Sharper Iron From Kfuo Radio

Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in North Judson, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 8:27-9:1. As Jesus prepares for His journey south to Jerusalem, He goes to the northern region of Israel. He eases His disciples into answering the question that stands at the center of the Gospel: “Who is Jesus?” The answers of the people in Israel are on the right track, but they are incomplete. The disciples cannot be bystanders to this question, however. Jesus asks them directly, and Peter answers correctly: “You are the Christ.” Jesus uses this as His opportunity to teach them plainly that He must suffer, die, and rise. Astonishingly, Peter rebukes Jesus, showing that Peter and the other disciples do not fully see Jesus yet. Firmly, yet graciously, Jesus puts Peter and the others in their place and continues to teach them. To follow Jesus is to follow Him into death and then resurrection. Although this is paradoxical to sinful sensibilities, this is the Christian life that