Who is Jesus?
(From the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 8, verses 27 – 38)
Jesus and his friends walked over land and sailed over water together. Wherever they went, crowds of people would run to meet them.
"Teach us, Jesus," the people called.
And Jesus did.
The people brought sick friends and family members to Jesus. "Heal us, Jesus," the people asked.
And Jesus did.
Sometimes Jesus and his friends were alone and talked together. One day Jesus asked his friends, "Who do people say that I am?"
"Some people say that you are John the Baptist," one friend said. A cruel king had killed John the Baptist. Now some people hoped that Jesus was John, come back to life.
"Who else do people say that I am?" asked Jesus.
"Some people say that you are a prophet, a special person sent by God to teach us about God's word," another friend answered.
"But what about you?" asked Jesus. "Who do you say that I am?"
Peter spoke up right away. "You are the Messiah," he said. "You are the one God has sent to save God's people."
All the friends of Jesus looked at him. The Messiah! Now Peter had said what they all hoped: that Jesus was God's Messiah.
"Teach us, Jesus," one friend said. "Help us to understand about Jesus the Messiah."
Jesus told them, "Hard times lie ahead for us. Today people want to walk with us. Today people want to listen to my teaching. But soon, people will be angry with us. The most important men in Jerusalem will reject me. I will even die on a cross, but then God will give me new life."
Peter did not like to hear Jesus say this. "Stop it," he said angrily. "How can you talk like that? God would never let hard things happen to you."
Jesus loved Peter, but his voice was hard as he said, "Your thoughts do not come from God, Peter. I'm going to listen to God, not to you!"
Jesus looked at all his friends, and all the people who were traveling with them, as he said, "If you want to come with me, there will be hard times ahead. If you want to come with me, you may even have to die with me."
Jesus and his friends were quiet then. They walked together and thought together about the hard times that were coming.