St.
Peter speaks for all disciples when he confesses, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29).
This confession is the bedrock of the Church, which Christ Himself builds (Matt.
16:18), for “this Jesus,” the stone rejected by earthly builders, “has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11).
This was a scandal even to Peter.
The Christ must suffer, be rejected, be killed, “and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31), for through this work of salvation received by faith, God’s “precious and very great promises” are granted, “so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).
Wherever Jesus is the Christ, His disciples deny
