After the last supper ended, as Jesus and His disciples (minus Judas who had gone to complete his betrayal of Jesus) were walking from Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus dropped a bombshell of a prediction on them. He said, "All of you will fall away" (Mark 14:27). All of them that night would take offense at the danger their own lives would be in and they would each abandon their Lord. This prediction was a fulfillment of the prophecy given through the prophet Zachariah (Zacharia 13:7) and it included all of the disciples, even Simon Peter.
But Peter resisted these words of Jesus by saying, "Even if all fall away, I will not." On the surface that seems like a very courageous statement. If someone stood and made that statement in church we would all applaud, or at least shout "Amen!" But if you look deeply at the statement Peter makes you see two problems. First, it was prideful. Peter is communicating that his level of commitment to Jesus was greater than that of the other disciples. Peter's statement was also presumptuous. He was asserting to know himself better than Jesus did.
Due to Peter's protest, Jesus now takes the general prediction He had made about all of the disciples and narrows it down to a prediction only about Peter. He tells Peter that not only would he fall away, but on that very night he would disown Him three times. At this point Peter digs in. I imagine his face turned red and the veins started protruding from his neck. He insists in front of Jesus and the other disciples that even if it meant dying with Jesus, he would never disown him. But you know the rest of the story. Peter does deny Jesus that very night three times.
"I will die for Jesus!" That seems like such a courageous statement. I remember standing at the top of an old Roman Coliseum in Tarragona, Spain (pictured above) where many Christians were fed to starving, wild animals. I remember being given permission to go down and walk around in the coliseum but not being able to do so because I simply did not feel worthy to walk on that ground where so many died for their faith. "I will die for Jesus!" Could I really say that and mean it?
The truth is that I am not sure that it takes much guts for me to make that statement today. Why? Because I really don't think I will ever have to face that decision. Maybe I will, but I doubt it. In some parts of the world today that is a daily possibility for followers of Jesus. But for the most part, here in Gaylord, Michigan, it isn't a real threat - at least not at this time. So for me to stand and say, "I will die for Jesus," just doesn't take much guts. It doesn't take much courage! But you know what does take guts for me to say? It takes real courage to say this,
"I WILL LIVE FOR JESUS!"
I missed church this morning because Marin is sick, so I just got done listening to your message online. It was very thought-provoking! My only suggestion is that website needs to be able to SHOW the service, rather than just allow us to listen... That way, we'd have something better to see than the nasty snow out the window! Haha! Too bad about the Flyers this afternoon, too; Maverick is so sad!
ReplyDeleteThanks for listening on-line, Carrie. Hopefully as we contiue to upgrade our video systems we will be able to record and downlod the video of the messages in the near future. Tell Maverick I am just as disappointed in the Flyers losing. I can't stand losing to any team from New York. Hope your family has a good and healthy week!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the message. It was a vivid reminder of those who have went before us. Powerful, powerful images. I remember a sermon by Pastor Jim, where he mentioned these particular martyrs, demanding justice.
ReplyDeleteWe are so blessed to have been born in the western world, at such a time as this, yet I take it for granted.
Yes, I will live for Jesus!
Praise the Lord, Eddie. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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