Saturday after the Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 10, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 9:18-26 (NKJV)
9:18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
19 So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
Devotion
We agree with St. Peter that Jesus, who was born in the village of Nazareth, the son of Mary and Joseph, is the Christ. But what does “Christ” mean? We often say “Jesus Christ” as the name of this man from Nazareth, and that is perfectly correct since that is how even the biblical writers use these words. But originally, “Christ” was a title, and it was used in the phrase “Jesus the Christ,” or “You are the Christ,” like Peter says. “Christ” comes from the Greek word which means “anointed.” So, what does it mean that Jesus is the Anointed One? It means He is the chosen and blessed one of God.
The Son of God was foreordained before the foundation of the world (1 Pet, 1:20), and He would be the one to take away the sins of the world. God told His people for a long time that they would be rescued by this blessed and chosen one. All through the Old Testament God tells His people to watch for the coming of this blessed one, this Christ, who would save them from sin, death, and evil. The Christ was the chosen and blessed one that God would send. This is what Peter and the other eleven disciples, and all of Israel, were waiting for.
Prayer: O God, who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good things as pass man’s understanding, pour into our hearts such love toward Thee that we, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
