I am not going to lie. I have a heavy heart right now. For the first time in a long time, I won't be in church on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of my Lord, Jesus Christ. It hurts because Easter is such a hugely symbolic day for me. It is a day that brings to mind so many emotions and past events that helped shape me and draw me into closer fellowship with Christ.
With that being said, I take comfort knowing that in the presence of God is fullness of joy, and that He is ever before me and at my right hand. As I ask God what it is He wants me to see through this experience, I am reminded of Peter and the lesson that God desired him to learn when he denied Christ three times.
I was reading a couple of the accounts of Easter week this morning and was fascinated by the account in Matthew of Peter's denial. There are two passages that we'll look at. They are Matthew 26:30-35 and 26:69-75.
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter answered Him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Jesus said to him, "Truly, I telly you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to Him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same.
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny my three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.
I want to start out by commending Peter for his confidence. I believe it was authentic and heart-felt. Peter truly loved Christ and could never imagine denying Him even once. In that moment of strength, Peter was even bold enough to say that he would die along with Jesus before he ever denied his Lord. While his confidence is apparent, it also became obvious that his confidence failed him in a time of extreme weakness.
This reminds me that we should definitely cultivate confidence in Christ and fill our minds with truth when we are strong. We need to make every effort when we are alert and being watchful against temptation. We need to have a battle plan. We need to say that we will die along with Jesus if that is what it takes for His name to be glorified. But, the phrase "actions speak louder than words" holds true in this case. When we are weak, we will learn how much we actually learned when we were strong.
Peter learned something crucially important about himself and about God. He learned that he had the ability to deny the very One he loved the most in times of trial. He learned that he was not strong enough to take a stand next to Jesus and hang on a cross with his Lord. He learned that he was a broken and miserable man. He learned exactly what God wanted him to learn in order to become the rock that Christ's church was built upon. And I believe he learned that God still loved him and would prove to be ever-faithful through his sorrow and weeping and repentance.
Praise God that Peter learned his lesson! Praise God that Peter didn't shrink back and disappear from the scene at this point! Can you imagine yourself shrinking off into the shadows after denying Jesus three times publicly? I can imagine shrinking off after just once (if it even would take that much!).
The other point I gather from this account is even more fascinating. Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him. He knew before it happened. He knew before He even met Peter. And He still chose Him to be the rock of His church.
So how did God use this event to mold Peter into the man at Pentecost who preached and saved thousands of souls? It was exactly what Peter needed to seek his confidence from Christ rather than his flesh. That's what I think anyway, especially when you consider that the denial almost seems to be preordained by God. God knew it would happen in the same way that God knew that Judas would betray Him.
God remains sovereign even when we make huge mistakes that by all logic would seem to throw off God's plan for our lives. He remains in control and will finish His work in us. He is in control of that because He loves us. We can't mess it up any more than Peter could as long as we are resiliant and keep bounching back. We must bounce back. We must dust ourselves off. We must step back into the ring and face our worst fears and our ugly sin. We can never allow satan the glory of victory in our lives no matter how much it hurts to look upon the past mistakes we've made.
Aren't you glad that Peter did? And when the time came for Peter to stand up for Christ, he succeeded triumphantly. God knew all along how much resolve Peter had. God created him afterall.
In that same way, God knows what is in all of us. He knows we have what it takes because He made us that way. By His grace may we never forget that!
I praise Him today for the testimony that Peter's denial offers us. To God be the glory.
Happy Easter everyone. He is Risen!
With that being said, I take comfort knowing that in the presence of God is fullness of joy, and that He is ever before me and at my right hand. As I ask God what it is He wants me to see through this experience, I am reminded of Peter and the lesson that God desired him to learn when he denied Christ three times.
I was reading a couple of the accounts of Easter week this morning and was fascinated by the account in Matthew of Peter's denial. There are two passages that we'll look at. They are Matthew 26:30-35 and 26:69-75.
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter answered Him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Jesus said to him, "Truly, I telly you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to Him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same.
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny my three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.
I want to start out by commending Peter for his confidence. I believe it was authentic and heart-felt. Peter truly loved Christ and could never imagine denying Him even once. In that moment of strength, Peter was even bold enough to say that he would die along with Jesus before he ever denied his Lord. While his confidence is apparent, it also became obvious that his confidence failed him in a time of extreme weakness.
This reminds me that we should definitely cultivate confidence in Christ and fill our minds with truth when we are strong. We need to make every effort when we are alert and being watchful against temptation. We need to have a battle plan. We need to say that we will die along with Jesus if that is what it takes for His name to be glorified. But, the phrase "actions speak louder than words" holds true in this case. When we are weak, we will learn how much we actually learned when we were strong.
Peter learned something crucially important about himself and about God. He learned that he had the ability to deny the very One he loved the most in times of trial. He learned that he was not strong enough to take a stand next to Jesus and hang on a cross with his Lord. He learned that he was a broken and miserable man. He learned exactly what God wanted him to learn in order to become the rock that Christ's church was built upon. And I believe he learned that God still loved him and would prove to be ever-faithful through his sorrow and weeping and repentance.
Praise God that Peter learned his lesson! Praise God that Peter didn't shrink back and disappear from the scene at this point! Can you imagine yourself shrinking off into the shadows after denying Jesus three times publicly? I can imagine shrinking off after just once (if it even would take that much!).
The other point I gather from this account is even more fascinating. Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him. He knew before it happened. He knew before He even met Peter. And He still chose Him to be the rock of His church.
So how did God use this event to mold Peter into the man at Pentecost who preached and saved thousands of souls? It was exactly what Peter needed to seek his confidence from Christ rather than his flesh. That's what I think anyway, especially when you consider that the denial almost seems to be preordained by God. God knew it would happen in the same way that God knew that Judas would betray Him.
God remains sovereign even when we make huge mistakes that by all logic would seem to throw off God's plan for our lives. He remains in control and will finish His work in us. He is in control of that because He loves us. We can't mess it up any more than Peter could as long as we are resiliant and keep bounching back. We must bounce back. We must dust ourselves off. We must step back into the ring and face our worst fears and our ugly sin. We can never allow satan the glory of victory in our lives no matter how much it hurts to look upon the past mistakes we've made.
Aren't you glad that Peter did? And when the time came for Peter to stand up for Christ, he succeeded triumphantly. God knew all along how much resolve Peter had. God created him afterall.
In that same way, God knows what is in all of us. He knows we have what it takes because He made us that way. By His grace may we never forget that!
I praise Him today for the testimony that Peter's denial offers us. To God be the glory.
Happy Easter everyone. He is Risen!
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