Jesus, Both Messiah and Son of Man
ROB ROY MCGREGOR III Moderator
- sary so that the disciples can begin to understand that the events they will wit- ness in Jerusalem have to take place because those events are all part of God’s sovereign plan to accomplish the redemption of his people. Jesus willingly embraces his mission as the Suffering Servant. Peter, how-
Resurrection, I would like to call our attention to a text that marks the prin- cipal turning point in Mark’s gospel,
A
Jesus has been ministering in Gali- lee, but he now sets his face toward Jerusalem, where the cross awaits. It is time for his disciples to learn about the true nature of his mission as the Messiah and about what is required of those who want to be his follow- ers. Emphasizing the human aspect of his mission by speaking of himself response that the people seem to be willing to view him as a forerunner of the Messiah but not as the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed divine Son who they say that he is, and Peter makes the Good Confession, declar- commanding his disciples not to re- because any public claim by him to be the Messiah would be seriously mis- understood by both his disciples and the authorities, Jesus begins to teach them about the true nature of his mis- sion, informing them that it is neces- sary for him to suffer, be rejected by the leadership of the Jewish people,
s we approach the Easter season and look forward to its special celebration of the
ever, speaks for all of the disciples when he rebukes Jesus for speaking of his - that foretell both the suffering and the triumph of the Messiah, neither those closest to Jesus nor the rest of the Jewish people can believe that such calamities can befall their Messiah. Jesus’s rebuke of Peter indicates clearly that he will not Jesus next begins to teach his disciples and the crowd following him what is
- - tion. Jesus brings each of us new life. He makes possible an inner transforma- - being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes the desires and motives that arise from our old nature. We turn away from them and commit ourselves to live by the will of God. In taking daily steps of obedi- ence, we deny ourselves and choose instead the higher path, and, in doing so, - overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of God’s Anointed One, we need
to recognize that the cross was central to Jesus’s mission as the Son of Man and the Messiah and be ever mindful of the griefs he had to suffer and the sorrows he had to bear to reconcile us to God. We also need to recognize, even as we give thanks that we need no longer fear the grave because Jesus has been raised from the dead, that we as Christians are called to take up our cross and follow him. As we follow Jesus in the way of the cross, we grow in likeness to him and are more and more made ready for the time when he returns in glory to estab- lish the Heavenly Kingdom.
Dr. Rob Roy McGregor III is Professor of Economics at UNC Charlotte and an elder at Back Creek ARP Church in Charlotte, NC.
Preparing the Church for the Return of Christ Jesus March/April 2021 3
Moderator’s Challenge
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
