Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-05
Sunday School Lesson
BY IL q
Rev. Hugh T. Stevenson.

most momentous question:" but Peter
courageously confessed Christ. He had
marveled when He had witnessed some
of the deeds of Christ and had asked,
with the other apostles, What. manner
Of man is Hep This problem had been
solved under the divine revelation that
enabled Peter to see that there was only
one satisfactory explanation of the
Masters character and only one correct
answer to the question that He had
asked the twelve. 1t is the only answer
that will insure our salvation. 1t Is the
foundation of our faith and the basis of
our hopes.
Christ commended Peter for His
answer. The Lord saw in His reply the
evidence that His work was we'll eStab-
lished. From that moment He has been
building His church. He assured the
twelve that there would ultimately be a
complete triumph of his church, for
the church that our Lord is building is
opposition. Its message has centered
about the MessiahShip and deity of
Jesus, that Peter proclaimed first to the
Jews and then to the gentiles.
Our Lord heard in Peters confession
the call Of the cross. Their confession
of Him in that heather section of
Palestine filled the Masters heart with
the realization that He must now pre-
pare them for His crucifixion. The
foundation had been laid for their
understanding the significance of His
death. They were now ready to learn
the next important lesson. They had
met the test of faith and He knew that
they would now stand the strain of the
cross, even if it shattered their hopes
concerning Christ's power and the es-
Enlistment of a temporal kingdom.
From that moment he commenced to
teach them plainly concerning the
rapidly approaching catastrophe.
Protest, Proclamation, Preview.
Peter courageously protested against
the Lord suffering. It was not in accord
| with their conception of the Messiah
that He should suffer. He could not
understand how the Messiah would
suffer many things, be rejected by the
elders, the chief priests and the Scribes,
and be killed, and after three days rise
again" The thought of a suffering
sovereign was intolerable, so Peter
Sumptuous protest. He 'contradicted
the prophecy that the Lord had just
made by his rash assertion that the
Masters death should never occur. He
voiced in those words a temptation of
Satan, who proposed in His temptations
of the Master in the wilderness that He
could have the kingdom without the
cross. In spurning Peters suggestion
as one coming from Satan Jesus re-
| jected the plans of men because they
were shortsighted, selfish. sinful and
contrary to the scriptual predictions
Peters protest revealed that He had
misunderstood the Lords teachings.
Jesus proclaimed that the law of
Christianity called for all to bear the
cross. If We are to live like Him and
follow Him we must live lives of self
denial, sacrifice and service. Loyalty to
Him calls for us to put our whole life at
His disposal. If we should fail in the
! Judgment of men we know that He will
reward us with greater spiritual values
for all material goods that we may
sacrifice in His service. He took three
OF them with Him upon the mount.
where they saw Moses and Elijah talk
ing with the Lord concerning His COM
ing departure. There they saw some
thing of ChriSt's coming glory revealed
so that they were encouraged to stand
| steadfaSt in their devotion to Christ
While they failed for moment, the
experiences of those days fitted the
apostles to understand better His de-
mand that calls for us to take up our
! cross and follow Him in a life of self
denial, sacrifice and service.