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Denying Jesus
By Adam Bartlett
As I was thinking about the Easter story there was a certain point that stood out this time that has never occurred to me quite as strongly before. While recounting the story, the part when Peter denies Jesus three times really stood out as never before. It is interesting that all four Gospels contain this incident but they render it slightly different. In Matthew 26: 31-35 and Mark 14: 27-31 the story is virtually identical and in John 13: 36-38 it is abbreviated but much like that of Matthew and Mark. What is also interesting and is seldom brought out is that in Matthew and Mark it says that all the disciples chimed in when saying they would not deny Jesus. They all agreed with Peter's statement that even if it meant death they would not deny Him.
Many times we are quick to judge Peter and the fact that he openly denied Jesus three times. We tend to forget about the fact that it was Peter alone that stepped out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. It was Peter that was in the Temple courts immediately after Jesus' arrest while the others fled with the exception of John. It was Peter that took up the sword in the Garden to fight in defense of Jesus. It was Peter when knowing it was Jesus on the shore jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. It was Peter that had the revelation from the Spirit that Jesus was the Messiah. And yes, it was Peter that verbally denied Jesus three times in the face of danger.
When coming to this point though I had to ask myself, "how would I have reacted in that situation?" How would any of us react under the same circumstances? It also brought another thought to my mind that caused even more discomfort to me. How many times do we do this in our lives each day? My first reaction is to proclaim as Peter did, "I will not deny you Jesus, even unto death!" Then the Spirit gently reminds me that there are many ways that we deny Him.
Jesus said in Matthew 10: 32 "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." And to that we say, "I have no problem with that I wear the Jesus T-shirts, have the bumper stickers, and my friends all know I am a Christian." We usually neglect to read the next verse that accompanies it, 33: "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." The question then remains, "how do we deny Him in our lives?"
When we violate the first commandment and place other things before Him we are denying Him. When we fail to stand up for truth we are denying Him. When we do not witness when the doors are opened we deny Him. When we do not spend time in the Word and prayer we deny Him. I am sure that there are many more ways that we could add to the list. I guess the question is "why do we deny Him when we don't want to?"
Satan wants to sift you as wheat
It is interesting that Luke records a little different detail about this account.
Luke 22:
31: And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
32: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
33: And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
34: And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Peter is not the only one satan wants to sift, he is out to sift all who belong to Christ. Peter was bold in a lot of circumstances as we all feel we are yet satan sifted him and found a weakness and as a result Peter did the very thing he vowed he would not. It often makes me think of the difficult conditions Christians were in at that time to stand by their belief. Persecution was a normal daily activity from the start all the way through the Reformation for those who refused to deny the faith. How many times has your life been on the line for your faith? How can we relate when we are so spoiled in this country? There are many that are facing the same trials and persecution in third world countries even today, but we are very comfortable in this country.
Many would say we are blessed and though I will not argue that point sometimes lack of resistance causes weakness. I believe that for the most part the Christians in this country are spiritually lazy as a result of our blessing of freedom. Believe me I am not looking for persecution but it will find us soon enough. I just want to be ready when it does arrive and pray that I will stand strong. When I compare what causes me to stumble now as compared to real persecution it does concern me.
It says that after Peter denied Jesus and the cock crowed that he went out and wept bitterly. Stop for a minute and try to imagine the immense remorse he must have endured. Think of the gut wrenching feeling he must have had wondering how he could ever hold his head up again and say he belonged to Jesus. Imagine how hard it would be for Peter to face the very ones in which he denied Jesus in front of to later preach to them about this very same Jesus. How hard is it for us to have such sincere and bitter remorse for our actions against our Lord? Do we ever feel bad that we don't feel more remorse over the way we fail? Think of the things we do in comparison to the tribulation that was faced by Peter and those that were persecuted for their faith. It is pretty trivial the things that it takes to trip us up compared to them. When was the last time we wept bitterly over our failures in our Christian walk?
Added to the list of things that Peter accomplished he was the only one that Jesus specifically prayed for individually. Imagine having Jesus pray for you! If ever there was a prayer you could count on being heard! Well, actually He did pray for you as well as Peter.
John 17:
20: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
I truly believe that it was Jesus' prayer for Peter that strengthened him and allowed him to recover. When we fail it is hard to recover and it increases with the severity of the failure. We feel like all we accomplished to that point has been nullified and that is exactly what the enemy wants us to feel. To be defeated and feel like we can never be at the spiritual level we were at. The enemy delights in our failure and even more if he can keep us defeated. Recovery is very important and we must keep in mind that Peter did recover and then he was the one that also strengthened his brethren.
Believe me, we will all fail Him and through the help and power of the Spirit that is within us we will recover. Of course that is if we have remorse for our failure. This story also shows us the importance of praying for our brethren that are struggling because we will someday be in need of their prayers as well. I am more concerned about those that feel no remorse or feel that they do not ever deny Him through their actions. Those are the ones that are very vulnerable to believe the lie and follow a false teaching. Honest, godly remorse is the fruit of repentance and the beginning of spiritual recovery and maturity. Obviously we pray that we never deny our Lord, but if we do, recognize it fast and repent.
Do not be fooled by the freedom we now enjoy in this country because sooner than we think we will be facing things we never imagined. I know this because I know the Bible is true and it says this is going to happen. I also know that this same Bible gives us the signs to look for and they are already here. We must prepare for what is ahead and for much of what is already here. There are false teachings entering the church every day and many Christians are welcoming them with open arms. In doing so there is much denying of Christ happening right before our very eyes. As Jesus said to His disciples in the Garden, "Pray that you enter not into temptation."
In Christ, Adam
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