the church celebrates the confession of the apostle Simon Peter, recorded in Luke 9:20. The liturgy for today begins with the following collect:

"Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. "