Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Prayer Series: Peter’s Confession of Christ

Prayer Series: Peter’s Confession of Christ

Last updated on: June 10, 2019 at 11:45 pm by Rev. Jared V. Ingle

Prayer Series: Peter’s Confession of Christ 2019-06-10T23:45:30-04:00 Rev. Jared V. Ingle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Belief without relationship is only head knowledge. That’s one of the major points of this story. Relationship without belief has no anchor.

We continue our prayer series with this prayer from this week.[1] One of the things that’s unique about this prayer is that I get to prepare our hearts for communion. I’m preaching from Mark 8, Peter’s confession of Christ, so these are some closing thoughts.

If you enjoy the blog, but you’re the type of person who likes the paper delivered to your doorstep, Patheos delivers email updates! To subscribe CLICK HERE

Peter’s Confession of Christ

Peter, the spokesman for The Twelve, reveals Christ’s identity

It’s all about the identity of Christ. It’s all about our relationship with Christ. So I want to share three identity points.

i. The first identity point is that: “The question concerned who He is, not what He does” (see Jesus’ question in Mark 8.29).[2]

A lot of the crowd to this point in Mark is following Jesus because of what He does. They’re chasing His miracles. They’re chasing the gift instead of the Giver.

Are we following Him because of who He is?

ii. The second identity point: Peter’s answer is not about Christ. Peter is answering to Christ.

That’s quite different. Peter answers to Him. It is a confessional statement. Peter is confessing Christ to Christ in relationship.[3] That is the language of confessional statements, that we confess to Christ.

We can talk all day about what we know about God, but like Peter and The Twelve are we caught up in confessional language talking directly to Him?

The nature of confession is different. Great doctrines of the church for 400 years were forged as confessions, not as bullet-point doctrines.

iii. I’m going to close with a third crucial point about Jesus’ identity

Peter and The Twelve believe in the Messiah, and they are in relationship with Jesus. Now the way Mark is painting this picture, those are two separate things up to this point. They believe in the Messiah who is to come because of their Hebrew Scriptures, and they are in relationship with Jesus.

Their knowledge of the Messiah (what they know about what He would be) and their relationship with Jesus . . . both together helps them to connect the dots. Because they have both, they recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

Let’s remix that thought just a little bit for us, in terms of Christian living principles.

Belief without relationship is only head knowledge. That’s one of the major points of this story. Relationship without belief has no anchor.

You cannot have one without the other. If you don’t have the nature of true confession (doctrines, belief in Christ, knowledge of who He is) and you just have a relationship, it’s just an ooey, gooey, fuzzy relationship. It’s just like God is some kind of cosmic muffin up there in the sky that’s keeping you warm, and that’s all you’ve got. You have no moorings. You’ve got to have both.

Let’s Remix it one more time in the positive:

To Believe Jesus is the Messiah is inferior to Knowing Him . . . But because the Apostles Believe, they are able to Know Him.[4]

Benediction:

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Son Jesus Christ, whom we are going to celebrate in a couple moments here at the table. We are thankful for your Gospel writers who so vividly portray our relationship with Him, and the importance of knowing about Him. No doubt the Apostles knew the messages of every prophet that they listed in this passage, and knew that the messages and writings of the prophets forecasted this great Messiah to come.

But Lord, they find themselves chasing You, and You allow yourself to be caught. We can chase You our whole life, but You must turn around and bridge the gap between us and God. I pray Jesus that in some way You would do that today for all of us. It can be burdens that we are bearing. It could certainly be loved ones that we are praying about, who need to come to a realization of the truth. You’re the Truth. It could be some need that we have. Whatever the case may be, I pray that you meet us today.

Allow us to feel the peace of Your embrace, and perhaps even the depth of Your probing questions, at this point in our lives.

We ask You Jesus that as we get ready to approach the table, that our hearts would be prepared. We ask that Your Holy Spirit would quicken our minds to receive what these symbols stand for, a greater awareness of Your Cross. Amen

notes:

I truly enjoy ministering as an Evangelical Columnist in the Patheos community. If you’re enjoying my Vlog and would like email updates, Patheos delivers! To subscribe CLICK HERE

[1] The Prayer Series. I’m sharing a series on prayer. These are specific vlogs from prayers within a congregational setting. This post is adapted from: Rev. Jared V. Ingle, “You are the Christ,” Long Lake Community Church, Traverse City, MI.

Prayer Series, Vernell Ingle: Blessing on this House

Prayer Series: Continue to Transform Us

[2] Vernon D. Doerksen, “Verse-By-Verse Commentary 7:3-11:33,” in Mark, vol. 3 in The New Testament Study Bible, ed. Ralph W. Harris, Stanley M. Horton, and Gayle Garrity Seaver (Springfield, MO: The Complete Biblical Library, 1988), 225. [3] Paraphrased from Origen, as quoted by Thomas C. Oden, Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1992), 214. [4] Origen, Commentary on Matthew.xii.xv (ANF-O9 in CCEL.org).

other points of contact:

JCIngle YouTube

JCIngle Facebook Page

Previous Post

June 7, 2019

imago Dei: on Dominion, Creativity, and Cyborgs?!

Next Post

June 12, 2019 New Initiative | New Services Offered | New About Page

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Communion Cruz Ingle Crystal Ingle Early Church Engaging Culture Ethics & Society Family Formation History In Dialogue Jared & Crystal Kingdom of God Majority World Church Mateo Ingle Messenger College Mission Narrative Pentecostal Church of God Prayer Shepherding The Sermon The Writings Theology Theology & Psychology Traverse City Uncategorized Vernell Ingle Word Study

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 May 2017 March 2017 March 2014 February 2013 January 2013 October 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many people were added to the church on the day of Pentecost?

Select your answer to see how you score.

About 10,000 About 5,000 About 3,000 About 1,000