SUNDAY- 24^th  WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME –B

Gospel: Mark 8:27-35: You are the Christ. The Son of Man is  destined to suffer grievously.

I Reading: Isaiah 50:5-9: I offered my back to those who struck me.

II Reading: James 2:14-18: If good works do not go with faith, it is quite dead.

The Great Confession of Peter: Who Jesus is, Mk 8:27-30

The first reading and the gospel explain about the suffering servant. In the second reading St James assets that faith without works is dead. In the gospel Jesus predicts about his suffering, passion and death and encourages his disciples or followers to follow his way by renouncing oneself and taking up his own cross. The passage further discovers the identity of Jesus. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, the suffering servant and the saviour of the world.

Jesus deliberately set out to make sure that the disciples saw Him as God’s Messiah and not man’s Messiah and a way of power and pleasure. He had to make sure they understood God’s way of salvation and plan that God was after victory over death and a life that lasted eternally, not just for seventy or so many years.

The present passage is one of the most dramatic  revelations ever made and the most demanding questions ever asked. The answer given determines one’s eternal destiny and requires a single answer: “You are the Christ.”

1. Jesus in Caesarea Philipi (v.27):

The Greek God of nature is PAN, the God being called PANIAS. Herod the great had built the temple in worship of Caesar. Herod’s son Philip who adorned the temple with the magnificence for which it was known world-wide. It was Philip who changed the name of the city from Panias to Caesarea and added his own name calling the city Caesarea Philipi. It was against this background of religion Jesus asked the question, “who do people say I am? Who do you say I am?” and Peter made is great discovery  and confession: Jesus is the Christ, the real Messiah.

a. He visited the village

b. He questioned the people’s belief about himself

2. The confession of men: He is a great man like: John the Baptist, Elijah and one of the prophets (v.28)

3. The confession of his disciples: He is the Christ, the true Messiah, Son of the living God (v.29)

4. The need: To learn about God’s Messiah (v.30)

Thought: Confession is just the beginning of our spiritual journey. We must be accurate in what we study and we must we accurate in what we share, making certain that we share the truth.

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