Sometimes believers are slow to understand what Jesus is saying. When Jesus told the disciples that He must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, chief priest, and scribes, be killed and three days later rise again, Peter rebuked Him. Jesus said, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Mark 8:33. Peter's rebuke of Jesus was because of his still incomplete understanding of the true mission of the Messiah. Jesus said, "you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." He was not setting his mind on the things of God. How many believers and churches are like this? Their minds sees things from man's point of view and not God's. The Old Testament had predicted a Messiah would suffer for the sins of the people. See Isaiah 53. This message became the central focus for the early Church. See Acts 17:2-3. Jesus is the suffering Messiah. The Bible says if we believe in Him then we shall be forgiven for our sins and saved from the wrath to come.
