Scholars call Psalm 72 a “royal psalm,” one that almost certainly originally prayed for Israel’s earthly anointed king. But as the decades and then the centuries rolled by, it became painfully clear that no merely human king could possible fulfill the hopes that the psalm expressed. The hope rose anew as Peter and the disciples followed Jesus. They saw him as “the Christ,” the true king who could bring justice, peace and righteousness forever.

• Note carefully all the qualities Psalm 72 asked God to give to the king. How thankful would you be if any of the leaders we recently elected, or the president we will elect in 2016, fully lived out all those qualities? What kept Israel’s kings (and our leaders) from being able to fully live them out? What made Jesus uniquely qualified to be that ultimate, eternal king?
• In answer to Jesus’ question, the disciples said people identified him as “John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” That was no insult—those were great, respected names. Yet they fell short of what the disciples saw in Jesus. To what extent can you join Peter in declaring that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”? What factors shape what you believe about Jesus?