Subtitle: Turn your affection and desire back to deepening your walk and relationship with Jesus our Emmanuel, God with us.
Excerpt: Jesus questions His disciples about public perception of Him, prompting Peter to affirm His true identity beyond rumors.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Mark 8:27, “Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, ‘Who do men say that I am?'”
Background
Sell the sizzle. If you are in sales or marketing, you are very familiar with this concept. It speaks to the idea of promoting or selling an item by emphasizing the superfluous traits or benefits it might have. It stems from the sizzle of a steak on a hot platter that draws your ears, eyes, and nose to want it. The meat may be tough, dry, and tasteless, but when it’s cooked up and sizzling, all of that is hardly noticed. Now when Jesus and His disciples were going about the towns of Caesarea Philippi, there were a lot of travelers, foreigners, and crowds to reckon with. Certainly there was plenty of opportunity to hear the latest buzz and find out what the people were all about. Jesus would have heard the talk, and He knew that His followers had, too. He knew that word of Him had spread and that people were talking about the Nazarene and His wondrous deeds and sayings. But He wanted to know what the disciples thought about it all. He wanted to know if they were buying the sizzle.
Application
You see, some were saying that Jesus was John the Baptist, the same John who had been beheaded earlier. Now that’s quite a sizzle, to come back to life after being beheaded. Others were saying that Jesus was Elijah. There, too, is some significant sizzle. Elijah was the man whom God took to heaven in the chariot of fire, never having tasted death. Coming back to earth as one of these men could generate a whole lot of sizzle to follow, regardless of the message being brought. And still others were saying that Jesus was a prophet. Whether brought back from the past or a present-day messenger of God, here again was enough sizzle to create a following. But when Jesus asks the disciples who they say He is, good old Peter answers well. He’s chosen the substance over the sizzle. And a good thing, too. For Jesus’ next words are about suffering and dying and His followers losing their life to gain it. There’s not a lot of sizzle in that message. Not many noses are drawn to that aroma. But we serve a risen Savior, not a tasty, well-packaged product that just pleases our senses. So let Him be the One you hunger for.
Charge
As we seek Him today, look beyond the sizzle of your world that keeps catching your attention. Turn your affection and desire back to deepening your walk and relationship with Jesus our Emmanuel, God with us.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org
