Jesus pressed his disciples asking, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?”Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

While holding hands with my family, I told my wife she was “the one” I loved, that I loved her best, she was my favorite. Then I looked at my oldest daughter and I told her the same thing. I moved on to my son and finally my youngest daughter repeating myself as I went. You are “the one” that I love…

If the story of Jesus’ life had a battle it was a daily fight for identity. If His story had an antagonist, it was doubt, better known as unbelief. And each time Jesus was confronted with the crisis of identity He chose to believe what His Father had said about Him from the very beginning. Jesus was sure in His identity.

Jesus didn’t just come to set us free from sin; He came to empower us into righteousness. He didn’t just reveal the Father in all His mercy, He revealed the Father in all His grace. Jesus never released mercy without following up with grace. In fact, mercy is incomplete without it.

“Mercy by itself isn’t enough. Jesus didn’t just come to set us free from sin; He came to empower us into righteousness.”

Because he didn’t truly know his dads heart, he couldn’t truly know who he was nor could he understand how his dad could celebrate his brothers return. He was essentially saying, “Why on earth are you celebrating my brother? What’s he done for you lately?”