I gather that Meg and I are not the only couple who have had – at times – some measure of tension and comments as it regards each other’s driving. Most I trust come to some measure of peace, but I found a cure that worked for us.

Last fall Meg and I took a trip that was right at the top of our bucket list. We spent two weeks touring England in a rental car. I had geared myself up for it.  I got all manner of advice on it from many people. I read up on it. I watched videos on driving on the left side of the road and handling the roundabouts.

The reality was something else. The left-hand side wasn’t that big a deal, but add to that the incessant roundabouts. The roads are narrower and rarely have shoulders. They are very curvy and hilly in most places. People grow their hedges and build their stone walls right up to the very edge of the road. And there is rarely anyplace to just turn around. Everything is new, so unfamiliar.

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When our kids were little, we would inevitably hit a phase where everything is a test of wills.  That could be the terrible twos, maybe later on.  We had this method of resolving that conflict which was extremely effective. 

Meg had three small jars.  She would draw a happy face on the first jar.  The second jar would get a sad face.  The third jar was simply full of beans. 

When the child would do something good, we put a bean in the happy jar.  When they did something wrong, or argued, or failed to do their normal routines, they would get a sad bean.  At the end of the day, if they had more good beans than bad beans, they got to put a sticker on the calendar for that day.  At the end of the week, if they had more good bean days than bad bean days, they got a treat.  If not, no treat.

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We continue this morning right where we left off last week. Jesus and his disciples are still at Caesarea Philippi, a Greco-Roman city built at one of the three main headwaters of the Jordan River, which is also a center for worshipping the pagan god Pan. They are still just outside the large cave known as the Gates of Hades, a presumed entry point to the underworld. In that decidedly non-Jewish spot, Jesus.

Jesus has just asked them the weighty question upon which all of our faith depends, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus gives Peter an A+ for his answer and says he and/or his confession is the rock upon which Jesus will build his church. And here we are!

Now Jesus began to teach them what that word Christ, Greek for Messiah, means. In order to rescue God’s people and restore their relationship with the Father, Jesus must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of their religious leaders, be killed, and on the third day be raised.

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