Peter identifies Jesus 

Mark 8:22-9:1 (New Living Translation)

22When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”

24The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

25Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.26Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”

27Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”

29Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

30But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

31Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.

33Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter.“Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

34Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 35If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37Is anything worth more than your soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

1Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!”

In what specific ways have you come to understand Jesus better in the last few weeks?

Jesus asked the disciples who others thought He was; then He focused on them: "who do you say I am?" It is not enough to know what others say about Jesus. You must know, understand, and accept for yourself that He is the Messiah. You must move from curiosity to commitment, from admiration to adoration.