After Peter’s declaration of who Christ is, Jesus warns His disciples not to tell anyone of this. He goes on to say:

The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Luke 9:21

Today you are invited to imagine this scene. You have been travelling with Jesus for many months and today you have reached a quiet place by running water. No one else is there. Just you and the other disciples and Jesus. You are leaning on a rock, listening to Jesus and the conversation that is flowing around you. Maybe your attention has wandered a bit. But then Jesus says these words and you tune in again to what is happening. What, of all He says in this sentence strikes you most strongly? It is the first time you have heard Him speak like this. It may be that you never even dreamt things would get so bad or go so far. No hindsight here. What would you say to Jesus if this was the first time you had heard these words? How do you respond to them today, knowing what you do in the 21st century? What is God saying to you now?

May God bless you in a new way today as you discover more about Him through these words.