The retreat in Caesarea Philippi was the most strategic meeting Jesus held with His disciples, until months later when they found themselves in an Upper Room in Jerusalem.
Rock Johnson, Superstar. If I were a Roman Catholic Priest, this is the title I would give to my homily on this text. It would grab attention and require an explanation.
Sometimes the most important words you hear in life are followed by a question mark. Questions cause thinking. Thinking yields answers. Answers can show the way, the truth, and the life.
Once the Holy Spirit is in you, you become a holy and spiritual person. What do holy and spiritual people do?
God gets three nods in this text. This is fitting in many ways, not the least of which is that our one true and living God is a triune supreme being, being all at once Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We pray, “God save us,” and we should. We preach, “Jesus saves,” and we must. But practically, it is the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who delivers the goods in salvation.
A beautiful picture of the Holy Trinity emerges from the upper room discourse in John’s Gospel (ref. John 16:5-15). There the one true and living God speaks to His disciples of the mystery of the Trinity. Each person of the Godhead is identified.
Times have changed. God has not. Immutability is one of His key attributes. “I the LORD do not change” (ref. Malachi 3:6). This and other theological truths matter immensely. We must get God right, or everything else will ultimately go wrong.
My early years in Christianity were spent in a church heavily influenced by fundamentalism and revivalism. Plenty of false piety and guilt were dished out every Sunday, followed by a lengthy “altar call.”
When we are chained to God’s sovereignty, we are free to enjoy His grace and providence. “The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!” (Psalm 99:1). Yet, they do not (ref. Psalm 36:1; Romans 3:18).
