Mark 8:27-33  Jesus and the disciples left Bethsaida and walked north to the area known as Caesarea Phillipi.. about 25 miles.  Along the way Jesus begins to ask the disciples some questions, starting with "Who do people say that I am?" 

The disciples said that people thought He might be John the Baptist or Elijah or some other ancient prophet come back to life.  He was a mystery to most people. They couldn't grasp that God was doing a new thing.. 

Then Jesus asked His disciples, " But who do you say that I am?"  They knew Him better than any of the multitudes..better than His mother and brothers.. better than the religious leaders.  They were with Him in the storm when He calmed the waters and the wind.  They were there when He raised Jairus' daughter from her death bed. They had heard His words and were granted explanations of every parable. They had held the bread and fish that multiplied in their own hands...  If anyone should know Who Jesus was.. it was His disciples. Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ."   The Messiah. The anointed One. The Son of David, the Son of man.. the Son of God. 

Had the conversation stopped there we would have applauded.. but it didn't. 

"And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." 

Mark tells us that Jesus spoke these words "plainly".   It was not an illustration or parable.  It was not a vision or dream.  It was the plain truth.. and Peter didn't accept it.  He was so upset that he actually took Jesus aside to rebuke Him!  But.. Jesus turned His back on Peter and rebuked him.  "Get behind Me Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." 

Peter was the first to proclaim the deity of Jesus and the first to come against the reality of what the Messiah came to accomplish. Jesus went from the Person that Peter thought He knew.. to a mysterious God who he didn't know hardly at all. 

Sometimes, God speaks into our hearts and we begin to feel like we are starting to grasp the Truth of Who He is.. and then sometimes He does things that we just can't understand.. It is there between those two conditions that our faith grows... if... we cling to the Truth and Trust in the dark. 

Father in heaven,  Abba, Your Name is holy and worthy of praise and we pray that Your Kingdom will come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You are our provider, our deliverer, and our protector. We desire to walk in Your Truth and trust You in everything.  Keep us from unbelief.. Keep us from evil. Keep us walking in Your Spirit by faith. May we be committed.. convinced.. courageous .. and faithful to Christ Jesus the Lord today and every day. Fill us Spirit of God we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.