Jesus Enters the Last Stage of His Human Life 

In August of 29 CE, when Jesus asked the apostles: "Who do you say I am?" the Apostle Peter spoke up, saying: "You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God." This event that has come to be known as "Peter’s Confession" marked his entrance into the fourth and final stage of his earthly life.

The first phase of Jesus’ life was his childhood, a time when he was only vaguely aware of who he really was and why he was on earth.

The second phase consisted of Jesus’ youth and early adulthood when he gradually but increasingly gained a clearer understanding of his divine nature and earthly mission. This phase concluded with the experiences and revelations connected to his baptism when he fully remembered his previous life and why he had come to our world.

The third phase of the Master’s life on earth began with his baptism. It continued through the years of his public ministry as a teacher and healer, up until the significant moment of Peter's confession at Caesarea-Philippi. During this period, his apostles and closest followers recognized him as the Son of Man and believed him to be the Messiah.

The fourth and final phase of Jesus’ earthly journey began with Peter’s confession and continued to the crucifixion. This period was marked by Jesus’ own public acknowledgment of his divinity and covered the work of his last year in human form. While most of his followers still saw him as the awaited Messiah during this phase, the apostles came to know him as the Son of God. Peter’s confession signaled the beginning of a deeper understanding of his ultimate role as a bestowal Son on earth and for the universe, a truth that was starting to dawn on his chosen representatives.

Even though Peter and the apostles acknowledged Jesus’ divinity, it was a hazy understanding, still colored by their belief that he was the Messiah. But now, they acknowledged that this Messiah was truly the Son of God, as well as the Son of Man, and Jesus proceeded to reveal the Father for the remainder of his life. He showed us how to achieve wisdom – to comprehend it by living it.

We can see in this progression the natural and gradual growth of Jesus’ spiritual nature as a result of living faith and remaining close to the Father in all he did – the very things that he taught his followers. His progression was normal and natural and marked by his spiritual mastery of the material challenges of life.

Before this fourth phase, Jesus was the teacher of the truths of the kingdom of heaven; his aim was to establish the kingdom as the Son of Man. When he entered into this fourth phase, he now openly acted as the Son of God, representative and embodiment of the eternal Father, the foundation of the kingdom. This was his way of meeting his followers part-way.

The apostles and his followers would not see him as less than the Messiah, so he decided to declare and acknowledge his divinity as the bestowal Son of God, a concept that had never been connected to the understanding of the Messiah. The combined nature of Jesus as Son of Man and Son of God was the new foundation upon which the kingdom would be built.

As a result, some of the things Jesus began teaching were new to the apostles, including:

"No man in this world now sees the Father except the Son who came forth from the Father. But if the Son be lifted up, he will draw all men to himself, and whosoever believes this truth of the combined nature of the Son shall be endowed with life that is more than age-abiding."

"We may not yet proclaim openly that the Son of Man is the Son of God, but it has been revealed to you; wherefore do I speak boldly to you concerning these mysteries. Though I stand before you in this physical presence, I came forth from God the Father. Before Abraham was, I am. I did come forth from the Father into this world as you have known me, and I declare to you that I must presently leave this world and return to the work of my Father."

"And now can your faith comprehend the truth of these declarations in the face of my warning you that the Son of Man will not meet the expectations of your fathers as they conceived the Messiah? My kingdom is not of this world. Can you believe the truth about me in the face of the fact that, though the foxes have holes and the birds of heaven have nests, I have not where to lay my head?"

"Nevertheless, I tell you that the Father and I are one. He who has seen me has seen the Father. My Father is working with me in all these things, and he will never leave me alone in my mission, even as I will never forsake you when you presently go forth to proclaim this gospel throughout the world.

"And now have I brought you apart with me and by yourselves for a little while that you may comprehend the glory, and grasp the grandeur, of the life to which I have called you: the faith-adventure of the establishment of my Father’s kingdom in the hearts of mankind, the building of my fellowship of living association with the souls of all who believe this gospel."

The apostles listened in stunned silence and walked off in small groups to talk about what the Master had said. They knew that he was the Son of God – they had agreed – but they did not fully understand yet what they had agreed to.

In the evening, the Apostle Andrew, chief of the apostolic party, decided that it would be wise to connect personally and deeply with each of the apostles concerning recent events with the Master. He was able to have meaningful discussions with all of them except one – Judas Iscariot.

Andrew was never really able to connect with Judas in the same way that he could relate to the other apostles; Judas held Andrew at arm’s length, and they never really had anything more than an impersonal acquaintance. Andrew and the other apostles were intimate friends, but Judas had never come close to Andrew in trusting friendship.

That night, Andrew became concerned about Judas. So, he went to Jesus and told him that he had some anxiety about Judas and his aloof, distant attitude. Jesus told Andrew that he was correct in bringing the matter before him but that there was little that anyone could do except to place confidence in Judas. Jesus added nothing more. But he did tell Andrew to keep their conversation confidential.

All of the apostles were affected by certain disturbing events: The death of John the Baptist, Jesus’ refusal to be made king, and the Master’s sometimes confusing attitudes towards the Pharisees. However, while each apostle was affected, none turned against Jesus as Judas did. Judas nurtured secret feelings of bitterness, disappointment, and humiliation. Following that, he was depressed by their lack of funds and the loss of the crowds.

However, his biggest complaint about Jesus was that he had recently warned the apostles to "beware the leaven of the Pharisees." He took that as a personal insult as a Judean. And it was these kinds of revengeful, fearful, doubting thoughts that so often preoccupied Judas’ mind. At times, when the other apostles went off to pray by themselves at Jesus’ suggestion, Judas spent his time entertaining vague doubts about Jesus’ mission.

On the morning of Friday, August 12, Jesus prepared himself and the apostles for a journey to Mount Hermon, where he had been summoned to inaugurate this fourth phase of his life and career as the Son of God. Some of them had been with him when he had been baptized and inaugurated his third phase as the Son of Man, and he wanted them to share this moment with them.