Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1942-03-19
JESUS THE MESSIAH
FORETELLS HIS DEATH

LESSON TEXT-Mark 8:27-37.
GOLDEN TEXT-For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it; but whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake and the
gospels. the same shall save it.-Mark
8:35
Jesus came into the world as the
Redeemer of men-and that means
He came to die. The prophets who
wrote centuries before His coming
presented Him as both the suffering
and the reigning Messiah. However,
to the minds of the Jewish people
only the idea of His glory and king
ship was acceptable. not of His suf-
fering and death
Apparently His own disciples had
this same impression and it there
fore became necessary for Jesus as
He came to the last months Of His
earthly ministry to speak plainly to
them about these matters.
1. Recognition of Christ by Faith
tvv. 27-3O).
AS foundation for right thinking
on any spiritual question there must
be recognition of Christ's deity. He
drew forth such confession from
the disciples by asking who men
said that He was. Notice that while
there was difference of opinion, all
had high opinion of Him, calling
Him John the Baptist, Elijah, or one
of the prophets. They knew that a
great man was in their midst, and
had to admit it, even though they
hated and opposed Him. But it is
not enough to accept Christ as a
great man, as teacher, prophet,
or an example. Nor is it enough
to tell what others think of Him.
The question quickly becomes:
Whom say ye that l ann" Have
you answered that question? What
will you do with Jesus Christ?
Peter responded with a straight
forward, heaven-born confession Of
Christ as the Son of the living God
(cf. Matt l6: 1919 upon which Christ
CStdOAAouCu lib CIlQI I'll.
II. Rejection and Crucifxion
PrOphesied wv. 81, 32).
The foundation of faith in Him
having been laid. Christ plainly laid
before the disciples the fact Of His
coming rejection and death. Notice
the word must in verse 81. There
was an imperative necessity for
these things. But why must He
die? This question is fully answered
elsewhere in the Bible (John 3:14;
Heb. s:22; lisa. 5S:4-6; II Cor. 5:2l;
Gal. 3:l3; Pet 2:24). There could
have been no salvation for any sin
ner if He had not died (Gal. $40.
Is; II Cor. 5:21; Rom. 3:2p-26)"-
(John W. Bradbury.
Note also that He must rise
again" ". 81. He died for our
sins, but was raised again for our
justification" (Rom. 4:25).
III. Rebuke Of Unbelief wv. 80,
33).
Peter, quick to accept Jesus as
the Son Of God, permitted Satan to
blind his mind to the necessity Of
the cross, and thus became a stum-
bling block of unbelief, calling forth
a severe rebuke from Jesus.
1t is a striking and humbling
thought that the very one who
moment before spoke such accept
able words of recognition Of Christ's
deity could by unbelief so quickly
become the tool of Satan. MY soul,
be on thy guard lest such tempta-
ton overtake thee!
May we also learn from this incl
dent that we do well to weigh the
words of even good men lest in a
moment Of weakness or unbelief they
say that which may lead us astray.
Gods Word alone is sure!
Nv. Requirements Of Discipleship
wv. 34-37).
Following the Christ of Calvary
calls for willingness to say mo"
to self Literally, to deny any con-
nection with self-life) and to follow
through with Him on the path Of
shame and crucifixion No self-will
and no compromise are permissible
to Christ's disciples.
Foolishly to attempt TO hold ones
life for self is to lose it. That pain
full loss has left brokenhearted,
wrecked lives all along the path Of
mans history. But why should any
one do it? Equally foolish is the
one who supposes that this world has
anything to satisfy the human soul.
Assuming the possibility of the i'm
possible-that is, attaining the whole
world as ones own possession-to do
so at the cost Of ones soul would be
an indescribably poor bargain.
What then shall we say of those
who barter their eternal souls for a
mess of pottage. moment of sensu-
al satisfaction, or for a few paltry
dollars? What shall a man give
in exchange for his soul?" 1t is the
unanswerable question.