Mark 8:31 - 9:1

"Finding out what we live for"

　

by: Preacher Shigenori Hosoi

---

"Finding out what we live for"

What the Lord Jesus speaks to us through the Bible (Mark’s Gospel from the Chapter 8:31 to 9:1) given this morning is the preciousness of a life; but it is not what can be measured simply by such as “I do not want to be killed” or oppositely, “I am OK to die for now”; indeed, it is not the issue in from of us. We must note that the Lord Jesus is telling us with the purpose of granting each of us the genuine and eternal life.

Reading the Bible, praying and worshiping the God, we realize especially though those daily tasks that we ourselves are regarded expensive and valuable to the eyes of the God. Under each style of each person, we often make desperate efforts to get the World by ourselves. We are apt to be caught by delusive thought such that to earn a little money is to get the World or that to obtain the a little higher status in this World is to raise the value of his soul. We tend to put more importance on the aforementioned things than our life value which is measured by the Lord Jesus, convincing ourselves those promise to bring us the happiness. This is the typical misunderstanding into which we fall into easily.
It is the foolishness of Peter, the apostle, as depicted here in the Bible that he misunderstood the savior Jesus in fact and what his delusive expectation was. It is described that Peter who heard the Lord Jesus to notify him that Jesus would suffer and die took Jesus to the road side, and began to expostulate Jesus about it. Peter just thought that it was suitable for the Savior to take more glorious, victorious and powerful way, but not such a way where he would be killed with great pain. He assumed that the Lord Jesus should follow the way he imagined, which means he himself also wanted to follow the way of the glory and victory. That is to say in the long run, that he just wanted to be one of those who can save their life by themselves.
The fault which Peter committed here was that he had stood in front of the Lord Jesus. What he misunderstood was that he presumed that the savior Jesus would support Peter from his back. 　Then, the Lord says to us "stand behind me once again," that is, we shall seek for the salvation solely based on the death of the Lord on the Cross and the life granted by the God's blessing shown there.

Following the Lord Jesus, it is where we are able to obtain the genuine life and find out the eternal life in fact. The God paid for the sake of myself the redemption with the life of his only child. Our lives are so much valuable as it is.
Here is joy, gratitude and peace, which are unobtainable if one supposes that he would save his life by himself, and measure the value of his life by himself.

---